Loughborough to Nottingham

Thu 14^th Jul  Loughborough to Cranfleet Cut

Leaving our mooring at Bishop Meadow Lock, we soon joined the Soar once again, cruising through beautiful countryside, and passing through Normanton on Soar to Zouch (apparently pronounced Zotch)

Back onto the Soar

Normanton-on-Soar

Zouch Road Bridge

Zouch pronounced Zotch

Zouch Lock

There is a long river section from Zouch to Kegworth, passing under the East Midlands Airport flight path. There are views of Ratcliffe on Soar power station, one of just three coal powered power stations left in the UK. It is closing in 2024.

Ratcliffe on Soar power station

Under the flight path

Smart residence

Kegworth Deep Lock means what it says – the water just keeps on going down. Last time we were here, there was a wild fox that came very close, hoping for food.

Kegworth Deep Lock – cleared the cill

Still going down

Kegworth Deep Lock

Purple loosestrife

Kestrel

Swimmers

Kegworth Shallow Lock

Ratcliffe Lock was the last one for us today. The bottom gates were extremely stiff to move, even after they were open. After that, we completed our journey to the mouth of the Soar, which joins the Trent just above Thrumpton Weir.

Ratcliffe Lock

Wild flower profusion

Redhill Flood Lock

The mouth of the Soar

Thrumpton Weir

We took advantage of the water point near the Erewash Canal, before looking for a mooring in Cranfleet Cut. Many of the mooring rings were missing, and in other places there were obstructions under the water. We took 35 minutes to find somewhere, and even then, we could only use a centre line and a bow line.

Trent Lock water point

Water art

Cranfleet flood gates

Trying to find a mooring

Our mooring in Cranfleet Cut

The tower reflected

Super moon

3 locks, 8 miles. Dep 1100, arr 1410 Erewash water point. Dep 1450, arr 1525 Cranfleet Cut.

Fri 15^th Jul  Cranfleet Cut to Nottingham

The view from the window

We set off past a line of moored boats, and soon arrived at Cranfleet Lock, where we were pleasantly surprised to see three volunteers, who locked us through.

Cranfleet Lock

Helpful volunteers

Open gates

Then we were out onto the beautiful stretch of wide River Trent that goes past the Attenborough Nature Reserve. It is named after the small village nearby, not Sir David, although he opened it a few years ago.

Beautiful river

Paddle boarders

Hopalong looks like a classic vintage wooden cruiser, although we could not find any details online

Hopalong

Beeston Lock marks the end of the river section, and the start of Beeston Cut, which joins the Nottingham Canal, and now seems to be called the Nottingham – Beeston Canal. It runs for 5 miles before it joins the Trent again by Trent Bridge in Nottingham. There are facilities at Beeston, so we made sure our cassettes were all empty. With the extremely hot weather that is forecast, we may stay in one place for a few days.

Into Beeston Lock

Beeston Facilities

5 miles from the Trent

We set off once more, going past the headquarters of Boots, and passing the place where the Nottingham Canal used to join from the left. It is called Lenton Chain, because the canal company used to put a chain across the entrance to prevent boaters working on a Sunday.

Hawk 1927

Boots factory

Lenton Chain

Soon after this, we were delighted to find a shady mooring with rings, just after Lenton Lane Bridge (Called Claytons Bridge elsewhere). This is very close to Trent Vineyard, where we plan to go on Sunday morning. Ideal. The Lord provides.

Shady mooring

We took a tram into the centre of Nottingham, where we posted a birthday card, and had lunch in Kayal, an Indian restaurant serving Kerala cuisine. It was excellent.

Nottingham tram

Kayal Kerala restaurant

We also bought a fan from Argos, in preparation for the hot weather. Instead of going straight back on the tram, we went sightseeing in the other direction to Hucknall at the end of the line, before returning to our boat.

Our mooring in Nottingham

2 locks, 8 miles. Dep 0935, arr 1215.

Next: a few days in Nottingham, sitting out the heat in the shade.