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Leicestershire, England

Sawley Marina Slipway

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LaunchA slipway adjoining Sawley Waterside & Marina, operated by Aquavista, launching onto Sawley Cut.
ParkingFree car parking at Sawley Waterside & Marina; a council-run car park at Trent Lock, about a mile east, is a free alternative.
AccessReached via Tamworth Road (B6540) at Sawley Waterside & Marina. The marina states its slipways are available for public use, and directs users to check with the marina for details and charges.
SeasonSawley Lock is staffed by volunteer keepers through the spring-to-autumn season. The Canal and River Trust publishes winter stoppages and other closures for this stretch on its waterway notices feed.
RegulationsThe Canal and River Trust requires unpowered craft, including paddleboards, to be licensed on its waters, via a Paddle UK waterways licence or a CRT small craft licence; the General Canal Byelaws 1965 apply. The Trust's Waterway Code recommends portaging locks rather than using them, and states paddleboards may not use a lock.

This slipway launches onto Sawley Cut, a canalised, non-tidal reach of the River Trent Navigation dug around 1796 to bypass Sawley Weir. Sawley Waterside & Marina opens directly off the cut, and the Canal and River Trust manages this stretch of the Trent from Shardlow to Gainsborough Bridge.

Sawley Cut and Trent Junction

The cut runs a straight course of about 1,200 metres. The marina basin opening off it covers 23 acres of water with 414 leisure berths, one of the largest inland marinas in the country.

At the downstream end of the cut, close to Trent Junction, the Trent is joined by the River Soar, the Erewash Canal and the Trent & Mersey Canal, a meeting of four waterways known locally as Waters Meet. Upstream of the cut, above Sawley Flood Lock, the channel leading to Sawley Weir on the open river is marked no access from the navigation.

Nearby

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Cafe Blue

Daytime cafe at Sawley Waterside & Marina, on site next to the slipway.

Lock House Tea Rooms

Cafe at Trent Lock, near the alternative car park about a mile east of the marina.

Shardlow Caravan Park

Touring caravan, motorhome and tent pitches at Shardlow Marina; open 1 March to 31 January, closed in February.

Website

Conditions to check

Weir

Sawley Weir, on the open River Trent above Sawley Flood Lock, is bypassed by the cut; the channel leading to the weir itself is marked no access from the navigation.

Source
Lock

Sawley Lock, a paired wide lock, sits at the eastern end of the cut. The Canal and River Trust's Waterway Code recommends portaging locks rather than using them, and states paddleboards may not use a lock.

Boat traffic

Sawley Waterside & Marina has 414 leisure berths opening directly onto the cut, so powered-craft movements through the channel are frequent.

Other launches nearby

1 launch within 89m
  • 89m southWarren Lane
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