Redundant Crew Member Available

Saturday 3rd May 2014

What a cracker of a day it was!!

The sun was streaming in - even though the curtains were closed this morning and when we emerged outside, it was glorious. The air was a bit cold but there was nothing to take away from the clear bright blue sky.

We only had a couple of miles and three locks to go to the terminus of the canal, so we left reasonably early and we were moored up about 10am.

The cruising highlight without doubt was Diane winding just above the last lock - whilst it was a suitable size, it was tighter than most winding holes.

But wait, that wasn't all, she then brought Ferndale onto the visitor mooring perfectly; stepped off with centre-line in hand and just simply held it without any need to exert force to move the boat.

All I needed to do was tie the front - she had already done the stern line - with all of her skills I am feeling a bit redundant.

Anyone in need of an obsolete crew member?

Whilst she readied herself I tried desperately to remind her of my relevance - pram hood up, all the gear sorted out, TV aerial up - I think that I might have survived for a bit longer.

With virtually a full day ahead of us, we decided to take the train into Nottingham - the prospect of a wait of an hour (we had just missed one) the next option was the bus in just 5 minutes - the travel time was much the same as the train anyway.

With some help from a friendly local lady who advised us about the ₤9 all day ticket which covered the two of us (in fact it allows up to 5 people to travel together on all buses for the whole day for that price - great value for families), we hopped on board - 50 minutes later we were in the centre of Nottingham.

Old Market Square

With the Sheriff - these days reduced to working
for a coffee chain

Every city or town looks much better in full sunshine and Nottingham was able to show off very well indeed.

We ventured up to where the castle once stood - it had disappeared centuries ago and a stately home had replaced it - probably the ultimate in buy-to-demolish and then rebuild.

Castle gates

Love what they have done with the place since
they got rid of the old monstrosity

As we were here for just hours we opted not to do any of the real touristy things - some we had been through before when we were here with the kids back in 2000.

The main attraction of Nottingham - the statue
and history surrounding Robin Hood - not the chick
in theforeground

A wander down to the canal was in order - a bit of a reconnaissance for next year when we come through here.

Diane's favourite thing about walking is the hills (not really) and with Nottingham built as it is, there was plenty of need to push her up the slopes.

It was pleasing to see how the town planners had dealt with the need to remove traffic from the narrow laneways (but still allow access) and leave the city pedestrian friendly.

Pedestrianised but with vehicle access, these 19thC building are
undergoing the process to attract people back to the city

Like all larger towns and cities, we could see areas where the regeneration was well underway and others where it still couldn't spell it.

After lunch we made a bit of a dash for the fast return bus (it cuts out all of the stops before Langley Mill) and takes about half the time, but only leaves hourly - we made it with minutes to spare - more pushing up the hill.

Returning to the boat we found that another boat had moored opposite and we were joined later by a third - all moorings now full.

Much to Diane's annoyance the TV signal for us was non-existent for BBC - but what about the snooker and Neil Robertson?

Problem solved - we streamed it and she was able to see the first four frames via the computer. She watched the last two frames on her phone - sadly Robertson lost, but another excellent player Selby will face O'Sullivan in the final.

We will be moving on Sunday so that she watch it more easily!

2 Miles, 3 Locks

Totals: 2403 Miles, 1728  Locks, 77 Tunnels, 32 Lift Bridges, 147 Swing Bridges