GLORIOUS GAINSBOROUGH.

 

The Power of Water

There are visitors pontoons at Gainsborough, but even though we have done this stretch of river many times in the past we have never stopped on them to explore the town. So we decided it was about time we did.

Sunday was spent travelling to West Stockwith for a pump out and overnight moorings, and of course our Sunday lunch. We accessed the pump out with no problems. A local boater who had appointed himself king of the machine came to see if we were doing it right, and make sure everything was done to his satisfaction.

The Sunday roast at the White Hart was a little underwhelming, but it filled us up and meant I had no cooking or washing up to do.

It was and early start next morning as we had to go out with the tide, the Lock Keeper gave us a call to say the lock was ready for us, so off we went, but not before I had counted over 30 bunnies in the field by the moorings.

Our trip down to Gainsborough took about 45mins and the tide was running quite fast. The Captain instructed me to go to the front, and be ready to get a rope on the bollards to help with stopping the boat against the flow of the tide. It didn’t go exactly to plan, and we hit the pontoons side on at quite a pace. But no damage done and we were soon moored securely. As I said we have never stopped at Gainsborough before, so after lunch we took a walk into the town and were pleasantly surprised by what we found, plenty of shops, including a Lidl a short walk from the pontoons. The best find was Marshall’s Yard, a lovely open space with a dancing fountain feature, which the children were enjoying on the hot day.

https://www.marshallsyard.co.uk/

Marshall's Yard

There was a good selection of shops and restaurants. Its called Marshall’s Yard at it was the site of Marshall and Sons tractor factory, it was the largest employer in the town in the 19^th and 20^th Century, covering an amazing 16 acres it was called the Britannia Iron Works. The most famous of their tractors was the Field Marshall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall,_Sons_%26_Co.

Before we left for our stroll round the town the Captain had met a local lady, and she had recommended various things to see, the Heritage Centre and Gainsborough Old Hall being 2 of the things. So we decided to stay another day. But first we had to try the pub, a micro pub called the 8 Jolly Brewers. Great beers and loud locals.

After a couple of pints we headed back to the boat. We were just unlocking the gate on the pontoon, when a cheeky lad of about 12/13yrs, asked us to let him onto the pontoon, and when we asked why would we do that, he pointed to the good ship Avalon Two and said because that’s my boat (we were the only boat there). Of course we laughed in his face, the cheeky sod.

We were joined later by NB Star, and we had a good chin wag with its Captain and crew but never got their names.

We planned next day to go out before lunch, there was a market on and we wanted to visit that, the Heritage centre, the Old Hall and the Church.

https://www.gainsboroughheritage.co.uk/

The Heritage centre first after the market. Interesting displays about the Marshall factory, and Rose Brothers who invented a machine for wrapping individual sweets such as Quality Street. During the war visitors to Mrs Rose were asked to sign a tablecloth, rather than a traditional visitor book, she then embroidered the signatures, Guy Gibson and Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris of Dambuster fame were 2 of these visitors, and we managed to find both of their signatures. An interesting piece of WW2 memorabilia.

https://www.life-publications.com/gainsborough/gainsborough-heritage-association-7/

Then on to All Saints church, a beautiful building with a 14c tower, but the rest was rebuilt in the 18c. It has unusual enclosed pews that may have been reserved for the upper class families of the town, and

a first floor gallery for the rest of the congregation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints_Church,_Gainsborough

Then on to Gainsborough Old Hall, a magnificent 15c Manor house. It was built in 1460 by Sir Thomas Burgh. Henry VIII visited in 1541 with his 5^th wife Katherine Howard, and then went on to marry the widow of Edward Burgh, grandson of Sir Thomas, Katherine Parr. The kitchen is thought to be the most complete medieval kitchen in England, it has 2 open fireplaces big enough to roast an ox in, and 2 bread ovens. A fascinating building with a rich history and well worth a visit.

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

The Great Hall

Then off to the pub for lunch, The Sweyn Forkbeard, the local Wetherspoons. Mr Forkbeard was a Danish king of England for 5 weeks in 1014 and held his court in Gainsborough, he was succeed by his son Canute.

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

We left Gainsborough next day and headed for Torksey for the night, we had not long moored up when NB Avalon turned up. There are a few boats named Avalon on the system, but its unusual for us to cross bows.

Both Avalon's at Torskey

Next morning as we got ready to set off the Captain of Avalon asked if we were heading for Cromwell lock and Newark, and we said we were. They asked if they could join us as it was their first time on the Trent, we happily said no problem and we set off in convoy.

It was plain to see they weren’t used to the big river locks were we use risers (steel cables in the side of the lock), we use these to anchor the boat with stern and bow lines whilst in the lock so we dont get battered around when the water enters or leaves the lock. This means I stand in our front cratch and hold the boat at the front. Unfortunately they couldn’t do that, and had to go along the gunnels to achieve this.

In the Lock

But they managed and we made it to Newark without a problem. And there was room on the pontoons for both of us YIPPEE !!!

We spent a couple of days in Newark and introduced Wendy and Dave to some of the best pubs, including the Prince Rupert and Just Beer, which is now called More Than Just Beer. In the Prince Rupert an old gliding mate of the Captains appeared, we haven’t seen Pip in quite awhile, so it was great to catch up with him.

We stayed with Wendy and Dave all the way to Nottingham, they were moving there boat from Brighouse in West Yorkshire, to Castle Marina in Nottingham due to all the problems on the northern canals.

On to wildlife. This leg of the journey has all been about Oyster Catchers, pretty black and white wading birds with a striking red beak and legs, and a strident but plaintive call. We are still seeing plenty of Little Egrets, Herons and Cormorant, but the beautiful kingfisher remains elusive this year.

Oyster Catchers

An anomaly I have been meaning to mention for a couple of blogs, is the way distance is measured on the canals and rivers. On the canal everything is in miles, but on the rivers and the Fossdyke it is measured in kilometres, I have no idea why it is done this way. Answers on a post card please.

60 miles, 10 lock 1 river and 2 canals.

STUNNING SHEFFIELD.

 

Cruising the Cut

Well you can get into Sheffield by boat but we went by train. The route to Sheffield is up the Trent from West Stockwith to Keadby lock and the sliding Vazon railway bridge, onto the South Yorkshire navigation, and down Tinsley lock flight (made famous by that fantastic film The Full Monty), and you eventually arrive at Victoria Quay.

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

We have done this trip once before, but a number of obstacles stood in our way, the lock at Keadby was closed for the week, the sliding railway bridge is only being opened when the temperature is below 16 degrees, and we know how hot the last week has been, there are low water problems on the Tinsley flight, and you have to book these is advance.

So the simple solution was to catch the train from Retford, at £18 return for both of us it was a bargain.

But back to our time at Ranby, the moorings were good, if a little noisy with road noise from the A1. We had arranged with my kids to visit a local micro brewery, The Ticking Clock at Shireoaks. We had intended to moor at Shireoaks and make our own way to the brewery, but as we had decided it wasn’t safe for us to go through the 2 dodgy locks before Worksop, we couldn’t get to Shireoaks. So my daughter Jess and Hubby Stuart agreed to pick us up from the pub. It was a bit of a squash in the car with Lowen in her car seat, but it was only a short journey. We met my son Adam and wife Julie there with Dylan. We didn’t just go for the beer, surprising for us I know, but for dinner as well. My son has a friend who runs a mobile pizza van called Pizzolu, and he was serving at the brewery that day. The pizza were amazing, as was the beer, and the 2 grand kids had a great time. The brewery had a selection of kiddy games, and I think they tried everyone. It was a great afternoon, but very tiring. 2 toddlers have so much energy.

https://www.tickingclockbrewing.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556032576246

Dylan and Lowen

So next day was a gentle cruise and moorings in the middle of nowhere. One thing I must mention about many of the mooring spots on the Chesterfield, they look great, but its so shallow you simply cannot get to the side. Even our spot for the night, which is an official visitor mooring, wasn’t the best, and we had to go half way past the start of the mooring before we could get anywhere near. But we had a much needed peaceful night.

Next day and back to Retford, mooring outside Aldi once again.

What I forgot to mention in the last blog, were the 3 very short aqueducts we crossed as we left and entered Retford. Aqueducts are used to transport the canal over things like rivers, roads and railways. The best known of course is the Pontcysyllte on the Llangollen canal. (and yes I did have to look up how to spell it). The Aqueducts at Retford are only about 50ft long, but come one right after the other.

Wednesday was our day in Sheffield, the railway station in Retford was about a 15min walk from our moorings, the train was on time and we were soon whizzing along through the Nottingham countryside and into South Yorkshire.

At the railway station in Sheffield we were greeted by a fantastic water feature, it really made us feel welcome to the city, and on a hot day it made things feel cooler. We were heading to the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, but it took us some time as there was so much else to see on the way. We used the Millennium gallery escalator to avoid walking up the hill in the heat, called in to look at a John Ruskin exhibition, and then discovered the Winter Gardens, I had seen this name and assumed it was a theatre of some kind, but no it was an actual tropical garden in the centre of the city, what a find. As we continued our walk to the Cathedral we passed through the cities Peace Gardens by the splendid town hall.

Sheffield Railway Station

The Winter Gardens

Our eventual destination the Cathedral did not disappoint either, I don’t think I have ever been in a church with such a mixture of styles, parts date back to the 13C, and then others are as new as 1966.

It was so interesting and we spent a while looking round. It also has connections to one of my favourite historical figures Bess of Hardwick, the founder of Chatsworth house and Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, and the most powerful woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I.

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

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

After one Cathedral we decided to check the other one out. St Maries Roman Catholic Cathedral.

This didn’t disappoint either, a beautiful building with a stunning interior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Church_of_St_Marie,_Sheffield

By this time we were ready for a pint and headed to the Two and Six micropub. The walk took us past the picture of a Steelworker on the side of a building, commissioned by the council in 1980’s, it uses bricks to make a mosaic picture to commemorate the cities steel industry.

We finished the afternoon with a wonderful Vietnamese meal at Pho. A great day out and a city I would recommend visiting anyway you can.

https://www.phocafe.co.uk/locations/sheffield/

Back to the boat and we left Retford next day, it was still slow going on the canal, due to weed and shallowness of the water, but the water is so clear that it gave me the chance to do loads of fish watching. I can’t name the fish I saw, but they varied in size from tiny minnows at less the an inch, up to big daddies at over a foot. I did spot a couple of Zander, these pike like fish are an invasive species introduced into UK waters in the 1800’s.

At the wonderfully named Whitsunday Pie Lock I met a friendly group of Gongoozlers, and had a lovely chat, passing the time whilst waiting for the lock, and they helped out too. Many thanks to them.

We have also seen plenty of beautiful butterflies, including Red Admirals, Peacocks and plenty of Cabbage Whites.

Peacock Butterfly

We stopped at the Boat Inn at Hayton for the night, there are mooring for one boat on the off side by the pub. Of course we had a walk and tried the beer. Run by a friendly Romanian couple the beer was great, Hawkstone Black for a very happy Captain, and a decent lager for me. The food menu was interesting, and they do nightly specials, including on a Thursday night 2 ribeye steaks for £26. The barmaid was very friendly and we had a great chat with her.

https://theboatinnhayton.com/

After another night in the middle of nowhere, we headed back to West Stockwith for the weekend and a pump out, but we didn’t quite make it and decided to stop at Misterton for the night, we needed milk and there is a Coop in the village, and a pub, the Red Hart, of course we gave it a go. It was quiet for a Saturday afternoon, but I think everyone was saving their energy for the footy, England v Norway for a place in the semi finals, which start at 10pm.

We watched it on the boat and we won, YIPPEE!!

Our plans are still fluid, but we have decided not to go through Keadby lock, it is open, but the language of the notification of this suggested they may have to close it again for more repairs, and we don’t want to risk getting stuck oop norf.

So we will be heading south. The Captain had booked us to go out of West Stockwith on Monday, and is taking me out for Sunday lunch at the White Hart. Happy times.

36 miles, 2 canals, 1 river, 13 locks and 1 tunnel 154yrds long and 3 aqueducts I forgot about last time.

NORMAL SERVICE HAS RESUMED.

 

The Chesterfield Canal.

At last.

We had to be up reasonably early on Monday, the Lock Keeper said we would hopefully be going out onto the river at 7.45am, a bit early for us, but we were up and ready in plenty of time.

Of course nothing goes to plan and our departure time was pushed back to 9am. The lock keeper has to wait for there to be enough water to get us over the lock cill, and this took more time than expected.

It was great to be back on the wide river. The trip would take us between 3 and 4hrs depending on how fast the tide was running, and how much the Captain decided to push the engine. We also had to liaise with the lock keeper at West Stockwith, again to ensure there was enough water to allow us to enter the lock and join the Chesterfield canal.

It was agreed that when we reached Gainsborough we would assess the lock situation, as there are pontoons which we could stay on if we had to wait until the next day for the right conditions.

The news was good, and the lock would be ready for us when we got to West Stockwith, this was also good as the pontoons at Gainsborough were full.

Now West Stockwith lock is notoriously difficult to enter without hitting the right hand wall. This is because the tide is still running quite fast, and you have to turn sideways on in the flow which pushed you towards the wall, if you time it just right you leave the flowing water before you hit the wall, allowing you to power into the lock. Its not easy. And we didn’t make and hit the wall with a thud, thing rattled but no damage was done.

West Stockwith Lock

Once up the lock the Lock Keeper directed us to a good mooring, and then imparted some bad news. It came in 2 parts, one we knew about, West Stockwith lock was closing for 5 days from the 6^th of July, which meant we would have to be on the canal for 2 weeks, not a huge problem. The other news however made us change our plans once again. We had intended to go all the way to the end of the canal, but now found out that 2 lock before Worksop, which is about half way, were only open at certain time with assisted passage due to leaking, and may close at any time if the situation deteriorated. If we went past these lock and they closed them then before we returned, we would be stuck on the canal for an unknown amount of time. After discussing it we decided to go as far as Ranby, just taking our time.

We just don’t seem to be able to catch a break this year.

The first night and we headed off to the pub, of course, The White Hart. It has its own brewery The Idle brewery, which is named after the Idle river which runs at the side of the pub. Of course they had a stout on so the Captain was a very happy bunny. We did get chatting to a very friendly local and had a great time.

https://thewhitehartinn.site/

We set off next morning and had 4 double locks and a short tunnel to do, before mooring up at Clayworth. We were joined at the first 2 locks by NB Mithril, he was single handing with 2 very noisy dogs, so I locked both boats through. He was making his way back to his moorings at Retford but stopped at Misterton to go to the butchers there. So we went on alone. The canal is very shallow and weedy so it was slow going. It did give us time to take in the magnificent views of North Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. The water was very clear, with plenty of fish of all different sizes. And we watched on aerobatic tern catching fish for his dinner at the back of the boat.

Common Tern

We eventually made it to Clayworth and found a decent mooring spot. Last time we were here we visited the boat club bar which was very cheap, but unfortunately it only opens at weekends, so we headed off to the local pub, The Brewers Arms. A friendly village pub, and of course we got chatting with some of the locals again.

https://brewersarmsclayworth.co.uk/

Our next stop was Retford, and we desperately needed a big shop, luckily there is an Aldi right next to the canal. We only had 1 lock to do, and that had the unusual name of Whitsunday Pie Lock. Legend says it was given this name when a local lady living by the lock, baked a pie on Whitsunday for the navvies working on the canal. A lovely story.

The visitors moorings in Retford are right by Aldi and there is a path right onto the towpath. We did a huge heavy shop and managed to wheel the trolley right to the side of the boat. There is also a Lidl and Asda within 10mins of the canal too.

I checked my blog from our previous visit 8yrs ago, and much to my surprise because neither of us could remember much about the town, it said we loved it and had tried 4 pubs. 1 Wetherspoons and 3 micropubs. We looked forward to exploring the town again. But more important we needed to find a pub to watch the England v Congo DR match. I have already mentioned the Idle brewery, and they have a tap in the town which was showing the match (thanks Facebook) and the tap was opposite Aldi, so off we set and found decent seats. The pub slowly filled up and it was a tense match but we won, eventually.

https://www.facebook.com/Idlevalleytap2017/?locale=en_GB

We spent a second day in Retford, and were very pleased we did, as it was a very very windy day. We tried a couple of the pubs, The Brew Shed and Beer under the Clock which had been called Beer Headz previously.

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

Beer Under the Clock

Next day and more locks, but now they were single locks, much easier to do. At the first 2 we had an audience, and I explained that the name for people who watch narrowboats is a Gongoozler to a gentleman who found it very funny.

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

The canal became very rural after the first 2 locks, again it was very shallow and weedy making it hard going. We had hoped to moor before Ranby for the night, but it was impossible to get to the side, so we just had to keep going. We knew we could moor outside the pub, The Chequers, and a helpful boater told us there were good moorings outside the village hall to. This is were we ended up. The Captain had truly had enough, and I am quite pleased we are not doing to whole length of the canal if this is how it was going to be. We did head to to pub, a friendly gastro pub with excellent reviews for their food, and they had a stout on for the Captain which cheered him up no end.

https://www.thechequersatranby.co.uk/

So we are stopping in Ranby until Monday and meeting up with my kids whilst here, but that’s for next time.

36 miles, 2 canals, 1 river, 13 locks and 1 tunnel 154yrds long

And the engine ran great. YIPPEE !!!!!