Surfing the Tidal River Trent

After leaving Lincoln, we "retraced our steps" back to Torksey, where we stopped over night before going back down onto the tidal River Trent.  The lock keeper informed us that the tide was 9 metres high, and it certainly seemed that way.  When we had previously been below Torksey Lock the walkway to the pontoon in the photo below was very steep as the floating pontoon was lower with the low tide.

So we left Torksey at almost high tide, and for the first hour or so it seemed we going against the tide and the boat engine was having to work hard, but despite that we overtook the boats that had shared the lock with us, and some boats that had left before us.

Scenery wise there was a great deal of green banks and occasional buildings including

The remains of Torksey Castle.  Built in the 16th Century, Torksey Castle was a manor house, which was burned to the ground in the Civil war - see - Torksey_Castle.

There are also quite a few power stations -

The Tidal Trent rushes passed Gainsborough, and there are very little moorings, so we weren't encouraged to stop there.  Which was just as well as we were now on an ebb tide and were travelling a great deal faster than we normally do on the canals.

The photo above is the main bridge into Gainsborough.

Not far from Gainsborough, the Chesterfield Canal joins the River Trent at West Stockwith.  We had planned on visiting the Chesterfiled, but the lock joining the two waterways has been out of order for much of the last week.  When we went passed we didn't see any sign of activity for repairing the lock gates.  Below is a picture of the lock .

Before long we reached Keadby, and what was to be one of the biggest challenges as boater we've ever faced.  The flow is taking us down stream, and the lock keeper's advice was to cruise passed the lock and then to turn around 180 degrees and approach the lock from that direction.  To add to the difficulty, there was a large "coaster" (or ship)  moored right next to the lock entrance.

As we were turning into the lock we were fighting the tide coming towards us coming from the River and from between the Ship and the wharf wall.  Domino was rocking as we fought our way into the lock, with no damage done.  Alton Towers eat your heart out!

Once in the lock the lock keeper secured our bow and stern ropes, which we held tight to keep us against the lock wall, whilst we waited for another couple of narrowboats to come and share the lock with us.

Note the boat in the background whizzing passed the lock before turning round to join us in the lock.

Straight after the lock is a swing bridge - this one was operated the the lock keeper,

We moored up for the night after the swing bridge.  We were both tired, and so was Tonni

Lincoln Castle - lots of history and pics - you've been warned!

Yesterday we visited Lincoln Castle.  From the outside, Lincoln Castle is dominated by its sand coloured walls.  Visitors entry is through the East Gate.

Above is the East Gate, viewed from inside the grounds.

Straight ahead from the East Gate is the Crown Court building - still very much in use today.  It as built between 1822 and 1826 - and unfortunately is only open to Court visitors - so we only got a look at the exterior if this magnificent building.  Recently the Court Service considered moving the Crown Court out of the Castle, but decided against doing so as it would be too expensive to do.

Above - Lincoln Crown Court seen from inside the castle grounds.


Also in the grounds is a large red brick building which was built in 1787 to house debtors and felons, and house the prison governor and his family.

The prison was extended in 1847.  For those convicted of felony, the regime was one of isolation - they were incarcerated in separate cells, and only referred to by number.  Daily they were taken to the chapel, with each prisoner wearing a mask before being placed in a little cubicle so that they could only see the Chaplin, but he could see every prisoner.

Prisoners incarcerated in separate system prisons were reduced to numbers, their names, faces and past histories eliminated. The guards and warders charged with overseeing these prisoners knew neither their names nor their crimes, and were prohibited from speaking to them. Prisoners were hooded upon exiting a cell, and even wore felted shoes to muffle their footsteps. The result was a dumb obedience and a passive disorientation that shattered the "criminal community." (source wikipedia).

The prison also housed debtors, who had some social contact - and when they attended they sat on wooden benches, sent back to the right of the Chaplin so that the felons could not see them.

Lincoln prison also housed some prisoners who were to be transported to America and later to Australia.  Capital punishment was also carried out at the Castle.  William Marwood, a local cobbler, developed a new method of hanging, called the "long drop", which had the benefit of killing the prisoner quickly by breaking his neck resulting in the prisoner dying of asphyxia while unconscious.  The previous "short drop" method killed the prisoners by strangulation and was considered which was particularly distressing to prison governors and staff who were required to witness executions at close quarters following the abolition of public executions by the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868.  In his nine years as a hangman, Marwood hung 176 people.

Also housed in the prison block is an exhibition of the Magna Carta.  I was always under the impression that there was only one Magna Carta, but in fact 4 still survive, one of which is at Lincoln Castle (although it is owned by Lincoln Cathedral).  The Lincoln copy has been over to the USA, and was kept in Fort Knox during much of the WWII.  Two other copies are held by the British Library, and the fourth copy is owned and displayed at Salisbury Cathedral.  For obvious reasons, I could not take any photographs of the document.

And to conclude our tour of Lincoln Castle we walked around most of the walls (unfortunately due to restoration works we could not walk right round).

The Cathedral as seen from the North wall.

 

The West gate as seen from North wall.

Bottom left is the Court, then a new development (sorry no idea what) and then the prison - the 1847 addition is to the right.  In the background is the cathedral.

The east gate in the foreground, with the observatory flying the Union Jack in the back ground.

 A bronze sculpture of Lincoln Castle.

Nottingham Castle to Lincoln Castle via Newark Castle

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Trent & Mersey Canal

The Trent & Mersey (T&M) Canal is 93 and a half miles long and has 70 narrow locks and 6 broad locks.  It connects the River Mersey (via the Bridgewater Canal) to the River Trent.  Whilst we have done the T&M before, we've never done it from one end to the other in one go before.  If you were to do the trip by car, it would take you about an hour and a half - but it has taken us just under a month to do it via boat.  We could have done this quicker, but we have taken days off from cruising:-

1.  to avoid rain (we are fair weather cruisers), 
2. to explore towns and villages we've come across en-route,
3. and to nurse failing body parts

 When I last left you on 8th May 2012 we were moored near the Wedgewood factory.  From there we cruised to Stone - which is arguably one of the nicest towns along the T&M, and certainly one of our favorites, and is the home of the best Pizza take-away we've ever had.  From there we cruised to Great Haywood, which is a small village with a grand name on the outskirts of Shugborough Hall, the home of Lord Lichfield.  We've stopped here quite a few times in the past, and there are too many dog walkers for Tonni to get off the boat, so we only stopped here for one night.

From Great Haywood the canal goes through a few little hamlets, the town of Rugley and through Armitage (where the toilet factory is still going).  Along this stretch of canal British Waterways have introduced new handrails to old bridges that cross the locks.  The main reason for this is due to a teenager riding his bike over a bridge with no handrails at Stourport and falling in to the water and drowning.  So Health & Safety now decrees that we must have handrails on all these little bridges that have been safely used for 200+ years.

This bridge isn't one of the worst - some have been designed without thinking about the boater and boat going underneath the bridge - with large metal bolts protruding downwards ready for the unsuspecting boater to hit his or her head on.

Rant over!


At Fradley Junction the T&M meets the Coventry Canal.  In the past we have often left the T&M here and cruised along the Coventry Canal, heading South - but this year we are finally braving the North, so we continued straight on.  Fradley Junction is a popular place with gongoozlers, it has a very old and well known pub - The Swan Inn, also affectionately known as the Mucky Duck.

This is the view down to the junction, the pub is opposite the junction and in the middle of the buildings on the left.

After Fradley, the T&M continues to another lovely village - Alrewas, where we enjoyed a very pleasant nights stay.  A must for any visitor to Alrewas is a trip to the butcher - we had a great pork pie, some pork, asparagus and Stilton sausages and some delicious duck breasts from him - three great meals.

From Alrewas, we cruised to Willington - where we stayed for a few nights - holed up against the rain and wind.  And from Willington we cruised through to Sawley, which is very near the end of the T&M, and here we stayed for 3 nights due to sore body parts.


And finally for today....

This is the first time we've seen a boat take a wheelie bin - do the bin men come and collect it?

Heartbreak and Handcuffs

Well when I left you last we were at Wheelock, which is at the bottom of a flight of locks, popularly known as Heartbreak Hill or by the old boaters as the "Cheshire locks".  Unlike many lock flights which have a certain number of locks so close together that you cannot moor between the locks, Heartbreak is made up of a number of little flights, which given the weather over Bank Holiday weekend meant we only got wet a couple of times and we were able to stop half way up at Hassell Green.  One of the nice things about Heartbreak is that most of the locks are in pairs, one beside the other.

In theory having pairs of locks should reduce the need to queue for locks, but in a few cases the second lock is in a state of disrepair, or has been done away with altogether.

The closer to the summit we got the more we noticed a change in the colour of the water from muddy brown to orange due to the ironstone mine workings.

Once we reached the summit of the 26 locks (and after a quick dash to the nearby Tescos), we reached the Harecastle Tunnel (for all the facts and including the tale of the ghost of the tunnel see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harecastle_Tunnel ).

Above is a picture of the entrance to Harcastle tunnel.  At each end of the tunnel is a BW tunnel keeper whose job it is to let you know when you can enter the tunnel without  meeting a boat coming the other way.  They let through a maximum of 8 boats at a time from one direction and when they leave the tunnel, the keeper at the other end then lets up to 8 boats go through the other way.

On leaving the tunnel we enter the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent.  Now I have no wish to offend anyone from Stoke, but the City does nothing to encourage the boater to want to moor up and explore the area.  From derelict and abandoned warehouses,

To graffiti,

To the use of hand-cuffs on the locks (anti vandal mechanisms)

So we didn't stop in Stoke, but instead cruised on just over 9 miles and did another 6 locks and moored up near the Wedgewood factory.

And so for my final choice of a photo that makes me smile - well there are 3...

 My wonderful husband.....

 My little cat.....

& need I say anything else?

Through Middlewhich - pass the salt?

We've postponed our trip up the Leeds Liverpool canal and its heavy double locks due to a heavy dose of the lurgy.  So after a week recuperating at Anderton, we set off last Thursday and headed towards Middlewich.  On Friday we met our first locks - Big Lock at Middlewich (so called for being the only double lock on a canal of single width locks) - a notoriously heavy lock that almost killed us.  Incidentally, Big Lock is the first lock I ever did - and every time I've done it since I am surprised that that first experience didn't but me off locking!

After Big Lock, we did another 8 locks, although these were all single locks.

Here is G with Domino leaving the first in a flight of 3 locks imaginatively names "The Middlewich 3".

After the Middlewich 3, the canal splits - off to right is the "Middlewich Branch", towards Wales and Chester, or straight ahead towards Stoke-on-Trent.  (We carried straight on).

King's Lock pub is a popular stopping place with boaters, and on a sunny summer's day the beer garden gets very busy with on-lookers.  Opposite the pub is an excellent fish and chippy, and in days gone by we've enjoyed fish & chips by this lock.

Middlewich, like Northwich, Leftwich and Nantwich are all connected to the salt industry.  At Northwich for example there are 2 salt museums (although one is undergoing substantial works to make it safe).   As we cruised along the canal, leaving Middlewich behind, we passed British Salt, which is sold as the Saxa brand for putting on food.

 Eventually we reached the small village of Wheelock, where after 9 locks we moored up and collapsed, exhausted and took a day to recover.

And for those of you wanting to see how Tonni is doing.....