Jannock has a holiday

Sunday 20th June 2021

After a busy night of calls, we started Father’s day with a cooked breakfast before moving a couple of hundred metres up the canal to Nottingham Castle marina.

One of the benefits of Brinklow marina being purchased by Castle marinas is that we are entitled to up to twenty nights free stay in other Castle Marina locations per year. Graham has booked Jannock into Nottingham for 14 days to allow us to go home for a while. The marina has it's own colony of geese on the grass outside. The guardians of the goslings bring them around the boats to teach them to beg.

One we’d had a pump-out and moved onto our temporary berth, Graham went off on the Di Blasi to fetch the car from Langley Bridge where it’s been sat since 3rd June.

 

He was back in just over an hour so we had lunch, packed up, loaded the car and left Jannock in a nice secure environment for a couple of weeks. Just before we left, Graham spotted this Heron walking the pontoon by Jannock’s bow looking for a likely dinner through the slats.

 

Our timing was spot on because it started to rain again just as we were leaving Nottingham.

G&B

On the canal again

Saturday 19th June 2021

We left our tall concrete mooring at 9am and made our way up the Trent towards Nottingham. At Stoke lock, even though we had recce’d the shoal last time we were here, and rung ahead to let the lockie know we were coming, the current from the weir stream forced Jannock sideways and we ended up with the bows stuck on the gravel bank. The marker buoys placed by CaRT to warn boaters bear no relationship to the actual location of the hazard. Luckily a bit of heavy reversing got shallow drafted Jannock unstuck and we had another go and successfully got around the obstacle this time.

 

On the next section of river we watched a family drama play out on the river side. Mum, Dad, about 5 years old daughter and old family dog. The daughter had one of those plastic ball launchers with a ball fitted into the end. Dad wanted a go and was wrestling the item from daughters grip which caused her to cry. The dog was at the waters edge but not paying much attention to the on-going drama. Having gained control of the thrower, Dad hurled the ball way out into the river, probably further than was a good idea for a retrieve, but then the dog wasn’t watching anyway and had no idea that it had gone, let alone where to! It stood watching it’s ball-less master in anticipation and ignored all attempts of them to alert him to it’s whereabouts. Too late – little girl realised she wasn’t going to get a go at all now and the crying escalated to almost a temper tantrum. She was having a right paddy when they went out of sight behind the bushes. Just goes to show that a Dad is much better off if he has two balls!

 

We also passed this fisherman whose dog looked like he was ready to retrieve any fish he caught. There are several examples of flood damage still to be seen on the Trent, like the boat below.

 

Up through Holme lock to find loads of sailing boats crewed by kids having a good time on the river. We kept over to the starboard bank and their ‘guardian angel’ in a small power boat remained between us and it’s sailors all the time.

 

At Park End lock we ascended sharing with another narrowboat onto the Nottingham and Beeston canal. We continued on but shared City lock with yet another boat that was already there when we arrived. We moored for the night just before Sainburys where the office buildings shielded us from the local road noise and gave us a very quiet night. After some shopping we had dinner and then Graham did another night of controlling the SERV-OBN blood bikes from the boat. Unfortunately all his calls came between 2 am and 6:30 am so he was very tired in the morning.

G&B

Back through a serviceable Gunthorpe lock

Friday 18th June 2021

We left Maskam Ferry at 09:00 as planned accompanied by the little cruiser. The other narrowboat had set off on their trip after being told that the new cratch cover they had ordered was not ready – however they’d received a call saying that it was now ready and the company would deliver it to where the boat was and fit it there so they had to await the arrival of the van.

At Newark Nether lock a CaRT engineer was fitting a new yellow paddle flow warning sign to one of the top gates. It was about half the size of the old sign so was probably saving money, but we couldn’t read it from our location within the lock. Brenda asked the lock keeper what it said but he couldn’t read it either. He had to walk right up to the gate before he could. Nice one CaRT – new signs that cannot be read by the target audience!

We passed through sharing with the little cruiser who then continued solo towards their appointment with their daughter in Nottingham whilst we stopped on Newark visitor pontoon, Brenda went to Waitrose for supplies whilst Graham stayed and refilled Jannock’s water tank. As we left Newark the Fire and Rescue service were practicing rescuing people from the water.

 

During our long and very wet run from Newark to Gunthorpe we were amazed at the number of fishermen and their fisher villages that had sprouted up since the start of the new season. There were none during our down stream run last week.

 

We were pleased that Gunthorpe lock is now repaired and back in service, however the duty lockie advised us that there was no lock keeper working at Stoke lock, this is the next one which has a gravel shoal by the lock landing which has caught out quite a few boats since the floods created it. It is ideal if you can enter the lock from the weir side to avoid grounding on the shelf.

We decided to stop above Gunthorpe but all the visitor pontoons were full of other boats waiting for tomorrow and so we ended up hanging on a tall lock approach wall.

 

Graham fancied trying the showers in the sani-station but just like Brentford, the facilities block door is locked with a digital key press lock. A notice on the lock keepers hut stated that we should ring the CaRT 24hr emergency number to obtain the code. Graham did this and the relevant codes arrived by text message after leaving details with the call handler. Using the code, he accessed the block to find the shower locked and ‘out of order’ due to vandalism – what’s the point?

G&B

The Tidal Trent

Thursday 17th June 2021

After quite a noisy night moored between a main road and a railway we were not looking forward to our 12:30 passage out of Torksey lock onto the tidal Trent as we awoke to rain and drizzle. It was a shame as we had been spoilt with two weeks of glorious weather so far. It couldn’t have been better if we’d been boating in the South of France – take that Covid!

We held off departure until 9:45 for our run from Saxilby to Torksey and then Graham set off just as the wet weather ceased – good timing! When we arrived at the lock there were two narrowboats and a small cruiser were already waiting. The two narrowboats breasted up to allow us to moor just as a gust of wind blew Jannock’s stern out. We were then joined by another narrowboat who breasted up to us with a hefty clout amidships.

 

The crew of the small cruiser, or ‘plastic’ as he called it, were concerned about sharing a lock with big steel boats and then looked amazed when the lock keeper told him that they would be sharing the lock with all four of us. We assured them that narrowboaters are mostly experienced, there’s plenty of room,you’ll be fine, we’ll look after you. We even convinced them that staying with the narrowboats rather than rushing off alone would be safer should something happen.

The gates opened and we went in, two by two with them tucked in at the back. All ropes secured we descended past all the teapots sat on the centre gate beams and down to river  level. Ropes were loosed as the bottom gates opened but then one gate would not open fully due to having an obstacle trapped behind it so lots of reversing to allow the front two boats out before we all followed on in single file.

 

The trip to Cromwell lock took about 3.25 hours and once through we found that the visitor pontoon was full. The first two narrowboats were stopping on the lock waiting wall and we decided to continue on and stop at the Muskam Ferry pontoon. The other narrowboat and the cruiser also decided to do the same which made mooring difficult with a change of plan part way through the exercise. This can be seen at the end of the time lapse video for this trip at https://youtu.be/NdU1nCOsIR0

When we had all moored up we found that the cruiser crew had just learnt that their cat had died at home so plans were made to meet up for a Covid safe natter in the pub later swapping tales of the idiocies of life and talking of boats and journeys. We all plan to leave at 9am tomorrow morning. It was nice to see that the Grammer Police had made it into the Gents toilet before Graham

 

G&B

Through Lincoln to Saxilby

Wednesday 16th June 2021

It seems that the RAF Typhoon pilots only stop for a cup of tea and a slice of cake because they were back at it again in the dark, luckily they didn’t disturb us too much during the night.

 

We awoke to find the sides and windows of Jannock covered in empty insect cases, little opaque lifeless bodies. We wondered what they became?

 

Graham set off and quickly rigged up the automatic pilot to make the long straight sections of the river Witham less arduous. Luckily Jannock’s tiller/ rudder is always pulling in one direction so a simple rope and slip knot allowed him to do other things whilst the boat continued in a straight line. It still needs the steerer to pay attention to direction but does not need to constantly hold the tiller. It was noticeable that today is the first day of the new fishing season.

 

We were overtaken by a cruiser at speed about 5 km from Bardney lock. On our arrival there he was moored up, the lock was empty and the gates just apart. Hmmm! Then an elderly guy walked across to the cruiser and untied it whilst instructing a young lad on what to do. Graham helped out as well. He passed through the lock and then just went off. It appeared that the young lad was not with the boat at all, he was just passing and the old guy had coopted him to help.

We then passed through the lock ourselves but the total time was about 45 minutes including working the cruiser through as well. Then onto Lincoln and Stamp End lock that we shared with a narrowboat that had pulled out of Bardney moorings while we were coming up the lock. Then we moored up outside the shopping centre in the shade of a nice shady tree. After a rest time in the shade we went for a walk around Lincoln buying some clothes for Graham and some cheese to replace the dodgy stuff we rejected after purchasing it Monday in Boston. Lincoln is a pretty city indeed.

 

When it had cooled a bit, we set off and moved to moor for the night a Saxilby via the CaRT rubbish bins at the sani-station in Brayford pool (located at marker post 17km) On arrival, all the spaces were taken with the exception of one too short for Jannock so we pulled across to the other side and pegged into the verge. Shortly after we were secure, a small plastic cruiser that was moored in the centre of a large space, pulled out and left but we were settled now so no point moving.

Tidal Trent tomorrow afternoon so I suspect the Autopilot will be used again.

G&B

Woodhall Spa

Tuesday 15th June 2021

We made up a days delay yesterday so we will not tarry today. We reversed out of our mooring and set off North back towards Lincoln. As we passed Antons Gowt again we met a group of women ‘wild swimming’ – it must be good for you because we could hear the chatter and laughter well before we got to them, about seven in total all closely followed by a fluorescent orange inflatable float.

We stopped at Langrick bridge again and filled up with 135 litres of diesel at 92ppl. Brenda would like to say that her one pound sunglasses from Primark and her Aussie leather hat rescued from a skip have served her very well this trip.

We arrived at Kirkstead bridge hoping to moor for the night but it was full. The gent on the last boat offered to move up a bit to let us in so we moored Jannock’s stern to the pontoon and put out a mud weight on the bow rope to keep the bows into the bank.

 

After a rest to let the weather cool down a bit, we walked up to Woodhall Spa, it looked an interesting place in Nicholsons. Turns out that it’s a small but expanding village with a very large history. It was indeed a Spa in the 1800s when an attempt to sink a coal mine shaft flooded with mineral rich water. It became home to 4-5 thousand servicemen & women during WW2. Many left for the front by train from the station, now a private house, next to the river. The Royal Square Gardens used to be a hotel which billeted troops but was destroyed by a ‘marker bomb’ presumably destined for the nearby bomber airfield – luckily no-one was in that night so no casualties.

 

The gardens now have a ‘Dambusters’ memorial as well as another dedicated to all members of 617 Sqn who have lost their lives in action since 1945. We enjoyed seeing the re-use of a telephone box to house an ATM as well as a phone.

 

Returning to Jannock we ate sat in the shade on the pontoon listening to the Typhoons from RAF Coningsby who are practicing take-offs, landings and formation flying above us.

G&B

Boston (and Skegness)

Monday 14th June 2021

Our overnight mooring was surrounded by a primeval swamp: great mats of slimy intertwined floating weed. First job was to get out from the mooring without completely clogging up the prop like when we arrived. We untied the back and Brenda held the front on the pontoon with the bow rope and then Graham poled the back end of the boat out until it was clear of the weed. Brenda jumped aboard and Jannock reversed out of the slime with just a small amount around the prop which cleared quickly using bursts of forward and reverse.

 

On to Boston, past Antons Gowt where the navigable drains join the Witham and down the straight towards the ‘Stump’ (Boston Church spire)  We passed the visitor moorings, observing the only free space on them, winded just below and then returned and moored in said space. We then filled with water from the adjacent water point.

 

Talking of the ‘Stump’, the church builders certainly knew how to build a landmark. Coming down the river you cannot help but admire it, you know you have arrived. 2021 objective 1 achieved, hark I hear a seagull – objective 2 awaits.

We left the boat and walked along the river bank into central Boston, hoping to re-provision. We admired the ‘Stump, St Botolphs church from close up, and many lovely old buildings in the market area. There were many of the usual town centre shops there but not a supermarket that we could see. Rather than return to the boat, we caught a bus to Skegness instead, having grabbed a pasty to share from the butchers next the bus stop. Objective 2 of this trip in progress.

 

The journey took 75 mins on a circuitous route around many villages between Boston and Skeggy. It was quite the scenic tour. Skegness was just what we expected except …… the sun was warm and the sea was warm to paddle in. The beach was not crowded and it is glorious sand. We walked along the shallows enjoying just paddling while watching the sea swimmers.

 

Then up onto the pier for a cup of tea and to get the sand out of our toes. Back into town we found the civic gardens, a quiet shady haven with a childrens play park and toilets. By this time we were hungry so it had to be fish and chips. Once fed it was back through the town to the bust station and home via a supermarket in Boston (conveniently near the bus station) A busy day and what a treat!

The timelapse video of arriving at Boston can be watched at https://youtu.be/PYyDqqJJ22I

B&G

A three snake sort of day

Sunday 13th June 2021

Wildlife of the day – Three snakes a swimming.

Despite being moored alongside the railway line to Lincoln, we had a quiet night – weekend timetable, no commuters into Lincoln and no freight after 7pm – lovely!

A cloudless sky greeted us when Graham set off at 8:45, it’s been warm but overcast on recent mornings. If the bit of bank where we pegged in hadn’t been so steep we might have explored Burton Waters marina / housing estate combo last night – it looks huge!

 

We passed through Lincoln and out through the Glory Hole to Stamp End lock. This has a vertical lift top gate and standard mitre bottom gates with hydraulic paddle gear. The CaRT instructions for operating the electric gate confused Brenda so she steered Jannock through whilst Graham worked the lock – a good job to because the bottom gates were very heavy and she would have struggled to get it open.

The River Witham is wide and slow with few other boats moving on this wonderful Sunday. We did meet paddleboarders and canoeists and get lots of waves from cyclists and walkers going along the path alongside which used to be a railway line – now SUSTrans controlled.

We passed Jannock’s limit of navigation when we came down here in 2005, Bardney moorings, and continued on through Bardney lock which was a standard mitre lock with windlasses attached to work the paddles.

 

We passed the Golden Syrup works at Bardney immediately after negotiating our way through all the swimmers and paddlers congregated at Bardney bridge. On down past Kirkstead where more swimmers and paddlers were enjoying the water on this very hot day.

We spotted three snakes swimming in the river in total, two had light coloured marks on their heads whilst the third was plain. We had to deploy the parasol on Jannock’s cruiser stern for health and safety reasons – no nice big shady trees to stop under on the Witham unlike the canal system.

We continued down to Langrick Bridge where there was one space left on the visitor mooring pontoon, albeit absolutely clogged with weed – so much that it wrapped itself around the prop and shaft and caused Jannock’s engine to create lots of black smoke whilst not moving us forward very well. Graham pulled the boat in using the centre rope and then had to attack the weeds using the serrated bread knife he keeps on the weed hatch lid – just in case.

 

G&B

We finally made it onto the Fossdyke

Saturday 12th June 2021

A late start today to take advantage of the tide, due into Cromwell lock for 11:00. Jannock went in first, the order having been decided on the pontoon while we waited.  A fifth boat, a large white cruiser appeared down river and signalled to us that they would be going on the starboard side of the lock – so much for planning. 

 

We went on the left and moved right to the front so that Tee-Jay could come in behind. Another cruiser appeared and wanted to join us all, except that first big white cruiser refused to move forward to allow then to come in on the end of a row of 3 cruisers. Instead they had to sit in the middle with not a lot to moor to as their ropes were so short.

Once the gates were opened, off sped all the cruisers leaving two narrowboats to enjoy the peaceful run down fifteen miles of the river Trent to Torksey lock. There were sheep and cows on the beaches and enjoying a paddle, fast boats towing towing equally fast wake boarders behind and lots of birdlife to watch during our passage.

 

Finally, turn right into Torksey lock and ascend up onto the Fossdyke, having phoned the lockie from the pontoon to let him know we were waiting below. The Fossdykes origins are obvious, a straight water road courtesy the romans.

 

Having passed this considerate boater moored on the “this area is for less able fishermen and not boaters” piling we also said farewell to our fellow travellers at Saxilby where they moored to meet relatives. We found the visitor moorings at Burton Waters were full so we passed them and moored on the bank immediately afterwards. 

 

Shortly afterwards a wooden boat arrived with a good sound system and a big barbeque in the middle of his boat who moored up in the small gap on the visitor moorings. We sat in the cratch and eat our dinner to the sounds of an Ibiza track. After an hour or so he turned off the music and left heading back towards Lincoln, from where he had come.

G&B

Through Newark to Cromwell Lock

Friday 11th June 2021

Wildlife of the day – our very own stow-away toad.

Up and at-em for 9am having been disturbed at a quarter past six by a cruiser stopping to go up Hazelford lock. Having ejected a stow-away toad from one of our fenders, we were off on a sunny but rather breezy morning.

 

We had hoped to make up some of the lost time by missing Newark and continuing on but the tide times mean that we can’t go through Cromwell lock until 11am tomorrow (Saturday) so we ended up stopping opposite the castle and heading into town on a provisions run. It’s not London so there was no extra charge ;^)

 

A slow wander into the town centre revealed a few stalls on the market place so a battery and fruit and veg were purchased. There are also a few good butchers in town, one did a diverse selection of sausages and as they were all the same price we were able to choose two of each type that we fancied and return to the boat with a selection pack. We found no milk in town so Waitrose near the station filled the gap.

 

Then there was time to complete a job started about 3 years ago, finishing off the installation of the cold and heat reflecting film that we had fitted to some windows and then stopped. It is also supposed to obscure the view of nosy parkers. We don’t mind public interest but dislike peering into others homes and privacy.

 

Then down though Newark Nether lock and under the A46 to Cromwell lock where we moored onto the outside of the visitor pontoon mooring behind a large cruiser. Our travelling companions nb Tee-Jay decided to reverse into the inside of the pontoon but the strong wind coming directly down the river foiled the first attempt but Alan got it right for his second attempt. Going down to Torksey tomorrow to join the Fossdyke.

G&B

We got through Gunthorpe!

Thursday 10th June 2021

Wildlife of the Day – Egrets and an Oystercatcher

We left the mooring pontoon and moved down to the lock landing for 9am which was about when the volunteer lockie turned up. He made his cup of tea, went into the lock control office, opened the blinds and did ????? – who knows. With two narrowboats waiting on the lock landing, in full view, he just stayed in the hut.

 

The lady from the boat we were sharing with, went up to the office and enquired about when we could pass through the lock, he said that he didn’t know any-one was waiting – obviously opening the blinds and actually looking out the window are two separate actions. We wondered how long we would have had to wait if he hadn’t been prodded by the visit.

Having successfully negotiated around the sandbar across the bottom of Stoke lock we set off towards Gunthorpe. In Leicester we’d met a boater who had been charged £580 to be towed off that obstacle and we definitely didn’t want similar to occur so we had studied it from the bank on our trip to the pub last night. Keep right and head well out into the flow downstream of the weir if you want to avoid it.

 

At Gunthorpe we moored on the pontoon visitor mooring up from the lock entrance and then walked down to suss out what was happening. The engineers were just removing a bottom gate paddle with a very bent shaft but they told us that this was another problem they had discovered whilst investigating the initial problem on the other gate. That issue was still un-diagnosed and likely to remain so until next week when they could get a diver in to see what was up.

 

Graham chatted to the foreman who said that we could possibly go down the lock when the gang removed the crane from within the lock if we were ready to go at about 4pm. Graham then cleared it with the lockie who also went and confirmed this with the foreman. Come 4 o’clock, four boats were ready and waiting on the lock landing and we managed to get through accompanied by the crane barge as well.

Brenda suggested to the lockie that this was not the sort of situation that he had volunteered for, he just grinned and said that we had no idea about what phone calls that he had had to field today. What would this country do without all the volunteers who give up their valuable time to help others?

 

We had phoned ahead to Hazelford lock so although it was past ‘going home’ time, the lockie there worked us through to find a mooring for tonight below the lock.

G&B

Stoke Lock

Wednesday 9th June 2021

We slept in a bit – even Graham! We then pottered about passing time until we got fed up so set off down river to Holme lock again where we took on water from and exceedingly slow tap.

 

Word from the lockie was that Gunthorpe lock might be open this afternoon so we decided to pass through Holme and continue down to Stoke lock. When we arrived there we found that all of the pontoon moorings were busy, with one large space being occupied by a small narrowboat moored right in the middle. Those moorers already present there took pity on us (after we had asked about mooring alongside them) and rallied to untie the badly moored boat and move it up to make room for Jannock to hang off the end of the pontoon. Thanks folks! It was either that or onto Gunthorpe which is possibly already full of moored boat waiting to go down when the lock re-opens.

 

It’s an idyllic mooring, since the sun is out the temperature was balmy and there was a cool breeze in the shade of the glorious woodland trees on the bank.

 

In the evening we walked down the Trent path, past a herd of heifers, to the Ferry Boat Inn at Stoke Bardolph for a steak dinner. The overnight mooring was very peaceful indeed. From city to deep countryside in a two hour cruise.

G&B

Another day at city hall

Tuesday 8th June 2021

Another day on the river. The sun is out and it’s promising to be hot. This is a distinct improvement on previous times on the Trent – see www.jannock.org.uk/2005.html it was cold and wet – and that’s out of the water.

Today, the engineering boat that can help fix the problem at Gunthorpe lock is busy being moved into position from Newark. With any luck the engineers will be able to fix it, at least they can identify what the problem is and we’ll be able to find out if we can continue our planned journey, or if Brenda will cry because she’s been looking forward to this trip for so long.

 

Whilst tied up, she has no excuses for not completing her physio exercise whilst Graham got chance to carry out some cosmetic repairs to Jannock’s damaged paintwork.

We wandered up to the local Coop supermarket for milk and ‘had’ to go into the Stratford Haven, a Castle Rock brewery pub next door. Much better than yesterdays watering hole (sic). Few people about so social distancing was easy. The staff were very knowledgeable about their beers and ciders.

The Coop (next door) was quite large, a proper supermarket even, and had a good selection of local bottled beers, even stocked clothes and had a post office counter as well. They also stocked both Chinese and Indian, heat it yourself, take-outs as well.

We checked out menus and decided on the Bombay Bridgeford restaurant. We had a lovely meal including an Indian spiced lamb shank and a Railway curry, an Anglo-Indian recipe from the days of the Raj. It was very filling. We then spent the rest of the evening, back on Jannock, chatting to the nb Jerome crew + plus dog ( Harley not Montmorency)

G&B

Back to Nottingham

Monday 7th June 2021

As were unable to proceed through Gunthorpe lock we decided to turn and return to Nottingham for a mooch there. The sun was out and we had the river all to ourselves, apart from the ducks, swans and geese – Perfick.

 

We moored outside County Hall and then got a bus into the city centre. Walking around it was interesting to see the history of Nottingham laid out in street names and the different styles of architecture. It’s certainly a place to visit if you are a lover of international cuisine with so many different countries represented.

We dropped into the brewhouse & microbrewery on our way back to Jannock. Graham was disappointed with the cloudy IPA that was served. We chose to sit outside, Covid and all that, so had to rely on the waitress to know what was available. When asked “what beers have you got?” she described three lagers and then just said “a bitter”  The cider selection was described as “ a mixed fruit one, it’s fruity; and an apple cider” The Lime and Soda Brenda ordered was very refreshing with a good chunk of lime in it! We suspect they rely on their riverside position rather than their microbrewery or brewing acumen to provide their clientele.

G&B

Through Nottingham to Holme Lock

Sunday 6th June 2021

In the bathroom this morning Brenda noted the quantity of hand wash and hand sanitiser alongside our Covid test kits, just in case! It reminded her of the first year we owned Jannock when we  cruised sporting a tray full of disinfectant foot bath during the Foot and Mouth epidemic in 2001 – that was a grim summer.

 

A very quiet night was spent at Beeston lock with no calls for blood bike services after 9:30pm so Graham got a decent nights sleep. We cast off in ‘grey day’ mode and made our way towards the centre of Nottingham. On the way there were interesting things to look out for, not least the other end of the derelict Nottingham canal to Langley Mill basin. We’ve now been at both ends but unfortunately not along it’s whole length.

 

Just before Castle lock Brenda spotted a Dad explaining, as best he could, to a little girl how the lock worked. We offered them a ride through the lock in the front well deck, so picked them up and then dropped them off again at the lock landing below. They all had a ‘wonderful’ time. Hyperbole to my mind, but there were wide smiles and profuse thanks after the very short ride.

 

On to Meadow Lane lock where we descended and then turned sharp right to explore the top of the navigable section by the Civic centre. The water was shared with kiddies in canoes, rowing boats – athletic types rather than boating lake, and a dragon boat. We winded and set off downstream noting that the derelict areas we saw last time we came this way are now very smart flats with river views.

 

Further downstream there were more canoes and paddleboards pootling along both river banks – the Wombles Boating Club – pulling lots of litter and other items out of the margins. Does a whole motorcycle count as litter?

When we got to Holme lock we learnt that Gunthorpe Lock (2 down) is currently closed due to upper gate leakage – possibly for a couple of days. Good job we don’t have any time constraints – what shall we do now?

 

We tied up on the visitor moorings above Holme lock and spent the afternoon doing a bit of boat maintenance and watching the canoeists doing their thing in the National Watersports Centre rapids.

A time lapse video of  our trip through Nottingham can be found at https://youtu.be/ShXV-DJ0OcU

G & B