West Stockwith to Newark

Sun 14^h Aug   West Stockwith to Dunham

Morning mist at West Stockwith

We had booked our passage out onto the Trent at 0815. We discovered that we were sharing the lock with Deres Arv. They said that they travel slowly, so it was agreed that we would go first. Sure enough, by the time we were going through Gainsborough, they were out of sight behind us. The tide was carrying us quite quickly.

Sharing with Deres Arv

Ready to go

Onto the tide

Looking back at Deres Arv

Wide river

The pontoon at Gainsborough

Gainsborough Bridge video

We had considered mooring on the pontoon at Torksey, but the tide was still with us and the moorings there looked busy. As we approached the entrance, another narrowboat pulled out some way in front of us, so we followed them.

Marton Mill

Pylons and power stations

Torksey Viaduct

Torksey Castle

Torksey Junction and a boat in front

The boat in front by the cooling towers

There are some islands in the Trent, some of which are out of sight at high tide. Butlers Island is visible all the time.  We had had a fairly long day, so we decided to stop on the pontoon at Dunham. There was a cruiser there, with several people fishing. They had spent the night there, and heard owls.

Butlers Island

Cormorant

Dunham Toll Bridge

Dunham Pontoon

The cruiser departed, leaving us on our own. It was peaceful and pleasant. We never did hear owls. James managed to clean the port side of the boat.

Evening reflections

On our own

Evening sky

The Moon was bright

1 lock, 18 miles. Dep 0810, arr 1105

Mon 15^th Aug  Dunham to Newark

2 locks, 16 miles. Dep 1000, arr 1315 Cromwell.  Dep 1335, arr 1520 Newark Kiln

Early morning at Dunham

We spotted a mink swimming across the river. The hurried photos we took did not come out well enough. However, a little later we saw a smaller mink on the pontoon. It even got into the bows at one point, and then explored the pontoon. It took great interest in our Canal Ministries logo. These photos came out better.

Mink

One of our cassettes suddenly developed the same fault with the opening mechanism that we had earlier. We still had the part, unopened, which had been delivered to RWBC, so we changed it over while we had space on the pontoon. At least that worked OK. Later we ordered two more to be delivered to Midland Chandlers in Mercia Marina, and we will collect them next week. We will use one, and keep one as a spare.

When we set off from Dunham, the tide was still running out, so we were against the current. We were aware that it could be shallow, particularly on the inside of the bends, so we kept to the deeper water around the outside of the curves. The river twists and turns a lot on this section.

Shallow inside the bends

Twisty Trent

Fledborough Viaduct

Hairy cow – must be hot

An assortment of cows

Carlton Mill

We phoned ahead to Cromwell Lock to let them know we were coming. Then a cruiser caught us up, and we heard them radio in, and also telling the lockkeeper that we were in front of them. We tried to moor on the waiting pontoon, but we grounded on a mudbank and had to do a lot of powerful reversing to get clear. When the lock opened for us, four narrowboats and three cruisers came out. We went in and shared with Vistana, the cruiser.

New Besthorpe Wharf

Cromwell Weir and Lock

Into Cromwell Lock

Sharing with Vistana

Above the lock, the visitor pontoon was full, so we moored on the wall so that we could empty a cassette. It is a long walk from the mooring to the Elsan point – even further than going to the loo at Wetherspoons! Approaching Newark, we passed under the A1, which was busy with lorries. We found Vistana moored below the lock, and they didn’t want to come through, but planned to stay there for the night. Nether Lock took a long time to empty, and then a long time to fill again.

Under the A1

Nether Lock

We had hoped to moor on the pontoon at the Kiln again, but it all looked full when we arrived. Thankfully, the skipper of Dutch barge Anji asked if we wanted to moor alongside. This we gratefully accepted. We learned that Anji was built in 1926, and is a sea-going vessel.

Moorings full

Alongside Anji

The Kiln pontoon

We nipped to Waitrose for some wine, cider, and milk. We didn’t buy the wine because it was too expensive, and we are tight and mean. We bought an extra cider box instead, as they are not always available.

2 locks, 16 miles. Dep 1000, arr 1315 Cromwell. Dep 1335, arr 1520 Newark.

Tue 16^th Aug  Newark

We took Anji’s place on the pontoon as they left in the morning. We went into town for Hazel’s prescription from Boots, and then to the Post Office and Morrisons. We had lunch at Gannets, a very popular café where we have been before.

Back on the boat, we saw a narrowboat arrive, called Leigha May, hoping for a mooring, so we said they could moor alongside us. They were grateful for the offer.

It poured with rain later, with a heavy thunderstorm. During a slight lull, James managed to clean the starboard side of the boat, and have it rinsed naturally.

No boating today

Next: A Three day journey from Newark to Nottingham