AND REPEAT

A misty morning on the Trent

 Doncaster to Lincoln 59 miles, 5 locks 3 canals and 2 rivers.

We enjoyed visiting Doncaster, its a lovely lively town with a few good pubs and a Cosmos. On Saturday after we had moored up and had a rest we headed into town to find we had missed Doncaster Pride, but there were still plenty of colourful people milling about, and most of the pubs had joined in with gusto. We decided to try The Hallcross, the Captain could see from his real ale finder app, they had York Chocolate stout on by Rudgate brewery. The pub was busy and we decided to sit outside, but it was so windy we only had the one in there, and thought we would try the Red Lion a Wetherspoons, hoping it would be quieter. It was not to be, we managed to find a seat, but the pub was heaving, so just the one in there too. Then it was off to Cosmos, an all you can eat world buffet. We really like Cosmos, and were not disappointed on this visit at all, the choice and quality of the food was excellent.

https://www.hallcrossdoncaster.co.uk/

https://www.cosmo-restaurants.co.uk/restaurants/doncaster

We stayed put next day and went to the Draughtmans micro pub on platform 3b at Doncaster railway station. It is housed in what was originally a ladies waiting room, with beautiful tiles and even better beer. The Captain was very happy, with Small Black Flowers by Pentrich Brewery and a good pint of ABK lager for me. Then back to the boat for a Sunday roast with all the trimmings.

https://www.thedraughtsmanalehouse.co.uk/

Monday and the rain was back, so just a short hop on our way back to Keadby and the mighty River Trent

On our way to Thorne next day, as we approached one of the few locks on this stretch there seemed to be a queue. I jumped off to see what was occurring. Bramwith lock is unusual, in that it has 3 sets of gates and can be used for short boats, or by opening the middle gates large boats. There were 2 narrowboats waiting, Chrisden and Outlaws Dream, a large sea going boat Amyjay, us and then a small yoghurt pot turned up. The 2 narrowboats had tried to get in the short lock, but found that one of them was too long, so needed to open the middle gates and use the full length of the lock. Well not only did they get in, we all got in, so that’s 5 boats in one lock. That’s the way to do it !!!

We stopped at Thorne on the visitors pontoons for the night and headed for the Canal Tavern once again.

Back to Keadby next day as we had a very early start on Thursday. We met NB Derwent Lass at one of the swing bridges, they seemed to be struggling to understand how the swing bridges worked. The ones on this stretch tend to be manual, but you need to use your BW key to release the locks on the road barriers and bridge locking mechanism, I went along and explained the process. They told me they were heading out of Keadby next day to join the Chesterfield canal at West Stockworth lock. However they stopped at the next bridge for lunch never to be seen again.

Thursday morning came and I groaned when the alarm went off at 5am, but we needed to be up and off. The lock keeper was ready for us at 5.45. We we were joined in the lock by Chrisden and Outlaws Dream once again. Out on to the tidal Trent and we took the lead as we have done this trip a few times now. 28 miles to Torskey, and we kept an eye on the boats behind us to make sure we didn’t lose them. It took us a respectable 4 ½ hours, and we were able to lock up and onto the Fossdyke canal and head for Saxilby. The other 2 boats were staying on the pontoons below the lock and going to Cromwell next morning. We got to Saxilby and moored on the newly refurbished visitors moorings. We had a plan. Saxilby has one of the best fish and chip shops on the system, and a couple of decent pubs, so that was tea sorted. Then surprisingly Chrisden and Outlaws Dream turned up and tried to wind, but the canal wasn’t wide enough at this point, so they moored up in front of us. After a discussion they headed off up the canal until they found somewhere to wind and then they were back, just before we headed to the pub The Anglers. After a couple of pints we headed back calling at the chippy on the way. There was no sign of them when we got back.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100047626485073

After a quiet night we headed for Lincoln, and instead of going through the Glory Hole we moored on the visitors moorings near Brayford Pools. Glory Hole is the nickname of High Bridge, the oldest medieval bridge with houses on it in the UK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Bridge,_Lincoln

We had arranged to meet our friend Phil Hancox and his new girlfriend Karen at the Cardinals Hat. Phil lives on his boat like us, Karen still has a house, but seems to be taking to the boating like a duck to water. We had a great time and hope to see them again.

The Cardinals Hat is a great real ale pub, and the Captain was very happy with Small Black Flowers stout by Pentrich Brewery (again), and Mena Dhu a Cornish stout from St Austell Brewery.

https://www.facebook.com/thecardinalshatlincoln/?locale=en_GB

https://staustellbrewery.co.uk/our-beers/mena-dhu/

For once we actually arrived somewhere when something was going off (we are usually a week early or a week late). It was Lincoln Pride. A very lively, colourful noisy and well attended event. We watched the parade and when it had finished decided to head to the market hall, only to find it was undergoing refurbishment. Shame but we did pick up a lovely piece of pork for our Sunday roast from a local butcher.

https://lincolnpride.co.uk/home

We spent a quiet afternoon, and surprisingly for us didn’t venture out for a pint.

Sunday and it was D Day for the Lionesses, and we were ready to watch them in plenty of time, well the Captain was watching, I was cooking with one eye on the match.

We all know it didn’t finish the way we would have liked, but they did their very best, and you can’t ask for more than that.

After the match we headed back to Torskey. We were booked back out on the Trent next morning. To give the |Captain a break I took over steering for a while, the canal here is straight and wide, just the way I like it. It was sunny and to help the Captain lent me his baseball cap, but a strong gust of wind swept it off my head and in to a watery grave. Oooops. Will have a buy him a new one.

That’s all for now folks

WHAT’S THAT BIG YELLOW THING IN THE SKY???

Sykehouse Lock

Thorne to Doncaster via Goole, 35 miles, 5 locks, 5 swing bridges, 3 Lift bridges and 4 canals collectively known as the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.

At last we are getting some decent weather and the sun has decided to grace us with its presence. YIPPEE

Setting off from Thorne was slow, this was down to the first swing bridge, its a strange one, electric but you are responsible for shutting the gates. These are similar to the ones used in railway stations, with 2 gates which meet in the middle. If you don’t get them to click in place, then the bridge won’t move, and they can be awkward sods. It took me 2 attempts, and then you wait, the bridge is sooooo slow swinging open, I could have dozed off whilst I waited.

But we were through and on to the next obstacle, a lock with a swing bridge at one end. As we got there I could see a couple scratching their heads, they couldn’t get the bridge barriers to release to stop traffic and pedestrians. Off I went, read the instructions, well almost. They were coming down the lock, so we had to open the sluices, fill the lock, and then open the lock gates before the barriers would release and we could open the bridge. What a palaver. But it didn’t end there, to operate the lock you use a BW key, but to get your key back everything has to be shut up again, even if there are other boats waiting to use the lock. Well that’s unless you are willing to lock everyone else through and then get your key back. A simple solution was to swap keys, so we did, and then I swapped again with the next boat waiting to use the lock. Not the best system in the world. But hey ho that boating for you.

The swing and lift bridges on this stretch are all completely electric so all I have to do is insert my key and push a button. Great.

We decided to moor above Sykehouse Lock, this lock has a swing bridge in the middle, but it only requires pushing open and doesn’t require the lock to be empty or full. As we had lunch a narrowboat entered the lock coming our way, and that’s where it stayed as the top gates wouldn’t open. The Captain went off to see if he could help, and soon after I followed. They had already rung and informed CRT of the issue but were still trying to get the levels to equalise so the gates would open. Then 2 more narrowboats turned up. It soon became apparent that we would have to wait for CRT to sort it out. A very nice young man came all the way from Rotherham full of apologies at how long it took him to get there, I personally thought he had done very well. He soon had the gates open and the trapped boat was free. We decided to lock down whilst he was there just in case there was a problem next day, we didn’t want to get to stuck.

The run down in Goole was quiet for me, as there were no locks and only 2 bridges to do. The Knottingley and Goole canal is very wide and straight. The visitors moorings at Goole were full, but we snuck round the corner and moored on what looked like moorings that belonged to the marina, but there was no signage to say what was what, and a boater in the marina said others moor there, so we stayed put.

Goole is the most inland port in the UK, the port opened in 1826 but the town dates back to 1306. The barges that were used to transport coal were called Tom Pudding’s, and this is relevant later, the Tom Pudding Hoist which was used to transfer the coal into waiting ships is still standing, and the 2 distinctive water towers have the nicknames Salt and Pepper.

Salt and Pepper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goole

Ton Pudding Hoist

It was quite a walk into Goole, I am very sorry to say that what we found was a sad neglected town, the shops in the pedestrianised area are mainly closed, and what looked to be a large market hall is no longer in use. We did however find a great micro pub called The Tom Pudding (now you see). They had Jolly Collier stout by Jolly Boys Brewery for the Captain, and a great selection of bottled lager for me. They were a friendly bunch and we had a great time.

https://tompuddinggoole.co.uk/

There is a large Tesco, so after getting a few bits we got Mandy’s taxi back to the boat. £5 but well worth it.

The good weather continued when we left Goole the next day.

The curse of Sykehouse lock raised its head again, as we approached we could see a couple of boaters loitering at the control panel, so I hopped off to see if I could help. It was not good news, nothing was working, and the control panel only showed a fault light. Nothing for it, I had to call CRT. Whilst we waited we were joined by Nadine, an ex-sailing boat, and Hurley Mist a small yogurt pot. The queue above the lock grew too. Eventually a guy from CRT arrived, but he had problems and resorted to doing the lock manually, but he got us through and off we went. We were in the lead when I realised that Nadine and Hurley Mist had stopped, there was obviously a problem, so we waited at the lift bridge to see if we could help. Nadine’s engine was overheating, it is what is called a raw water cooled engine. With this type of engine water is taken from the river or canal to cool the engine, and it would appear that there was some sort of blockage stopping the intake of water. The Captain and Hurley Mist Captain offered all the help they could, whilst I dog sat a lovely but noisy pug called Daisy. But nothing could be done, so Nadine’s Captain took the decision to return slowly to Goole. Unfortunately when my Captain checked the CRT stoppages Sykehouse lock was still out of action for them to get back, and as was the next bridge on our journey had also developed a fault. What a day !!!!

Nadine turned round to head back, and we continued on and moored by the bridge in the hope it would be repaired next day. Amazingly CRT turned out just after tea and sorted the bridge so we could continue on our way next day. The controls are in a small brick building with a tin roof, and because there was no ventilation so everything overheated and shut down.

The rest of the trip into Doncaster went without a hitch, but when we reached the visitors pontoons they were full. Bugger. Then a very nice Aussie couple on NB Elbereth (Wollongong) offered to let us brest up against them for the night, so we did.

That’s all for now folks

A STORM IN A TEACUP.

 Nottingham to Thorne, 83 miles, 10 locks, 2 swing bridges, 2 canals and 1 river.

Well what can I say about my last blog, well the title caused a few ructions. I was accused of click baiting, CRT bashing and all sorts of other things, but oh boy, did a lot more people read it, yes and liked it, yes. So I will address some of the issues raised, the title was not meant to be click bait, it was just the way I was feeling when I sat down and wrote the blog. CRT bashing, I understand that CRT has a hard job to do, but I do question what it has been doing to look after the canal infrastructure for the last 10yrs since it was formed. There have been so many problems this year, around the network, and this part of our journey just bought it all home to me. The guys on the ground do a great job, are always helpful, and if they can will sort problems out quickly. Anyway I have had much fun reading the comments on Facebook, and just hope that people who discovered my blog through this one title read more.

Another reason for the title of the blog is the terrible weather we are having. We are fair weather boaters, but I don’t think we have had a day when it hasn’t rained at some point, and I am fed up of getting wet and having to wear a coat. I have managed to wear my shorts but at times have been very tempted to put my jeans on, unheard of during the summer months. And much to the Captains horror I have suggested putting a fire in to combat the dampness. It has also put us behind time wise, we have decided not to go to Ripon or York as the Ouse has a terrible habit of flooding, and we don’t want to get stuck. So instead we are looking at maybe going to Goole, a place we haven’t visited, Sheffield, Doncaster, Lincoln and maybe Boston.

Back to our journey. We spent the weekend in Nottingham. On Friday Adam and Julie came, and we met our Philipino in laws for the first time, Julie’s Mum Linda and her sister Jennifer.

Saturday was a quiet a day but a special day, as I got my freezer. YIPPEE A very very nice gentleman from Currys wheeled it on his sack barrow to the boat and took the packaging away too. So I gave him some of the cake I had just baked. We headed to the pub to celebrate, the Trip of course.

https://www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/nottinghamshire/ye-olde-trip-to-jerusalem

Sunday and time to meet up with Jess and Stuart, they were coming to the boat for Sunday lunch. They arrived with the wonderful news that I am going to become a Grandma again in February, I still told them I am to young, but I am so happy. They asked me not to put it on social media, but it was Ok to share the news on here. They have decided to go old school and not find out what they are having, so looking forward to the surprise when it arrives. We had a lovely afternoon with them. So happy days.

We resumed our journey the next day, and head down the Beeston and Nottingham canal to its junction with the River Trent. At the lock here there is water and we decided to fill up our tank before locking down on to the river. As we came into moor the Captain put us into reverse, there was a big clunk and the engine stopped dead. This could only mean something serious round the prop. A very helpful gentleman off a moored boat came and helped us pull into the side. He had a lovely Weimaraner dog called Doris and was very nice. It turned out to be a huge piece of carpet, which came off without to much fuss surprisingly. After watering up we headed down the lock and onto the river and headed for Gunthorpe.

At the first river lock, Holme lock, I was reminded how huge these locks are, and even when locking down I am required to hold the boat steady at the front, using a runner set into the side of the lock and our front rope. Luckily most of these locks are manned.

We moored easily on the pontoons at Gunthorpe but didn’t head to the pub, The Unicorn, as it had been a busy few days.

https://www.unicornhotelpub.co.uk/

On to Newark next day, and after 2 manned locks my luck gave out, as Newark town lock was unmanned. So off I got with my trusty BW key and tried to find the control panel. It was very elusive, but eventually I found it and we locked down without any problem. We found good moorings on the Kiln visitor pontoons. I was overjoyed to see a lovely crop of blackberries just waiting to be picked, and now we have a freezer, (which we seem to have plenty of power to run) I can pick them to my hearts content.

We headed to the pub, as we do, firstly the Prince Rupert, a favourite of ours, but there was disappointment for the Captain, no dark ales so out we came, then onto the Flying Circus, and repeat. Just Beer was our last hope, and bingo a great pint of Chocolate Old Peculiar for the Captain, this is a collaboration between Tiny Rebel and Theakstons, and very quaffable.

https://www.redcatpubcompany.com/pubs/nottinghamshire/theprincerupert 

https://www.flyingcircuspub.co.uk/

https://www.justbeermicropub.biz/

https://www.theakstons.co.uk/pages/cwtch-gold-a-theakston-and-tiny-rebel-collaboration

Next day after a late start we headed to Cromwell lock, were next day we would join the tidal Trent and head for Torksey, then on to Keadby, before joining the Stainforth and Keadby canal to Thorne.

We were joined in the lock next day by 2 medium sized yogurt pots, Orchid and Dutch Gem, who soon overtook us on the fast moving river. We reached Torksey in good time and headed to the pub, The White Swan, they seemed to be in the midst of decorating, but we enjoyed a couple of good pints, John Smiths for the Captain and Kronenberg for me.

https://www.facebook.com/whiteswantorkseylock/

It was a long day next day with 28 miles to do. The flow of the river was against us to start, but once the tide changed we were speeding along. It took us 5hrs. Getting into a lock on a fast flowing river is not easy, but the Captain did an excellent job and the Lock Keeper complimented him on his steering.

Keadby Lock

At Keadby is a most unusual railway bridge, called the Vazon bridge. It simply slides out of the way, you have to toot your horn to attract the operators attention and then off you go.

http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/sheffield/sy9.htm

Robbie Cummings in his programme Narrowboat Diaries filmed the bridge sliding open by drone. If you fast forward the link to 26mins you will be able see how it works for yourself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-rWmNDqNg8

After a night in the MONW and more rain we headed off for Thorne, we are back in the land of the movable bridges, and I had 3 swing and 1 lift bridge to do. I like the ones that are completely electric best, I just have to push a button and wait, but the first few were manual so a bit of a work out for me. At one you have to wait for the railway signalman to close the gates at the level crossing before operating it. Much fun and games.

At Thorne we moored opposite the boat sales yard, these are good moorings and near to the Canal Tavern, so that’s where we headed. Although no darks on for the Captain he made do with a Carling, and we had an enjoyable time. The menu looked very interesting and we were assured by the crew from Orchid it was excellent.

http://www.canaltavernthorne.co.uk/

We spent the next day in Thorne, and after shopping decided to try a couple of the other pubs in the town, The Red Bear, very much a loud locals pub, and the Windmill, much quieter with a selection of real ales, but nothing dark and the Captain made do with a palatable bitter.

https://www.craftunionpubs.com/red-bear-thorne

https://whatpub.com/pubs/DON/8466/windmill-thorne

We ended up at the Canal Tavern, and it was heaving considering it was a Monday teatime. The food looked and smelt amazing. Thinking about giving it a go on the return journey.

Birdlife has been plentiful on this part of the journey, we have spotted amongst the usual suspects, Oyster Catchers, Lapwings and Egyptian geese.

Oyster Catcher

That’s all for now folks.

DO CRT ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING ??

Birstall Lock

Leicester to Nottingham, 39 miles, 25 locks, 2 rivers and 2 canals.

So Tuesday, and we were stuck in Leicester, Birstall Lock ahead of us was closed and so was Kilby lock behind us. We made the most of it and headed for the Salmon, a Black Country Ales pub, so we knew they would have Pig on the Wall mild on for the Captain. At the pub he had a choice Pig on the Wall or Woolley Bugger, a damson porter from the Izaak Walton brewery of Stone. He had to try both of course.

https://izaakwaltonbrewhouse.com/

When we returned to the boat we had been joined by Lady Sienna, a hire boat from North Kilby wharf.

Now not only were the 2 locks I mentioned closed, but so was North lock, the first lock you get to after the moorings, but only for the day. Lady Sienna had been moored on Castle Gardens, but not knowing North lock was closed they had set off, when they returned they had lost their previous mooring so joined us.

Next day and the news from CRT was much worse than we expected. Birstall lock was going to be closed until the following Tuesday. The Captain went and broke the news to the hire boaters. As he did a boat appeared coming towards us. It turned out that it had managed to get through the broken lock with care. We made a quick decision to head down to the lock to see if we could get through and the hire boat joined us. I did make sure there were shops and pubs near the lock if we couldn’t get through

There were 3 locks between us and Birstall, the first being North lock, which in my opinion is one of the worst locks on the entire system. CRT were meant to have done some work on it to help with its problems, but hadn’t been successful and it took 3 of us to open the bottom gate.

We got to Birstall lock and CRT hadn’t chained the gates shut so we were able to enter the lock with great care, pulling the boats in one at a time. There wasn’t a problem with the bottom gates and we were soon out and free, we stopped at Birstall, but the hirers (never got their names), kept going to make up for the time they had lost. Hope they enjoyed the rest of their holiday doing the Leicester ring.

A couple of interesting things we passed on our journey to Birstall, a friendly ginger and white kitten, and someone giving a haircut on the towpath, giving a new meaning to mobile barber.

Birstall had 3 pubs, The Earl of Stamford, The Plough and the White Horse. We decided to try the Plough, as the Captain seemed to remember it had a decent stout last time we were in. He wasn’t disappointed, a very nice pint of London stout. We had a very enjoyable visit chatting the locals and landlord. It is a very dog friendly pub too.

https://theoldplough-birstall.co.uk/

Thursday was a day for bird life. I spotted a Green Woodpecker, a Little Egret and a Common Tern.

Green Woodpecker

After 4 locks we stopped above Mount Sorrel lock for the night and gave the Waterside pub a go. As expected no darks on but the food menu looked interesting.

https://www.watersidemountsorrel.co.uk/

As we set off next day a small boat was coming up the lock so off I went to help, they were a friendly bunch. Behind them was Serenade, one of the widebeam charity boats from the Peter La Marchant trust. The crew came up to help me lock down, and we were soon on our way. We passed their other widebeam Symphony later on

https://www.peterlemarchanttrust.co.uk/

We stayed in Loughborough for a couple days and tried the Organ Grinder, a Blue Monkey pub on the first night.

https://bluemonkeybrewery.com/organ-grinder-pubs/loughborou

Next day, after shopping we set of to do the 3 locks to Kegworth New lock, where we planned to moor for the night. At one of the locks we met Dandelion, a charity boat from the Baldwin Trust, it had a group of very enthusiastic kids on board, who were very ‘eager to help at the lock.

https://www.baldwintrust.co.uk/index.php/the-trust/our-boats

We were soon moored in a lovely spot by the weir above the lock, its only issue, it was right in the flight path for the East Midlands airport. We started planning our visit to Nottingham and catching up with family. It wasn’t that easy, Adam could only do Friday, Jess Sunday, and Di not the weekend at all. So after a bit of toing and froing we (mainly with Di) things got sorted, but it meant a bit of a detour for us up Trent Lock and on to the Erewash for a couple of nights.

Monday and after 3 locks we were moored on the Erewash. Whilst doing the lock a very nice lady asked if she could video us, most people don’t ask and we don’t mind, but its nice to be asked. She was cat sitting nearby and the video was for her elderly parents. Turned out she was a professional photographer.

https://www.sandrabarberphotography.co.uk

Later we headed to the Steamboat to say hi to Simon and have a couple of well earned pints, they had Dark Drake by Dancing Duck for the Captain, happy days.

https://www.steamboattrentlock.co.uk/

Next morning we headed down the canal to wind (turn the boat round) and moor nearer to Long Eaton so we could catch the bus into Nottingham the next day to meet Di. Disaster struck when we tried to wind. Something was round the prop, as we drifted in the centre of the canal the Captain went down the weed hatch to discover a thick fleece coat wrapped tightly round the prop. It took a while to free it, but eventually we winded and were moored up in a very nice spot.

Next day we caught the Skylink into Nottingham to meet Di and Mick, it was lovely to catch up with them.

Thursday was a very long day, well for us. Firstly we stopped at Trent Lock for water and bins, then headed to Shardlow marina for a pump out, we were going to use Castle Marina (which would have been so much easier) until we found out that the price had gone from £12.50 to £26, the Captain nearly had heart attack when he heard and Shardlow was only £10.

There are 2 locks, the first being a large river lock, and yippee, manned by volunteers, the next is a small flood lock, here we met NB Briony Rose, a boat we met at a lock in Leicester when they were heading to Kilby Bridge. They got stuck for a week between the 2 lock closures, so they were not happy.

So we started at 9.30am and were moored up in Nottingham at 4pm, a very long day for us, we didn’t head for the pub, just too tired.

Now looking forward to a pleasant weekend of family visits before heading back on the Trent, and hopefully onto Ripon.