Spring in Shardlow

Whilst Ian was away, I took the time to give the boat a good clean inside, and bit of brass polishing outside.  Jumble and I explored Shardlow in the sunshine.
Shardlow is about 8 miles SE of Derby, on the Trent and Mersey Canal. The River Trent and River Derwent meet close by. It became an important inland port in the late 1700's, allowing the cheap transportation of goods and raw materials from the potteries. There were busy wharves, warehouses and basins. It was one of James Brindley's canals.

Now this building houses the Heritage Centre, but it was the earliest warehouse built here and it became the centre of the port.

 

Now a pub, the Clock Warehouse was once a corn mill.

One of the many wharf buildings.

Part of an old wharf crane used for handling beer at the bottling warehouses nearby.

The old Salt Warehouse

Other traders to be found here in the 18th century were breweries, maltings, public houses, iron merchants, ropeworks, woodworks, corn mills, boat builders.



Around the canal and the village are still many buildings associated with the time of canalmania.

The Malt Shovel, one of many pubs close to the waterway.

Wharf House

Wharf cottages

Shardlow lock and cottages

  The willow trees are beginning to show signs of leaves coming on their yellow branches and I spotted this hawthorn out. Spring has sprung.