# Etwall Marina, Derbyshire



## kyberhai (Nov 14, 2008)

What's that you say? "Etwall hasnae a marina?" Well technically then no it doesn't. But in the realm of Derelict Places then much is possible!

I had planned to cycle to Burton that day but the combination of heading out too late and some godawful signposting pretty much put paid to that notion - and that was _before_ I became (purposely detoured) 

So I was just about to traverse the old style railway-crossing on the outer edge of Etwall when I notice a charming looking lane with a boat parked in it. This struck me as unusual so I took a meander down for a snap or two. To my incredulity one craft led to another, and another!

I figured I'd start at the far end of the trail and work my way back but had only just finished photographing the last of the boats when I noticed a jam sandwich at the entrance to the lane 
Seems the owner of the house neighbouring the lane had recently been burglarised and was (understandably) a bit jumpy about strange people with rucksacks poking around in the vicinity. Anyways, the rozzer was amicable enough and quite happy to allow me to continue with my work - after a bit of questioning anyway 

I was very glad of this as it was a great location and something really unusual for me. I ended up with over eighty pics. Now relax, I'm not going to spam them *all* here! 

First shipwreck:












Fear The Growler!




The Navigo:








Next one:




Exposed interior:




Flotsam and jetsam:




Giant oars!




Unintentional(?) birdbath:




Soggy ship:




All aboard:




The shed of dread:




Buoys ahoy!




Camouflaged machinery:




The Merlin:




Barrows:




Scary aparatus - it's like a drivable chainsaw!




More fun stuff:




Orna-mental:




The Tambourine:





Oh and my visit would not have been complete without taking some timer shots of me looking vaguely nautical on a couple of the boats. I _really_ need to get an IR camera as setting up mein tripod, running to the back of a boat and then scrambling up the incline of the deck in 10 seconds was a bit of a mad dash


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## goodeavens (Nov 14, 2008)

Very interesting & most unusual. I had no idea this place existed either. Most impressed with the dumper, always wanted a go on one of them  Had a go in a jcb once, but that story is best left untold


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## The_Revolution (Nov 14, 2008)

There is no waterway in Etwall; (is that right?) 

Is this boat graveyard? Unusual find


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## zimbob (Nov 14, 2008)

Fantastic 

This is 'Year of the Boat' exploring-wise I've heard 

Interesting to see the half catamaran.


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## thompski (Nov 14, 2008)

The nearest waterway is the River Trent in Willington, however there is what appears to be a small lake besides the A50/A516 junction.

Most unusual find! Good stuff


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## Kaputnik (Nov 14, 2008)

Maybe the person collecting all these boats knows something the rest of us don't about rising sea levels


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## Foxylady (Nov 15, 2008)

Great stuff! I love it. There's often a boat to be found on a Devon explore, but this is really unusual. Neat!


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## batroy (Nov 15, 2008)

Interesting find away from water! Or is there a watercourse you haven't shown us? Those look more like deep water vessels than inland waterway ones to me.

Derelict boats are more common than you'd think, however so many in one place and not on a waterside aren't. It's a big money toy thing and a lot of people hang on to boats for longer than they should so there are a lot of tatty old boats around the inland waterways system, either mouldering on blocks in marina yards, abandoned or sunk in quiet backwaters or even as in the case of the Thames backwater next to the canal in Oxford, being lived on by a semi-legal community of people caught between the bureaucracy of the Environment Agency and Oxford City Council. 

There are one or two I wish I'd taken pictures of. A few years ago there was a stately Thames river barge on the bank in a marina on the Thames that ended its life cut up as rotten wood after spending a decade with its owner paying several thousand pounds a year in mooring rental while it stood and mouldered. Sense rarely intrudes on the decisions of boat owners.


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## kyberhai (Nov 16, 2008)

Hmm... nonetheless I'm surprised the landowner hasn't been told to clear up the area a bit.



The_Revolution said:


> There is no waterway in Etwall; (is that right?)
> 
> Is this boat graveyard? Unusual find


Yeah, it was just a lane of 'corpses' - some looked like they'd take back to water better than others. Obviously a couple of them were quite exposed but the last couple of boats were still fairly well 'battened down' and one of them had a 'Ship radio license' dated 2003 so they weren't all terribly antique.

And yes, as Thompski says then neither the canals nor the rivers of the area penetrate Etwall at any point, so it's doubly odd. It's right by the railway line and should be easily visible if you're travelling from Derby to Burton - I'm always looking out the other side for Willington cooling towers though


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## skittles (Nov 16, 2008)

My ambition in life is to own a boat!

Some of the boats would not go down a old type canal because of the keel

The Orna-mental are nice too

Did you not ask the POlice if they new any history of the site


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## kyberhai (Nov 17, 2008)

I didn't get the impression that there _was_ much in the way of history to the site, rather that it was simply a bit of land between a house and a field that some eccentric had thought needed a bit of maritime decoration (with a few disoriented garden ornaments thrown in for good measure).


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## vogelport (Jan 20, 2009)

*Etwall Marina*

great pictures! can anyone PM with the location of this area? would be very very grateful. TY!


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## vogelport (Jan 20, 2009)

vogelport said:


> great pictures! can anyone PM with the location of this area? would be very very grateful. TY!



dont worry about it. i found it using google maps, zooming in to anything that looked boat-ish, near a railway.


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## baulky69 (Feb 23, 2010)

vogelport said:


> dont worry about it. i found it using google maps, zooming in to anything that looked boat-ish, near a railway.



ive scanned google earth lookin for this site mate but cant seem to find it anywhere. i live in burton and im quite interested in having a look around the site. could you give me a hand in locating it please ?
cheers


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## losttom (Feb 24, 2010)

baulky69 said:


> ive scanned google earth lookin for this site mate but cant seem to find it anywhere. i live in burton and im quite interested in having a look around the site. could you give me a hand in locating it please ?
> cheers



i found it in about 1 min on google earth


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## Mr Sam (Feb 24, 2010)

oooh im liking this, 2 years ago though wonder if its got worse or been cleared up

what a waste of boats


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## RichardH (Feb 24, 2010)

This is just... odd. 

Very interesting, though, and a nice collection of photographs.


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## Locksley (Feb 25, 2010)

"Vaguely nautical" lol brilliant.

Interesting pics.


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## baulky69 (Feb 28, 2010)

losttom said:


> i found it in about 1 min on google earth [/QUO latitude and longitude would be nice !


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## kite flyer (Feb 28, 2010)

Must have been a hell of a high tide!!


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## Trudger (Mar 1, 2010)

shame you didn't lift the tarpaulin on the car - looks like Range Rover wheels, wonder what state it's in?
Might plod over for a peep.


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## crickleymal (Mar 2, 2010)

kyberhai said:


> Scary aparatus - it's like a drivable chainsaw!



That looks very much like a coal cutting machine used in a mine. They also use them underground to cut limestone in the quarries near Bath. Whether it is or not, I'm not too sure but it's an unusual find.


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## vogelport (Mar 8, 2010)

I went here after seeing these pics 2 years ago. It was an interesting explore but its basically somebody's back garden.... somebody who owns a German Shepherd too.. luckily didnt see the dog, just a sign warning me.


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## the harvester (Mar 8, 2010)

crickleymal said:


> That looks very much like a coal cutting machine used in a mine. They also use them underground to cut limestone in the quarries near Bath. Whether it is or not, I'm not too sure but it's an unusual find.



I think these machines are used to cut trenches for cables/fencing etc, may have lots of other uses such as cutting slices from a huge cake maybe?! sorry ?! being silly now?!


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