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