Onwards towards Newark

Cromwell Lock behind us, we were now cruising the non-tidal Trent.

We passed North Muskham with the Muskham Ferry pub and St Wilfred's church. This was built in the 12th and 15th centuries and has impressive clerestory windows.

The Muskham Ferry pub

St Wilfred's from the river

All along the River Trent there are kilometre markers. These helped us work out where we were using the "Sissions charts". The markers are not noted on Nicholson (it would be helpful if it was) - we also use WaterExplorer's Navvygator as we cruise, so we can always tell where we are and what speed we are doing. Speed limit boards are also along the banks - it seemed it was 6mph.

Kilometre marker

Winthrop Bridge carries the A1 across the Trent. The road follows the Great North Road for much of its 410 miles from London to Edinburgh. It is the longest road in the UK - remember that for pub quizzes! We have been under it a few times in the last month or so!

Winthrop Bridge

Cruising under Newark Rail Bridge, we approached Newark - we planned to spend the weekend there and were expecting visitors. The Trent divides here - the wide non-navigable "river" flowing off right and the narrower Newark Branch to the left, towards Newark Nether Lock.

We followed the cruiser into the lock - he had used his VHF to warn the Lock Keeper of our approach.

Newark Nether Lock

Above the lock, road and rail again cross the navigation. Fiddlers Elbow Bridge (is that the equivalent of tennis elbow but for a violinist?!) is an elegant bridge, followed by the blue bridge over Kings Marina's entrance and then Jubilee Bridge.

We thought we might moor on the pontoon moorings beyond Jubilee Bridge. They are below Stephenson House and The Kiln, where BW have their office. The moorings were full as you can see!

So we carried on towards Trent Bridge (the old Great North Road, now bypassed by the A1). Built in 1775 and replacing a 12th century timber bridge, it has seven arches. Boats have to take the centre arch.

Trent Bridge

We moored just beyond the bridge opposite the "Guardian of the Trent"

More - oh so much more  - about this really nice town later.

River Trent, Torksey to Newark

5 hours, 20.26 miles, 2 locks 

Both actually!

The River Trent continues until Cromwell Lock and then it becomes a "navigation". Or that is as I understand it!

We left Torksey at the unearthly hour of 5.58 am "precisely! It was flood tide and we crept out so as not to wake everyone! It is a good job John wakes up quickly - it takes a cup of tea, food, a cup of coffee and a shower to wake me up properly!

By 6.40-ish I was back in charge of the camera and by that time we were at Dunham. The Trent Valley has been called the powerhouse of England. The current working power stations produce over a quarter of England's electricity. Plentiful water for steam production and cooling and, until relatively recently, plenty of coal from the East Midlands coal mines. Most of the power stations have been built since the 1950s and many are now powered by gas.

The huge cooling towers are prominent on the sky line, as here at Cottam; further down the redundant High Marnham closed in 2003. They have a strange industrial beauty.

Cottam power station

About half the electricity is conveyed to London via the grid of overhead power lines, marching away across the countryside.

Power to the people at High Marnham

You remember I wrote about danger signs on the Trent ? - Here is the one for the sunken island at Normanton. We took a wide berth, as although we were travelling on the end of the "flood", the river was low because it was still neap tide.

A GRP cruiser heading straight for us could also spell danger! This one took a long time to veer away and in fact washed our cratch window and foredeck for us with his bow wave - how kind!

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So, passing Sutton on Trent and then Charlton on Trent, we came to the huge Cromwell Lock. John had rung ahead to tell the Lock Keeper to expect us but there were boats (cruisers and a narrowboat) coming down who got there first so we waited on the pontoon below. The weir is very impressive and I was not too happy with the weir rushing one side and the lock emptying on the other! I kept a close eye on the ropes and movement.

To be continued ........

On to the tidal Trent again at flood tide

Off we go (photo courtesy of Christine Richardson)

Goodbye Chesterfield canal

We had a fairly long trip ahead of us up to Torksey Lock cut, where we planned to overnight. There are a few sights to see on the way, old and new. There was quite a convoy travelling downstream, but we appeared to be the only narrowboat travelling to Torksey.

The tide was a neap one, so sights like this sand bank on a corner were often seen and to be avoided. The "Sissions charts" mark the danger areas, but it is not always clear exactly where they are on the maps so it is best to take the mid stream unless there are warning notices on the banks.

At Gainsborough, the east bank is lined with old wharves; are these mooring bollards, at different heights?

The old factories and wharf buildings are being turned into offices and apartments, with a riverside walk where the mills,machinery and cranes used to be.

Gainsborough, once an inland port, has a royal connection with King Alfred, who married the daughter of the chief of the Gaines, a Mercian tribe that gave the name to the town. It was also the centre of battles in the Civil War - Royalists v Parliamentarians.

Spillers Mill is now owned and operated by the Kerry Group (a food ingredient manufacturer). However, as we drew near, there was a distinct smell of yeast and flour, and those two food ingredients mean bread to me! Was it a ghost smell or do Kerry of Gainsborough still manufacture these ingredients?

Once through Gainsborough Bridge (Gainsborough Arches) and railway viaduct,  West Burton Power Station appeared.

On the port side, going up stream (inland from the Humber estuary), there are red channel markers (like red sweeps brushes) for when the river is in flood condition. The starboard ones are green. I saw a number of birds perched on them but this one had sheep grazing below it.

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At Littleborough there is an old Roman causeway. Apparently, after defeating the Danes at Stamford Bridge (the head of navigation of the River Derwent - clickety click), Harold crossed here with his army en route for Hastings. I guesstimated from the maps that these photos show each side of this ford. One would have thought there might have been blue plaques each side!

The approach to Torksey is under a railway viaduct - the east end of which is a trestle bridge. Torksey was once a Roman port and a thriving settlement in the Middle Ages. The 16th century castle or manor house is now a ruin; built by the Royalist Jermyn family, it was taken by the Parliamentarians and then burned down by the Royalists.

The Torksey Lock cut is marked by a pumping station and we turned into it after narrowboat Kenda, who had travelled up from Keadby; we had caught up with them after Littleborough. The tidal flow was so little that we could just turn in gently.

The moorings were full, but a number of the cruisers were waiting to ascend Torksey Lock (at Hight Tide), so once they moved off we turned in the cut and moored up for the night. It was to be an early night as the next day we wanted to leave at the end of the flood tide again - at around 6 am (help!).

Chesterfield Canal, Drakeholes Tunnel to Torksey Lock Cut, River Trent

6 hours 13 minutes, 27.73 miles, 5 locks