Wed 20th Jul Nottingham to Stoke Lock
It was cooler this morning – what a relief.
We cruised to Sainsbury’s, where we were pleased to find a mooring available. We went first to Lidl for their bread which we like, and we ended up with a bag full of shopping. Then to Sainsbury’s for even more stuff. We noticed their cafĂ© has gone.
Back to the boat, and into the centre of Nottingham, past the castle and a fine warehouse, into Castle Lock, where some people were having lock instruction.
The castle 
Warehouse by Castle Lock 
Castle Lock
Then past the old British Waterways warehouse, and the Fellows Morton and Clayton warehouse, before arriving at Meadow Lane services, by Meadow Lane Lock. We emptied all our cassettes here. The elsan facility has a strong spring on the door to keep it shut and there are no windows. James found a plank by the bins, and was able to prop it open.
BW warehouse 
FMC warehouse 
Meadow Lane Lock and facilities
A
cruiser was coming up in the lock, so we filled up with water while we waited.
Meanwhile another cruiser came from behind, with a bright orange canoe on tow,
but they were too wide to share with. They said there was another narrowboat
following them, that we could share with.
About to go into the lock
When
the lock was ready, there was no sign of the second narrowboat, so we went in
and went down onto the Trent. At this point the other narrowboat appeared above
the lock.
There are three major sports venues here: Notts County football ground, Nottingham Forest football ground, and Trent Bridge cricket ground.
Trent Bridge 
Nottingham Forest Ground
We
cruised downstream to Holme Lock, by the canoe slalom course, and the National
Water Sports Centre. A boat was coming out of the lock as we approached, but
the traffic lights remained on red, and the gates closed. We tied up and went
to see the lock keeper. “You coming down?” he said. “You’ll have to hurry up
because there’s a boat waiting below, and I’ve just started to empty the lock”
“You obviously didn’t see us, then!”
He gave us a card with all the phone numbers for the locks, and said we could also use channel 74 to speak to them.
Holme Lock and the entrance to the canoe slalom 
Holme Lock
We had less than three miles to go before Stoke Lock, where there is a mooring pontoon above the lock.
Radcliffe Viaduct 
Red Cliff 
Our mooring by Stoke Lock 
The view
There
was a mother duck with a brood of 17+ small ducklings. She was very wary, and
kept them away from us. It will be interesting to see how many she has when we
return after the Chesterfield Canal.
Mother and brood 
Maybe 18 
Little Egret 
Water art
We
had a Canal Ministries Zoom meeting later. It was a very quiet mooring.
3 locks, 7 miles. Dep 1020, arr 1035 Sainsbury’s. Dep 1225, arr 1515 Stoke Lock.
Thu 21st Jul Stoke Lock to Farndon
Morning reflections
We
heard tawny owls in the night. Otherwise, it was a very peaceful spot. James
set up our radio so that we could talk to the lock keepers. He also phoned
Farndon Marina and established that they had a 6kg propane gas bottle, as we
had emptied one.
We spotted a kingfisher before we left.
Stoke Lock we shared with a canoe laden with camping gear. We only had two other locks, Gunthorpe and Hazelford, and there was about an hour’s journey between each one, with a further hour to Farndon.
Stoke Lock with a canoe 
Gunthorpe Road Bridge 
The Unicorn at Gunthorpe 
Gunthorpe weir 
Foam and water art
We
found the radio very useful, and the lock keepers had the locks ready for us
each time. It was a lovely stretch of river, and we saw a great variety of
water birds on the banks. Photos at the end.
Radio in use 
Beautiful river 
Hazelford Lock
At
Hazelford Lock, the lock keeper was the one we had seen yesterday at Holme
Lock. He said he had seen a badger and a muntjac deer on the lock island, and
we once saw a fox there. There is a large weir on each side of the island, so
these animals must swim there. There are lots of large rabbits that live there.
We started to have intermittent changes in engine noise. We were quite low on fuel, having travelled from Aylesbury without filling up. We stopped on the visitor mooring pontoon at Fiskerton, and James used one of our 5L diesel cans to put into the tank. He also checked the propeller, but that was clear.
Refuelling stop
It
was three miles from there to Farndon Marina, and we had no trouble, so maybe
the bottom of the diesel tank has some sludge. At the marina we changed our gas
bottle, and bought 175L of diesel. We asked about someone to fix our plumbing
leak, but they said it may not be straightforward as they don’t stock plumbing
parts. We think it only needs some o-rings.
Farndon Marina 
Full tank, empty bank account 
Our plumbing arrangement under the washbasin
We
left there and moved back upstream to the visitor mooring, where we met the guy
on Lincoln Imp. He had just been rescued, as he had grounded outside the
marina, and needed to be towed off. We had travelled down into Liverpool with
him, and he had also once tied alongside us in Reading.
Moored on the visitor pontoon
Moored
on the visitor pontoon
On the journey today we had seen lots of birds, including kingfishers, a lapwing, oyster catchers, cormorants, four sorts of geese, including some strange ones, little egrets. Here are a few photos.
Egyptian Goose 
Greylags 
Possibly hybrid geese? 
Oyster Catcher 
Little egret with a plume 
Flying 
Landing 
Cormorant 
Unusual duck
3 locks, 14 miles. Dep 1115, arr 1515. Farndon Marina. Dep 1600 arr pontoon.
Next:
into Newark for a few days, before tackling the tidal Trent.
