Nancy's Nostalgia 11 (As Nancy is at such a tender age, anything previous to 1983 is narrated by her Granny)
Report from Shardlow - 1958 On the main A6 road, between Loughborough and Derby, where the road crosses over the Trent and Mersey Canal, lies the village of Shardlow. When driving over the Trent Bridge with the Wilden Ferry below, few people realise the importance of the canal port hidden from view. General merchandise from the Humber Ports comes up the Trent to Nottingham, where it is transhipped to smaller craft of 40 tons capacity for onward conveyance to Shardlow. The warehouse in Shardlow can accommodate some 2500 tons of merchandise and is used as the main distribution point by British Waterways' lorries, mainly south of the Trent. With the help of a 10 cwt electric hoist and a one ton electric truck, up to ten thousand tons of merchandise is handled every year. The staff at present consists of Superintendent F G Tracey; hoistman and senior warehouseman A Chambers; and warehouseman T Gallagher who all live in nearby houses. They are also helped by staff from the Nottingham Depot as required. In January of that year comment was passed regarding the amount of foam that was being observed at Gunthorpe weir. The Nottingham housewives were blamed for using too much detergent in their washing machines. A photograph was published showing the tug "Little John" enveloped in soap suds whipped up by the water passing over the weir. (Information gleaned from various publications around 1958)
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, Many thanks for publishing my letter seeking volunteers to help run the St John Ambulance passenger boat Newark Crusader this summer. We had an excellent response from readers of Aegre, enabling us to find just the people we were seeking. We have been fortunate in finding a second skipper who has the right combination of qualifications and experience which we need to operate our boat. Many of our passengers have disabilities which would make them particularly vulnerable in the case of marine accidents and we were thus very pleased to be put in touch with such experienced and capable boaters.We are making our twice daily trips from Farndon, near Newark, from May until mid-September. Aegre readers mooring up nearby will be most welcome to drop on board and `make their number`. Best wishes, Peter Adams Page 28