Onwards and Upwards to the River Soar

Thursday 10 September  Nottingham To Zouch (14 miles, 5 locks, 3 flood locks)

The new brick buildings opposite the Sainsbury’s moorings are nearly finished: Men were removing scaffolding and bricking up the small holes it made.We shopped there early to avoid crowds, apart from staff filling shelves. 

The three mile journey To Beeston River Lock was sunny and pleasant, with plenty of joggers and cyclists. Two live aboard boats were moored on the lock mooring, rather selfishly. We moored on a pontoon in the lock entrance, but John had to reverse Annie to allow an oncoming widebeam boat to leave the lock.

The four mile river passage to Cranfleet is very pretty. First, we passed Beeston Marina, with lots of boats on the riverside, including a LCVP (landing craft vehicles & personnel). On the south bank we passed chalets and caravans at various points.

By Burton Island, dredging was in progress.

Reaching Cranfleet, we shared the lock with NB April Fool, and had a nice chat

Turning sharply once at the yacht club, we passed above the weir onto the River Soar. We soon passed more chalets near Redhill Flood Lock and Marina, shich was busy.

At Ratcliffe Lock, and at Kegworth Deep Lock, we helped a cruiser through, after which the friendly widebeam crew following helped us!

 Thank you and sorry we forgot your boat names! We heard that a lady had jumped off Kegworth bridge and been rescued by a boater, just before we got there.

The last three miles are scenic and rural, and we have stopped at our usual mooring on Zouch Cut, near the Rose & Crown pub, normally visited and enjoyed by us and family. We shared Zouch Lock with hireboat Dominique and her friendly, experienced boater crew. Bon voyage!

Nottingham

 Wednesday 9 August on to Trent Bridge and Nottingham (4 miles, 2 locks)

We got bumped by a careless boater trying to moor next to us In the dusk at Holme Pierrepoint, John did Not sleep well, for some reason, but we set off once the dark skies became blue and the sun shone.

The two mile journey upriver to Meadow Lane Lock near Trent Bridge was lovely. 

 A rower kept us company, while people waved from the bank. 

Reaching the lock, we found the pontoon occupied by a CRT crew renovating it. We were the third boat waiting, so two of us breasted up on a pontoon just past the lock. 

 Then the boat that bumped us, NB Sleepy Jean, arrived. The CRT crew let them moor with them while we reversed and entered the lock with NB April Fool.

Liana had to ask a live aboard boater to move his boat along so we could use the services. Once loo cassettes we’re emptied and water tanks filled, we continued beside the London Road, which most people don’t realise is twenty feet up above the old water meadows. Four boats were moored along this stretch, using old rings, so it must be getting better here. We passed a motorised raft type trip boat, too! 

Turning the sharp corner, we operated Castle Lock and passed all the new buildings before and after the old canal museum and magistrates court.

After mooring in our usual spot near Sainsbury’s, we lunched and Liana biked back along the towpath to see her mum again, while John did boat jobs.

On to the National Watersports Centre

 Tuesday 8 September Gunthorpe to Holme Pierrepoint (8 miles, 2 locks)

After a leisurely start to the day, while a number of boats passed by, we set off upriver in the sun. At 1400 revs, a bit more than usual as the current was noticeable, Annie passed a couple of boats on the way to Stoke Bardolph Lock, where we found Valhalla stuck on the sandbar below the lock, surrounded by orange buoys. Not their week! A steep learning curve.

We had been warned to aim at the weir, then turn hard right at the last moment to avoid sandbar, then sharp left into the lock. Three of us secured and waited for Valhalla to join us. We all had a good laugh and chat in the lock as it filled slowly. Valhalla’s bowthruster stopped working, so she drifted across to Annie. 

Holme Pierrepoint is the home of the National  Watersports Centre. We watch the canoeists on the adjacent white water course.

We decided to moor above the lock on the low landing, despite there being a ledge below the waterline. Our tyre helped a bit. We got our bikes out and visited Liana’s mum, Flo. After tea, we got the bikes out again and cycled around the rowing course, which is over 2000 metres long. We watched the white water kayakers and passed lots of walkers, joggers, runners and cyclists doing the same thing as us. We found another lagoon with loads of floating rafts, marking water Polo or Netball “pitches”, we guessed. 

We saw another lovely sunset.

 

Running aground on the Trent

 Monday 7 August Newark to Gunthorpe (13 miles, 3 locks)

We took time to relax. John has liver, bacon and egg for breakfast - yum! Then we walked around Newark’s interesting, quite historic and improving town centre. Setting off about 1100, we passed through Newark Town Lock, but our VHF radio elicited now response again. Newark Marina is having major improvements and enlargement. Abergavenny Weir preceded the developing power station, now using gas turbines. At Farndon, we came across NB Valhalla grounded on shallows On the bend opposite the marina. The man was standing up to his waist on the sandbank, next to the boat! As Liana passed them a line, a tug appeared, so he asked us to carry on and leave it to the tug. We hope they don’t get a big bill!

We admired the modern looking house just before the Crompton Arms at Fiskerton.

John ran Annie onto a sandbar at the entrance to Hazleford Lock, but Jane the lockie opened lock paddles to flush Annie off, with throttle in full reverse, too! Apparently two out of three buoys had been torn away so there was little warning. Once in the lock, Jane told us all about the sandbar and warned us about another upriver at Stoke Bardolph Lock. John explained what had happened to Valhalla, when Jane said she had expected her before Annie. Apparently a dredger is due later this week. It rained on the five mile trip to Gunthorpe, so we stopped above the lock for the night. The lockie told us that Valhalla’s poor skipper had fallen in at Hazleford Lock, so it really wasn’t his day! He eventually arrived and moored safely, with help from the lockie. We hope their misadventures haven’t put them off boating.

Up the Trent

 Sunday 6 September West Stockwith to Newark (36 miles, 3 locks)

RWBC electricity reading 2283

Engine hours 

152 litres of diesel @ 70p from Mick Ogden at West Stockwith 

Last night, John changed the oil filter, to see if this helped reduce oil use. We will see! 

We roused ourselves before 0800, moved Annie to fill up with fuel, emptied loo holding tanks and locked down at 0900, helped by lockie Jim.

The fifteen miles to Torksey passed uneventfully. Weather was sunny with some wind and cloud, and scenery was lovely, as usual. Several large white cruisers passed us going downriver, while a narrow boat caught up with us, but stopped at Torksey. John contacted Torksey Lock using VHF, and they said they would inform Cromwell Lock we were on our way.

At Marnham, the water skiers were out in force, zooming past us.

 Today we have seen well over a hundred anglers , mostly south of Dunham Bridge all the way to Newark.

 For the last hour before Cromwell Lock, torrential rain bucketed down. John got very damp, despite his wet weather gear, but the anglers fished on!

At Cromwell, the pontoons were full, but the weather cleared, so we continued through Newark Nether Lock to moor below Newark Town Bridge. Later, it rained heavily again!

Down to West Stockwith

 Saturday September 5 Chesterfield Canal (9 miles, 4 locks)

Thankfully, we have had a decent day’s weather! Setting off from Clayworth, we avoided a few islands of weed, and passed three oncoming boats in the first mile! The canal is only one third width in many places, due to the lilies, sedge and other weeds.

Today has been a good day to enjoy the start of Autumn: The deep red berries adorn the hawthorn, while the bunches of green seeds weigh heavy on the ash trees hanging over the cut.  Green acorns hang from oaks, while Small White butterflies seek the last pink flowers of the Rose Bay Willowherb, lost among the ripened seed heads bordering the canal.

Before Drakeholes tunnel we saw a Kingfisher swooping along the canal ahead of us. John had to honk the horn as a canoeist started into the tunnel from the other end, as we entered. Very sensibly, she turned and waited for us to pass, when we had a laugh together.

After a deeper section near Drakeholes, the canal was often shallow, and really needs dredging.

The two Grindley Locks were ok: Shaw Lock had top gates open, possibly because they were very leaky, filling the lock, after which the wind blew them open?

The  marina at the brick kiln site has not made much progress. Throughout the day, we saw lots of walkers, bikers and anglers enjoying their Saturday.

John was allowed to buy sausages, smoked bacon and liver from the excellent butchers in Misterton, opposite the Coop. He rang lock keeper Jim at West Stockwith to organise our trip up the Trent tomorrow. We go with the flood tide at 0900 all the way to Cromwell Lock, 28 miles, reaching there about 1500 / 3pm, hopefully, weather permitting.

September Adventure

 Friday September 4 Chesterfield Canal

We have had a week at home, catching up on people and jobs at home. Over the long bank holiday weekend, daughter  Rachel and her friend Pip (who both keep thrashing us at Settlers of Catan, using Zoom online) took Annie from West Stockwith ten miles and four locks past our base at Clayworth. They had a relaxing time, and enjoyed the scenery.

Today, we have carried on to Retford, where John winded Annie and returned her to RWBC at Clayworth, where we spent the night. The canal between Whitsundaypie Lock and the Boat Inn at Hatton is shallow with many huge islands of floating weeds. We were told they were torn out by a speeding maniac steering hire boat Robin Hood, who also bumped club boats and bridge on the way through.

The sunset was beautiful.