Four days in Newark

Thu 28^th Apr  Newark

The first thing we did this morning was to go into the waterways office and renew our CRT Boat Licence. They were able to print it off on the spot for us. Then we went for a wander round Newark.

Newark Bridge

Thankfully, there is handy map of Newark close to the bridge, which we photographed and used to find our way.  The “You are here” was not always accurate though!

Newark map

We managed to collect our theatre tickets without quoting our reference number, which we had forgotten to bring with us.  All we needed was our name.  We then had a look round the Civil War Museum. 

Then back through the market, and lunch at a place called Gannets – highly recommended.  A cafe with a few main meals, very well presented, and very popular.

No boating today 

Fri 29^th Apr  Newark

More wandering round Newark today, which has lots of individual shops, which makes a change from the global businesses which occupy many of our high streets. We also loved seeing the many old buildings in the town. Here is a selection:

Old buildings in Newark

We visited the Town Hall museum where we had a good welcome and a personal tour.

The Old Town Hall

The ceiling in the banqueting hall

 Chandelier

  

In the evening we had a meal at Zizzi’s with Hazel's cousin Rod and his wife Mary. It was good to catch up with them, although the menu was limited for a meat lover like Rod.

Mary had brought our post, which included our postal ballot papers which we filled in later, ready for posting. 

No boating today

Sat 30^th Apr  Newark

We made a few phone calls. One was to Cromwell Lock to check tides and departure times.  Another was to the “Church of Promise” to finalise and confirm their offer of a lift.

Old building frontages on the waterfront

Newark Castle

We crossed over the river via the lock, and found old warehouses converted to modern uses.

Old warehouse

Then we went for a walk to see the Queens Sconce, a civil war fortification that we had learnt about in the museum. It was quite a large mound considering it was all built with picks and shovels, and in a hurry.

Sconce

It was when we were in the market that we realised we had left the post on the boat!

We went to Morrisons to stock up with provisions, before returning to the boat, by which time we had missed the post.

In the evening we took our post (including ballot papers) and put it in the box at the post office – next collection Tuesday, as it is a holiday weekend. Hopefully the votes will reach where they should by Thursday. 

We had a lovely meal at a Thai restaurant, before strolling to the theatre for the Simon and Garfunkel story.  It was basically a concert, with some explanation and stories between songs. The musicians were very good, and it was a great evening, but we were disappointed that they didn’t sing Sounds of Silence.

Theatre tickets

Sun 1^st May  Newark

We wanted to fire up the Webasto for some hot water this morning, but it wouldn’t start because the batteries had run a bit low. We started the engine and it worked fine.  This is the first time we have run the engine since we arrived on Wednesday. The solar panels must be doing something right.

We met Louis outside Zizzi’s and he gave us a lift to Church of Promise.  In hindsight, if we had known accurately where the church was, we could have walked it via a footbridge further downstream.  It was a family church, with worship led by Louis on a Takamine 12 string guitar, supported by drums, bass, and a young lady vocalist.  Then a sermon with lots of Bible references.

Church of Promise

After coffee and chat we were kindly given a lift by another couple to our next rendezvous in Windsor Road, where we enjoyed catching up with Caroline and Shirley. We had a good time sharing our news and reminiscing.  Caroline used to be our lodger in Cobham for eight years.  They now have three cats in the house.

Caroline and Shirley

Hazel Caroline James (taken by Shirley)

No boating this morning. See next entry for what happened in the afternoon, as we headed for the Tidal Trent.