Thorpe Salvin to Worksop

Thu 4^th Aug  Thorpe Salvin 

We heard owls in the night, which was otherwise peaceful.  We planned to go back down the locks today, but we received this email from Canal and River Trust.

James went to see for himself, and to tell the CRT guys that we were here at the top of the locks. The level had dropped in several of the pounds, and the work boats had been set adrift. There were two boats right across the canal in a dry pound.

Work boats across the canal

Low pound

The weed showing

James met a CRT man with a windlass, and he said the team had been out last night up until 1am trying to sort things out. He had been up to the reservoir to let more water down, and he didn’t think we would be able to move until Saturday. We told our various prayer groups of the situation, asking for prayer that the levels would be quickly restored.

Ruby arrived, and we told them the news. They walked down to the small shop at Shireoaks, and offered to get things for us, but we were fairly well stocked.

Ruby arriving

Increased flows down the bywashes

We contacted Don and Celia and they came from Sheffield to meet us for lunch in the village pub a mile away. At least we made use of an otherwise wasted day, and it was great to see them. It was a pleasant walk each way through woods and along the edges of fields.

Don Celia Hazel James

Walk in the woods

Red Admiral on the path

No boating today

Fri 5^th Aug  Thorpe Salvin to Shireoaks

Moored with Ruby at the top of Thorpe Locks

Our prayers had been answered, as the levels had risen in the night and all the work boats were floating again. After checking with Canal and River Trust staff we were told we could go.

Gabriel went first, and we left each lock filling for Ruby, which saved them time, and helped to conserve the water.

Starting down the top treble

The bridge is offset, and boat roofs could be damaged

Work boats afloat

We were held up while one of the work boats was being turned round, and we followed it down the locks. We saw a CRT van on a track close to the canal, and realised that they could get quite near to where they were working.

CRT vehicle

Ready for harvesting?

We reached the pound where we had experienced severe weed problems before, but this time we managed to keep going, albeit very slowly. When we arrived on the lock bollards, James removed some fishing line, a piece of cloth, and some plastic bags, as well as the weed.

Rubbish on the prop

We had an ice cream at Turnerwood before continuing our journey past a garden with lots of clipped bushes.

Turnerwood

Topiary

At Oneslide Lock, James had an incident with the windlass. As he released the paddle to wind it down, the windlass flew out of his hand spinning very fast, up into the air and landing twenty feet away. Thankfully, there was no serious injury. The next lock, Cinderhill Lock, took ages to fill, and it took all his strength to get the top gate open.

We arrived at Shireoaks, and moored on the bollards, very tired. We made use of the local fish and chip shop in the evening.

23 locks, 2 miles, 2 swing bridges. Dep 1000 arr 1420.

Sat 6^th Aug  Shireoaks to Lock Keeper, Worksop

We said farewell to Lindsey and Neil on Ruby, who had further to go, so we are unlikely to catch them up. We went into the marina to use the facilities.

Farewell to Ruby

Into the marina

Facilities

Just after we left, the trip boat also left, with guests on board. They followed us down the locks to the Lock Keeper pub. It was a warm and sunny day. The trip boat had a crew of six, so we had a bit of help.

Coming down the Shireoaks Locks

At the Lock Keeper pub, we found a boat called Wild Thyme, which was having problems with the throttle control. They had removed two springs and it seemed to work OK. We had exactly the same problem several years ago, and it is still working fine.

A Canal and River Trust man appeared, and he said the pounds were low further down. We hadn’t planned to go until Monday, but Wild Thyme decided to turn round and go back to Shireoaks Marina. We had met them there when we returned the windlass to the trip boat a week ago.

Wild Thyme

We went to Sainsbury’s to stock up.

Evening light

6 locks, 1 mile, 1 swing bridge. Dep 0950, arr 1210 including waterpoint.

Sun 7^th Aug  Lock Keeper, Worksop   

We started with breakfast at the Lock Keeper pub, which was very good value. 

Lock Keeper pub

We then walked into Worksop, along the towpath as far as Morse Lock, then along a path between the canal and Sandhill Lake, where we saw sone Great Crested Grebes and their chicks.

Great Crested Grebe family

Then through a small housing are to Dock Lane, which took us through to Poplars Church. We had a great welcome. The worship was keyboard led plus some backing tracks, with two lady vocalists. The talk was about hearing from God.

Leaders Mark and Beth

The church building had been a pub called the Golden Ball, and we were told it was where the agreement was signed for the building of the canal to Chesterfield. The Nicholson Guide says that the contract was signed in the Red Lion, Worksop, but we couldn’t find any trace of a pub with that name. Perhaps the name was changed to the Golden Ball?

We were kindly given a lift back to the Lock Keeper pub.

No boating today

Next: Hopefully, there will be enough water for our journey back through Retford to the Trent