Wednesday 28 August 2019

Torksey to Newark

Thu 22nd August  Torksey to Cromwell

Moored on Torksey visitor moorings

We had been told that the best time to leave Torksey would be 1210, so we had plenty of time this morning. We took ten minutes to cruise slowly down to the lock, and were there by 1100, in pole position on the lock bollards. The lock keeper appeared an hour later and started to fill the lock, and at 1215 we were into the lock, with three other narrowboats.

Filling the lock

Waiting for the green light

In Torksey lock

We cruised out from the Fossdyke and joined the Trent, very close to where Cottam Power Station was making clouds from its cooling towers. This is the last one to use coal and is due to close down at the end of September after 50 years of service. It was designed for thirty years, so it has done quite well.

Cottam Power Station

The river Trent twists and turns, so the power station appeared first on one side and then the other. There were few landmarks on the way to Cromwell, but the route is marked by kilometer markers, so we didn’t lose track of where we were. We kept our lead, with two of the narrowboats keeping up with us about five minutes behind. The smaller narrowboat that came through the lock was soon left behind.

Oncoming traffic

Fledborough Viaduct

Carlton Mill

We arrived at Cromwell, with the long weir to the left, and the lock cut to the right. We tied up on the waiting pontoon, and were told by the lock keeper that a boat was coming down. A beautiful red admiral butterfly decided to land on the boat, and it came through into the lock with us.

Cromwell Weir and Lock Cut

Waiting for Cromwell Lock

A Red Admiral passenger

In Cromwell Lock with Gyptian

We suggested the other two boats went first, as they were going to Newark. We had decided to stop on the mooring pontoon here at Cromwell. We found it was full, so we had to tie onto the wall, along with some large cruisers. We have never seen it so busy. People had their deck chairs out, and were having a BBQ.

2 locks, 16 miles. Dep 1215, arr 1645

Fri 23rd August  Cromwell Lock to Newark

The view from our mooring at Cromwell

Crowded moorings at Cromwell

We left our busy mooring area at Cromwell and set off early on our cruise to Newark. The river was wide, and there was a strong flow against us. It had been much easier on the tide. The Trent divides into two above Newark, with one part flowing through the town past the castle, and the other part taking a rural detour for five miles to the north of the town, emerging at a place called Crankley Point. Soon after this junction comes Newark Nether Lock.

Crankley Point

Newark Nether Lock

The lock was on self-operation when we arrived, and just as James was about to empty the lock, another narrowboat appeared above the lock. James went forward to open the gates for them, but the electronic mechanism was not lighting up the correct light bulbs, and we couldn’t get it to work. Thankfully a volunteer lock keeper arrived and operated the lock for us.

We spotted a water tap, but it was not well positioned, being set well back from the lock wall, with the need for the boat to be in the lock. When we hooked up both our hoses, we only had a trickle. The lock keeper said the next tap was at Hazelford Lock, way past Newark, so we persisted with filling the tank, until boats started to arrive in the lock.

The water tap

Boats arrive before we depart

Just upstream of the lock, the busy A46 crosses the river on a flyover, and there are some old buildings which used to have a purpose once, now all boarded up.  When we arrived in Newark, there was a space for us on the pontoon, vacated by the boat we had tried to help through the lock. We also found a water tap, right by the bows of the boat!!!

A46 flyover by Victorian canal buildings

The pontoon at Newark

The Pride of Lincoln going by – the only non-leisure traffic we saw

We nipped off to Aldi and Waitrose, both very close by, for some items we needed. Later we met Hazel’s cousin Rod and his wife Mary, and they took us in their car to a pleasant unspoilt pub called the Lord Nelson at Winthorpe.

1 lock, 5 miles. Dep 0750, arr 1010.


Sat 24th August  Newark

Flowers and riverside buildings in Newark

We had a wander around the town, looking at the sights, frequenting Wetherspoons for a cold drink at one point. Sadly, no still ciders. Eventually we had a lovely meal in Gannets.

Newark Market Place

Chimney for the old church heating system

Ceiling in St Mary Magdalen Church


Newark Castle

The Old Bridge in Newark

There were four cruisers at the upstream end of the pontoon when we first arrived early yesterday. They had chairs out, and barbecues set up, and we had to run the gauntlet of two large dogs every time we left the pontoon. The moorings here are for two days maximum. That can be interpreted several ways. We thought: arrive on Friday, have Saturday and Sunday as our two days, and leave on Monday. That might be stretching it a bit. However, these four cruisers would still be there when we left on Monday.

No boating today


Sun 25th August  Newark

We took a taxi to Boundary Road, to visit Christ Church, a not-so-traditional Anglican church. We found that the church building was closed as it was being rewired, so the service was in the church hall. We had some modern worship songs from a sound system, and a very good talk about choosing friends wisely.

Paul Franklin, vicar at Christ Church

The church building out of action.

We went off to a nearby park and consumed a picnic near the River Devon, followed by a drink in a local pub, where Hazel was the only lady when we arrived. Then an ice cream in the cafĂ©, before walking to Shirley and Caroline’s house, where it was great to catch up with friends. Caroline lived in our house for eight years in Cobham.

Shirley and Caroline

They took us back to the boat where we discovered that fireworks were happening at the castle.

Fireworks by the castle

Name suggestions for this artwork please

No boating today


Next: going upstream to Nottingham

Thursday 22 August 2019

Lincoln to Torksey

Sun 18th August  Lincoln

Lincoln visitor moorings

We left the visitor moorings and travelled through Brayford Pool and the Glory Hole, mooring up near the water point by Stamp End Lock.

This sign “Where have you been” is at the Lincoln end of Brayford Pool

We walked the very short distance to Lincoln Baptist Church, where Chris and Adrian Dann were there to greet us. The worship was keyboard led, backed up with a guitar and bass and was fairly modern. Adrian was one of the singers. The only song we hadn’t heard was a very old hymn.  The talk was based on the story of Nicodemus and his encounter with Jesus in John 3.

Lincoln Baptist Church

After the service Adrian and Chris kindly took us in their car to a Sainsbury’s supermarket, and then we all had a meal in a Hungry Horse pub nearby. They then delivered us back to the boat.

Adrian and Chris

When we set off, we went back through the Glory Hole, and as we went into Brayford Pool, we saw the flip side of the first sign.

Where are you going?

The visitor moorings were all full, but we found a space a few lengths further on, which is technically for long term mooring permit holders only. We discovered that only half the boats had the permits, so really the dividing line between visitor moorings and permit holder moorings needs to be moved, allowing more space for visitors. We planned to move in the morning anyway.

On the permit holder moorings.

Sunset

0 locks, 2 miles. Glory Hole twice.

Mon 19th August  Lincoln

We left our position on the long term moorings and cruised further out to the facilities block to empty cassettes and dispose of rubbish. We found proper recycling facilities there for a change. We then cruised back into Lincoln again, noticing the expensive visitor moorings in Brayford Pool were completely empty. 

No takers for the visitor berths at Brayford Marina

We cruised through the Glory Hole once more, mooring just the other side, opposite Wilko. The footpath on our side was temporarily closed while shop refurbishment works were happening, but there was a way through for boaters.  We saw Tommy going past on his boat.

Through the Glory Hole

Moored near the Glory Hole

Tommy on Champ Donne

We found a bus going to the Cathedral area, so we had a ride to the top of the very steep hill. We looked round the Cathedral, where they were dismantling the seating tiers from a production of Oliver, so we couldn’t see it all. Sadly, the tower tours were not happening either, but it was a very impressive place despite all the setbacks.

Chapter house exterior

Central tower

We then walked a short distance to the castle, where we walked the walls. Last time we came, many years ago, this was not open. We had visited the Victorian prison and seen the Magna Carta before, so we didn’t repeat those this time.

Prisoners graves

Victorian prison

Cathedral and Castle tower

Castle walls

We walked back down the aptly named “Steep Hill”, exploring the small shops on the way. We walked down to the boat, and then went for an Indian meal, which was excellent. It was called “The Modern Indian Cuisine” and it was in the High Street, south of the railway level crossing.

Cobbled Streets in Lincoln



Steep Hill


Back on the boat, we stayed put, and had a peaceful night until someone started setting up a large market stall at 6am, making loud clattering noises as they dropped steel poles.

Moored in the centre

0 locks, 1 mile.  Glory Hole once.

Tue 20th August  Lincoln to Saxilby

We needed to go to Stamp End Lock to turn round, before making our final run through the Glory Hole and Brayford Pool. We spotted Don’t Panic, a boat that had been next to us on the visitor moorings unoccupied. The owner had evidently arrived to move the boat, and then gone away again.

Ancient pub

Don’t Panic

Sculpture across the navigation

We left the environs of Lincoln, passing a very long line of moored boats, before arriving at our intended destination for the day, the Pyewipe Inn. Several people had recommended this place so we thought we would give it a try. The food was very good. Pyewipe apparently is an old word for Lapwing.

Pyewipe

We decided not to stay overnight, as there was a very busy road crossing the canal, and a noisy railway running alongside. We went further along the Fossdyke, which was built by the Romans.

Busy road

Fossdyke

We arrived in Saxilby, and found a long length of visitor moorings, which were full, except for one space beyond the bollards, next to the railway bridge. The trains were very noisy, but they weren’t very frequent at night. At least the busy road had moved away slightly.

Moored by the railway bridge

Saxilby Visitor Moorings

0 locks, 6 miles. Dep 1205, arr 1255 Pywipe. Dep 1740 arr 1840 Saxilby.


Wed 21st August Saxilby to Torksey


We did a few errands this morning. Hazel went to the shops for a few items, while James emptied two cassettes. In the toilet disposal there were two taps. One was very hot, and the other had a sign above saying, “drinking water”. As boaters would have rinsed their cassettes at these taps, drinking the water would not be a good plan.

We left the mooring at Saxilby to visit our friends Adrian and Chris Dann. We thought their house would be just around the corner, but it took about 15 minutes. We soon spotted their boat Essence, moored by their house.


Essence

We had a tour of their premises, which include a two-storey tower, which used to be a pumphouse for a swimming pool. It is now Chris’s craft workshop.  We stayed for a light lunch, before departing once more in the direction of Torksey.

Farewell to Adrian and Chris

We found a mooring that was not marked in the Nicholson Guide, and almost decided to moor there, but realized that the busy road ran alongside, and it would be noisy. The place had the delightful name of Drinksey Nook.

Drinksey Nook moorings.

We continued to Torksey visitor moorings where we found an abusive fisherman. We had not even remotely suggested that we were going to moor on his precious fishing spot, built for boats. Thankfully there were two more spaces available a little further on.

Torksey visitor moorings

Power station

0 locks, 5 miles, 1 passage of the Glory Hole.  Dep 1055 arr 1110 Dann’s. dep 1350, arr 1450 Torksey

Next: the tidal Trent up stream to Cromwell Lock, and then up the Trent to Newark and Nottingham. Where we go when we reach Trent Lock is still undecided.