Wednesday 17 October: God
daughter Jo visits and then on to Holme Pierrepoint (3 ½ miles, 2
locks)
It's lovely to have another fine, dry autumnal day. We tidied up and
then walked near the canal through the Castle Meadow area, past the
expensive-looking HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reception building
and law courts, with Honeypie. The Canal Museum bar was closed and
not dog-friendly, so we had coffee at the Costa in the Railway
Station! ALL our babies (now in their 30s) are abroad this week, in
Australia, Colorado and Scotland, either working or visiting friends.
We exchanged messages with niece and God daughter Jo Jackson, who
works here, and she found time to visit us on Annie for an hour, and
have lunch with us. It was great to have time together to catch up
and enjoy each others' company again: The time went all too quickly.
We hope to see her teenagers, James and Sofia, soon, too.
Once Jo had departed for work, we set off for Castle Lock, where
foreign visitors asked to take their pictures by the boat.
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| Castle Lock, Nottingham |
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| Castle Museum area opposite the lawcourts |
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| newish developments |
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| a new look for the waterfront |
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| the canal is hidden below the London Road, on the way to Trent Bridge and Meadow Lane Lock |
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| entering Meadow Lane Lock, to go down onto the river by Trent Bridge |
Liana
walked Honeypie most of the way to |Meadow Lane Lock. John was able
to take Annie straight in, as a cruiser emerged up from the river. As
we emerged and were picking up Liana, a piratical-looking boat
approached, full of cheery young folk, complete with tricorn hats
plus pirate flag! We continued down the two miles to Holme
Pierrepoint, the National Watersports Centre, past Nottingham
Forest's City Ground, new housing developments on the North bank, the
millionaire's mansion and Sea Cadets base next door, Sailing Club and
marina, until we reached the weir and moored above Holme Lock. On the
way, we saw lots of canoeists, scullers and rowers, too, all enjoying
the water. We watched kayakers using the White Water Rapids by the
mooring, walked the dog and had a coffee in the cafe there. There
were fours and eights using the mile-long rowing course. We passed
the huge lock to see that the new water turbine has been largely
completed in place of the old lock, between the new(er) lock and the
weir.
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| Nottingham Forest FC's City Ground |
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| rowers before the old railway bridge, which is now a road bridge |
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| the Brian Clough stand, God bless him |
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| kayakers zooming past, with new development behind on the North bank |
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| millionaire's mansion |
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| more rowers to be aware of! |
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| more North bank development |
The lower mooring we chose (where the warning signs are!) had bollards, and was easier to disembark from, but there is a 25cm (10") ledge just below the surface. Fat fenders and loose ropes are one answer.
Later, we chilled. A dog from a boat opposite barked continually
until dusk, whenever it saw anyone move: We wondered how its owners
and boating neighbours coped! Thank goodness our daughter Rachel has
trained Honeypie not to bark. HP is sweet and very well behaved,
thanks to Rachel, who took her for a full course of training as a
pup. As HP was her first dog, Rachel was careful to learn the correct
ways to train her dog. Really, it is the owner who needs the
training, of course!
NB Mulcibar arrived with Clive, who told us that the water leak
turned out to be from the water tank/pipes, not through the hull,
thankfully. He was stocked up with water containers for the moment.
John looked some Boating Association charts for him to borrow for the
voyage down the Trent to Newark and Torksey. After dusk, bright
lights shone on the white water kayakers still busy yards fron our
boats. On TV, Autumnwatch showed the beauty of New England in the
Fall.
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| Liana and Honeypie by the adjacent White Water Course |
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| the mooring and the view upriver at Holme Lock |
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| Annie's mooring above Holme Lock, looking towards weir sluices and lock |
Thursday 18 October: down the
River Trent to Newark plus advice on preparation for navigating the
Trent (21 miles, 5 river locks)
We cannot recommend the beautiful voyaage down to Newark enough: The
Trent here is wide and scenic, like the Middle Loire in France –
truly! Bird watchers will enjoy many hundreds of wildfowl. We even
saw a small solitary white Egret. The huge locks and weirs are
impressive, but straight forward to use. There is some advice below.
The newest Pearsons Canal Guide to the East Midlands takes you down
the non-tidal Trent through Newark, to Cromwell Lock. It includes
lock telephone numbers on the maps. He writes so wittily and
informatively that we love to read his books. However, you need more
than this guide to navigate tidal and non-tidal Trent. We travelled
from above Holme Lock, by the 4km way post, to the 38km way post by
the CRT offices Kiln pontoon moorings at Newark, using the Boating
Association River Trent (Non-Tidal) Chart. As well as showing where
to place your boat in shallow stretches, this has all the telephone
numbers of locks and VHF info you may require, available for about
£10. We find these charts essential: You can Google them before your
trip. “Narrowboat on The Trent” by John Lower is available from
the Chesterfield Canal Trust. We know John and wife Barbara, who are
members of RWBC, with forty years experience of navigating the Trent.
He explains how to calculate passage using the tides, bearing in mind
that High Tide (HT) at Hull is long before HT at Keadby. HTs at West
Stockwith,Torksey and Cromwell are later still. Water flows upstream
for only an hour or two at Flood Tide, so you can see why we advise
you to contact the lock keepers at Cromwell Lock the day before you
intend to go down river on the tidal section. The lock keepers at
Torksey and West Stockwith will advise you, too. Set up your
anchor(s) and fit longer ropes front and back before setting out, as
the locks are high. Wear life preservers in deeper waters. John
Lower's book has all the advice needed for a safe passage.
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| leaving Holme Lock |
John contacted the Holme lock keeper on VHF Channel 74, and he
prepared the lock for us. We always have a charged mobile ready, in
case VHF is too crackly, or if lock keepers don't hear it while busy
at their lock. The signs used are: RED=wait, RED and GREEN=wait while
we set lock for you, GREEN=enter lock, ORANGE=boater operation after
hours. Both Annie and NB Mulcibar entered once we saw the green
light, and we continued in convoy all the way to Newark. You pass
through five locks, at Holme, Stoke Bardolph, Gunthorpe, Hazleford
and Newark Town. All the lock keepers are helpful, and ring ahead,
too.
Once through Holme Lock, we soon passed under the impressive
Radcliffe on Trent Rail viaduct, then the massive red cliffs which
give the town its name. John contacted Stoke Bardolph Lock, and the
others, on VHF when we were a mile away, to give them time to prepare
it for us.
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| railway viaduct |
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| red cliffs at Radcliffe-on-Trent |
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| approaching Stoke Bardolph lock and weir |
Fishermen were abundant. The river sweeps around wide
bends through water meadows with lots of birds, through the wide
arches of Gunthorpe Bridge to the popular Gunthorpe wharf and lock.
Liana passed Clive a cup of tea, as he was single handed.
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| lots of wildfowl, including Canada and Greylag Geese, plus gulls |
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| cormorants, too |
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| Gunthorpe Wharf and Lock |
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| green light at Gunthorpe, Liana ready with rope to loop around risers in lock |
On the way
to Hazleford Lock we saw plenty of aeroplanes and gliders, probably
from RAF Syerston, close by the river. More sweeping bends take you
past the Bromley Arms at Fiskerton, the lovely parkland of East Stoke
Hall (scene of the bloody Battle of Stoke Field in 1487, in which no
quarter was given), Farndon Marina, the new Staythorpe Power Station,
impressive Averham Weir and on to Newark Dyke, Marina and town. On a
sunny day like today, it can't be beat!
Newark has plenty of decent shops and a thriving market several days
a week. This was packing up as we walked around. Wetherspoons are not
dog friendly, but we found the Prince Rupert pub nearby, full of
character and very welcoming: Honeypie was made a fuss of by staff,
and the beer and coffee were good, too. Liana found material in Boyes
for her quilts. Liana popped into Aldi for good, inexpensive Indian
meals, while John walked the dog.
Friday 19 October: from Newark to
Cromwell Tidal Lock and on to Torksey( 21 miles, 2 river locks)
Using the Boating Association River Trent (Non-Tidal) and (Tidal)
Charts, from way post 38km at Newark to 72km at Torksey, we travelled
34km, or 21 miles, today.
John
radioed through on VHF, and the friendly lock keeper saw Annie and
Mulcibar through Nether Lock.
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| approaching Newark Nether Lock past weir and under ring road |
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| leaving Nether Lock for the five mile trip to Cromwell in the sun |
Under the A1 in the sun, we had a cool
but scenic journey to Cromwell Lock.
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| North Muskham moorings by the pub |
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| approaching Cromwell Lock, visitor moorings on left, lock moorings and services beyond, before lock |
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| Cromwell tidal Lock and weir. Ask the lock keepers' advice. |
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| it's big |
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| lock moorings below lock |
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| we used to see aggregate barges loading here at Besthorpe |
On VHF, John had asked about
timing and tides. In the Lock, we were told we could go anytime, as
the tidal range was tiny here, so off we went, past fishermen below
the gushing weir, past the old mill at Carlton on Trent, Besthorpe
Gravel Wharf and avoiding the invisible sunken island at Normanton
Stakes. In the past, John has paused for a snack (carefully) at the
ski jetty before Fledborough Rail Viaduct, when single handed. Clive
followed Annie carefully, and used the Boating Association Chart we
had lent him, navigating safely through Dunham bridge and Rack, and
the shoals around Laneham.
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| water ski club jetty |
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| Dunham Bridge, stay right going downstream |
Butler's Island is normally awash. Today,
the level is so low that four feet of land showed, plus a forty yard
sand spit downstream of the island, never seen before by us. Boxing
the compass past the huge towers and modern gas turbines of Cottam
Power Station, we arrived at Torksey at about 2pm, but were told via
VHF that both boats would need to moor on the pontoon in the cut
below Torksey Lock.
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| Butler's Island |
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| Torksey cut in sight! |
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| Annie moored in Torksey cut, below lock |
We walked Honeypie to the lock and along the
moorings, chatting with boaters. There are more than a hundred fancy
wooden chalets behind lovely new private moorings, opposite, at The
Elms retirement homes park. The Gainsborough-Lincoln bus has a bus
stop in their car park close to the lock, plus bus stops by the White
Swan pub down the road by the roundabout, where we popped in for a
well-earned drink or two. Staff and locals were very welcoming.
Clive had to wait until 6pm for the depth of water above the lock
cill to be enough for NB Mulcibar to ascend Torksey Lock. John helped
him through. We walked Honeypie to the pub again, and had excellent
meals, plaice & chips, and a tasty home made steak pie with mash
and peas. We will come again! We had a quiet night reading and
watching TV on Annie.
Saturday 20 October: from Torksey
to West Stockwith and the Chesterfield Canal (15 miles, 1 river lock)
John walked Honeypie to some grass in his pyjamas, as we got up late
at 0830! We wrote up diary and blog, as there was no rush today: We
were told to be at West Stockwith for slack water at 1615 (4.15pm),
so we could leave at 1415 to get there at 6 knots.
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| Torksey Lock. The tea shop is 11-3, but not on Fridays ... |
We decided to set
off at 1030 to visit Gainsborough. The river was very low, with muddy
banks showing. John made sure we kept away from shallow spots, using
the Boating Association River Trent (Non-Tidal) Chart.
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| river mooring pontoon at Torksey Lock |
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| Torksey viaduct |
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| this used to be the Spillers flour mill |
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| Gainsborough Bridge |
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| Gainsborough river moorings: We always turn to face the current before mooring |
In Gainsborough, we left Annie on the secure visitors pontoon and
visited Boyes, Lidl, other new shops and the Marshall Centre. John
bought a Lidl detail sander.
West Stockwith is about four miles past Gainsborough, which takes 30
minutes at 6 knots, plus a 2 knot current. We set off early at
3.30pm, giving ourselves 45 minutes, plenty of time ….....
dawdling, with slow current and low water, we had to speed up to get
there, with no VHF link as the banks cut out the line-of-sight
signal.
Once within sight, John found the lock keeper checking the
depth of water above the lock cill. We winded and faced upstream
against the current, but had to wait over 40 minutes just outside the
lock! The current reduced to zero at slack water (the best time to
enter the lock), and John switched off the engine near the lock to
talk to young Wilf, the lock keeper. Wilf had never known anyone do
that before! While waiting, John did a figure eight with Annie, then
lined her up against the slowly increasing flood tide. Luckily, Wilf
let us in before the Flood speeded up, although the angle to turn in
is more, coming from upstream.
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| we waited forty minutes until the water was deep enough to enter over the lock cill |
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| John was able to wait near the lock at slack water, but wanted to get in before the tide started to flood quickly! |
Once in, we chatted with Wilf and his dad, Old Wilf, who agreed to
take Annie out of the water and black her, next week. Sorted! Young
Wilf gave Liana a lift to our home, as it was on his way, so now we
have a car :) John walked Honeypie and watched Liverpool beat
Huddersfield at the Waterside pub, while regulars spoiled Honeypie.
Sunday 21 October: at home
Today we packed up, filled the car with washing, books, clothes and dog, then visited Aldi for food, plus Morrisons for diesel and air. Lots to do at home! Organised for John to return tomorrow for Annie to be taken out of the water at 1200.
