Until another time - farewell

Friday, 20 August 2010 19:49

What a gorgeous last cruise on the Chesterfield Canal

I have a lot to catch up on - so here goes.

As we were leaving our mooring at Drakeholes Tunnel, we met "the people who go there", or at least 50% of them! Christine and Malcolm Richardson are one half of the Richlow Guide creation team. John Lower and his wife Barbara are the other 50%! (Get it? - Richlow). We have found their Chesterton Canal Guide more useful than Nicholson!

Christine and Malcolm promised to meet us at Gringley Lock and, lo and behold, they did - it was open and waiting for us.

You may remember that I commented that it was a hard lock to do - it took Christine and John to close the top gate and three of them to close the bottom gate- maybe something to do with a boat strike, according to the crew on JP Boat Training Services' boat?

Christine and John

Malcolm and John at the bottom gates

Gringley Wharf is just past Middle Bridge (I had to ask Christine where it was, as I could find no location in the historic records) and the pear tree there is loaded with pears. Now who do they belong to? ......

Above Shaw Lock was one of our favourite moorings and once again we were treated to expert lockies who had the lock all ready for us.

Manor Farm is near Walkeringham; we spotted a lorry about to cross the bridge there - it looked too big to go over the bridge, but as you can see it did.

Meeting other boats, let alone narrowboats, on the Chesterfield Canal can be a challenge in some places. The best strategy seems to slow right down and to pass each other slowly and as close as possible, gunnel to gunnel in some cases. We managed this quite a few times without going aground. Meeting at bridge holes needs a bit of giving way; it helps if there is a break in the bank vegetation too!

Meeting at Fountain Hill Bridge

So, next stop was Stockwith Basin -  actually the water tap just before Basin Bridge: one of the fastest we have used for ages! Christine and Malcolm joined us for a cuppa and a good natter. Christine is an authority on James Brindley - I shall know who to ask if I need information on the great man. You may have seen her with Chris Tarrant on the BCN on TV last Spring. We did, but didn't know her then!

After a bit of a wait we were called into the lock by Sue, the Lock Keeper, and we began our descent to the River Trent. I am grateful to Christine for the next couple of photos.

We said our farewells - we will definitely be back - I want to do the best bit of the Chesterfield and all those locks.

It is worth mentioning that Richlow produce other guides, always in small quantities so that they are up-to-date, available on-line and selected places! Updates are put on the website so your guide can be updated as necessary. We now have the John Lower's boating companion for the Trent too, which is interesting reading for anyone contemplating a trip on the Trent.

We have been using the "Sissions charts" produced by The Boating Association, whilst cruising the river. However, as they are not to scale and are now a little out of date in several places, we think it would be good if Richlow produced a map guide, combining it with John's booklet of his 25 - 30 years worth of experiences on the Trent. What about it, John?