The final assault on Sheffield

Sunday 7^th May 2017

We were due to meet the CaRT guy at Holmes Lock at 9:30 - and there was just the matter of a couple of miles and two locks to negotiate before we got there.

It is called Swan Lake because of their numbers - on the way into Rotherham

Home to the Exol Pride - the nemesis barge..

...but reprocessing old oil products has got to be good for everyone

The precarious entrance to Rotherham Lock - that white beam is the lock

New York Stadium - home to Rotherham FC - today was their last home game
for the season and last in the Champioship - they have been relegated back
to League 1

It seems to be our custom that we like to get somewhere early and in this case it was no difference – so we had some breakfast and not long after that, Nigel, the CaRT guy arrived and unlocked the paddles.

 

No shortage of water here...

Lock full and locked

We had a chat and it was then time to get going.

Nigel had already unlocked all of the flight and had the locks being emptied by leaving a paddle up on each of the bottom gates.

He would work with us as needed through the entire flight plus Holmes and Jordan Locks and, as we were the only boat passing through, he would also lock everything up after we passed through.

 

Again, the scenery is great...

...not so the weir - this one just beyond Jordans Lock - the River Don flowing down

Along the way we had plenty of chances to talk with Nigel about all sorts of things including the flight of locks – especially the flight of locks; learning more about the history and current situation with all sorts of things.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the lock gates – both top and bottom – were extremely heavy – in one case, Lock 9, it needed two of us just to close one of the gates.

The dynamics of the in-flow of water from the gate paddles was quite strong, so care needed to be made – as always, you find out these things after a couple of locks.

We made it to the top of the flight about 12:10 and then there was only the two-mile cruise into Sheffield – all moored up at 1 o’clock.

 

You might be waiting a while for some boats to slow down -
but we certainly complied

Beyond the swing bridge are the moorings with power, but we opted for those
bollards on the right - in the sun and very open - good signals.

Arriving at this time allowed us all afternoon to re-explore the city centre and re-aquaint us with the layout – we had been here in 2014 for 1 day.

Check list – Tourist Information Office found (check); coffee shops found (check); Crucible Theatre found (check); find quickest way into the city centre (check); plan for tomorrow (check).

 

The Town Hall - side view

No it is not a green Tardis
- it is the last of the South Yorkshire Police Boxes

For Diane' sister Vivienne's who has a thing for elephants - this one is
in The Wintergarden

One thing caught my eye whilst I was preparing this blog – in all of our travels over the time on Ferndale we have made it to 5000 miles of canal travel – it is a fair distance but at the speed that we travel it is a long time spent on the back of the boat.

8 Miles, 13 Locks

YTD:  369 miles (594 km), 190 Locks, 15 Tunnels, 5 Lift Bridges, 13 Swing Bridges

Total: 5001 Miles (8048 km), 3341 Locks, 139 Tunnels, 71 Lift Bridges, 185 Swing Bridges