Nottingham to Newark - the English Loire

 Tuesday 29 September a beautiful day on the River Trent (22 miles, 5 locks)

John finished the delicious calves liver with bacon, eggs, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast, after which we awaited daughter Rachel with her lovely dog Honeypie, popping in on her way North to see friends in Alnwick. We were able to sit put in the sun and enjoy the view.

It was late morning before we unmoored and turned downriver in the sunshine under blue skies, under Trent Bridge to Holme Lock. The North bank redevelopment proceeds apace, new apartment blocks filling the riverside. With our vhf radio receiving only, John used the IPhone to contact the lock. The lock keepers then passed news of our passage from lock to lock via vhf.

Liana steered us through the curving Radcliffe railway viaduct, past the cliffs to Stoke Lock.

Wildfowl abound on the riverbank and meadows around Burton Joyce and The Hams. 

At Gunthorpe, the lock was ready for us. As we left, the water from the weir was foaming. We passed anglers and walkers on the Idyllic five mile trip to Hazleford Lock, where we waited a while for a large Dutch barge to come up.

For much of the final eight mile stretch to Newark, Dehli motored up alongside, so we enjoyed shouted conversations and took photos. At Fiskerton, the architect designed glass fronted riverside house is For Sale, but Liana couldn’t find it online.

Round the scenic bends of East Stoke, famous for a bloody War of the Roses battle, we went, Going lime astern as large cruisers approached, past plenty of anglers to Farndon, then on to the ever modernising Staythoroe Power Station, now with its German gas turbines.

Past Averham Weir we entered Newark Dyke, passed under the ring road and were impressed by the newly constructed basin at Newark Marina, which looks to have pontoons suitable for narrowboats. 

 

As it was after 5pm, Jan and Liana operated Town Lock, after which we both found spaces on the CRT Office visitors moorings (2 days per year only!). Either one top gate paddle wouldn’t close or the top cill is damaged, as water was surging in and pushing Annie about. It was good that John had a rope around a bollard.