On the River (again) to West Stopwith

Friday 28^th April 2017

After talking to the lock-keeper the previous day, we knew that we were due to lock-out about 11 am, so there would be plenty of time in the morning to do what we needed to do – or so we thought.

I was up reasonably early, although not early for me – I popped my head outside about 7am and who did I find there – the lockie.

So chance for a chat when he suggested that if we were up for it,we could lock down now and wait on the pontoons below the lock and in the short arm off the river before the lock – we could then head off when we wanted – the real reason behind this was that there were a few boats heading up to West Stopwith and with only being able to get two down at a time it might take a little while to get them all out – no problems with going down – well that would be except for telling Diane to get herself up and out of bed – even before she finished her first coffee.

But we made it through the lock and moored up below and could just relax – it was a fine sunny day with a bit of a breeze – almost perfect cruising weather.

We had wanted to fill with water, but didn’t get around to it.

By about 10am there were a few boats already down and ready to go – we had a bit of a chat with the guy on the boat behind us – he had done this trip a couple of times but had always encountered slack water at West Stopwith, so he was no help in advising on our approach. The lockie probably would have been helpful, but my understanding left a bit to be desired – as I have indicated very early in the entire blog – some accents are a bit difficult to understand.

By 11 am we were ready to go and we allowed a boat to head off before us and after that we were off. The tide was still on its way in and would be that way for another 30 minutes before it slackened off and than turned, so coming out into the flow was a bit different and we needed a bit more power to make the turn fully and head downstream against the flow.

Stay close but not too close

The remains of Torksey Castle - no chance to visit

...same remains - different angle

The church at Torksey - we didn't get a chance to visit here either

We quickly found the right speed and follow behind the lead boat. The flow eventually turned and we were moving downstream much more quickly – up to 11 kmh at one stage – so we eased off a bit, as we were catching up to the boat ahead.

They appeared to be easing back as well and we thought that slowing further was not an option so we overtook them.

Crocs in the water???

The Trent is starting to get a bit bigger

Someone is enjoying it

The Folly on the hill - is a landmark in the charts for the Trent - glad we
hadn't taken a wrong turn

Lambs again - certainly must be spring

The tide was on the way out and this shows how far it had
dropped in about an hour - it was a 9m tide at Hull - quite high

Eventually our speed meant that we caught and overtook the boat in front

I had spoken to the West Stopwith Lock-keeper earlier (before we had left) and he had advised of a timing to let him know where we were so that the lock would be ready – so then as we approached Walkerith Ferry, we radioed ahead.

The bridge at Gainsborough

There must still a bit more for the river level to drop - these steps still
head down into the water

Knowing that there is a lock to get into; knowing that the river flow is taking you downstream; knowing that the lock-keeper will provide some assistance by way of hand signals is wonderful (in theory) – it’s when you are out there on the back of the boat and underestimate the flow completely and then have to make the U-turn to turn around completely and have almost full revs on to start moving upstream, that you truly have your heart in your mouth hoping that you can make it.

The hand signals help to a point as the lockie indicates to keep heading towards him – standing on a solid rock wall and you have full revs on – I did turn a bit too soon and we nudged the other wall, but managed to pivot into the lock in one go – phew! Glad that was done – hindsight is always wonderful and there are things that I should have done differently and better.

The second boat came in OK and we were locked through – rising about 10 or so feet and exited into a lovely basin area.

Yes - we made it!

We headed through the basin and along the canal – our warnings had been that the Chesterfield Canal is shallow, but apparently the end of the canal is so very beautiful.

Through the bridge is the basin that we have just left

...and we are on the Chesterfield

As we slowly made our way down, it quickly became clear that our normal speed would qualify as tick-over and we would not need to slow down for moored boats – it is very much a case of the bottom being VERY close to the top.

We made it through the first two locks – suitably locked both bottom and top – just past the second lock we found some lovely armco which looked like a nice mooring place – but would we be able to get in close enough – luck was with us and we thought this would be just the place to stay – all open on the off side and one to mark in the book.

There would be no problems with the neighbours – a retirement village – they might very well be the only group of people who would be going to bed earlier than we usually do and not likely to be up too early in the morning to wake us.

So we stopped and settled down for a bit – Diane had a strong desire to get the TV going and see how the snooker was going – she is definitely a sports girl.

We shall see how tomorrow goes with the cruising and if the depth gets any better.

15 Miles, 4 Locks

YTD:  295 miles (475 km), 158 Locks, 13 Tunnels, 3 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4927 Miles (7929 km), 3309 Locks, 137 Tunnels, 69 Lift Bridges, 175 Swing Bridges

Homeward Bound and on we go.

Tuesday 25^th April to Thursday 27^th April 2017

Our train was not due to leave Brussels until 12:52, so even with a late(ish) breakfast and coupled with a late checkout of 11am, it allowed us to have a bit more of a wander around.

 

Sad to say but there is graffiti in nearly every place we have visited

So we exited the hotel and headed in a mainly northerly direction and found ourselves back at the canal – some type of gravitational field operating in that regard; but this time there was actually a barge using the lock and so we hovered around watching it all – it was just like any single lock that we would have done a thousand times – except about 100 times bigger and it was all operated by a lock-keeper in the control room.

She's a bit larger than Ferndale, but the same process is followed

Lock full, gates open and then they come out

The ropes were just a little bit bigger than we would have had onboard at any time.

Slowly the water rose and then when ready, the gates slowly opened; there was no rush of water from the prop, but just enough to move the barge forward – certainly sticking to the 5 kmh speed limit.

About 400 metres up from the lock was a lift bridge – no windlass required – we had spotted one of the lock-keepers head off earlier on his bike to get the bridge ready for the barge to carry on beneath it.

Lift bridge - you can see the road level on the left - the operator is in that little
room on top of the bridge

There is always someone wanting to "photo-bomb" the photo

That was some excitement for us – to see how the bigger boys do it all – might have been nice with a Dutch barge doing all of that (even in Belgium).

After that we carried on back to the hotel; a last check in the room and then we were checked out and off around the corner to the station.

Through the Border Controls for both France and the UK and it was a relatively short wait and we were in our seats and pulling out of Brussels – we had had a lovely time.

 

We came when it was a bit dull and cloudy, but on leaving
Brussels the sun was out again

...and we looked out on Belgium for one last time on this trip

The scheduled stop at Lille was delayed as we waited for a connecting late train, after which we were off again, through the tunnel and in a brief time we were coming into St.Pancras – just 20 minutes behind schedule.

 

Back in Endgland and here we are crossing the Medway

We already had the train tickets to take us back to Lincoln – funny thing is that we took 2 hrs and 20 minutes to get from Brussels to London, but it was over 2 hours and 30 minutes to get from London to Lincoln (our connecting train at Peterborough was waiting and we caught it with just a minute to spare).

Not exactly sure where we are here, but there are certainly narrowboats down there

We were back on board Ferndale by 6pm; the fire was lit and the unpacking began; the solar panels had done their job, but we put the engine on to take care of the washing and by 8pm we were all sorted but a bit knackered as well.

The following day we took the boat back into Lincoln – it was actually easier and cheaper to do that than catch the bus, taxi or even a hire car.

The tickets that we had previously bought for Lincoln Cathedral and the Castle allowed us a return visit so we decided to use those as well as pick up Diane’s medications that we had left to be prepared before we left.

 

This is for Diane's sister Vivienne

It was to be one last trudge up the hill and later on, one more down – we took Marilyn’s advice and had our walking poles with us and they made it easier.

For the castle it was another walk of the walls and we took some time to have a look inside the County Court House – it was a trial regarding an injury matter to someone in the Lincoln Hospital but held interest for both of us – so much so that we stayed a fair while longer than we first though we would – plus it was a great deal warmer inside than out.

 

Just cannot get over how over-powering the cathedral is in comparison to the castle

The second Motte and Observatory 

The County Court House

At the lunch recess we headed out and across the way to the Cathedral where we had a bite to eat and then headed upstairs to see the Library/Reading Room – the design and construction of this was handled by Christopher Wren (of St.Paul’s fame) – the inside was just fantastic as were the volumes on display; the staff were extremely helpful and whilst Diane was engaged with a young man who was enthusiastically telling her all about the library and the books, I was discussing travel in Russia with the woman who was also there to answer any questions – I think that it was predominantly about the library, but we drifted to Russia (as you do).

 

And the Australian Coat of Arms in Lincoln Cathedral
and part of the WWII memorial

After that we were off again, and down the hill, and back to the boat where we were thankful that the fire was left lit and it was cosy and snugly warm inside.

We spotted this and the one below earlier in our stay in Lincoln but I hadn't
included them into previous blogs....

....talk about making sure that you can see behind

Diane thinks that there may have been a bit of train lag (not jet lag mind you) from our return travels – I just think that we were tired after walking more than the equivalent of a marathon whilst we were away.

We did sleep rather well on Wednesday night.

Thursday was moving day – we had seen enough of Lincoln and we were ready to continue our cruising travels and our rough itinerary that we had – this, of course, meant that we had a bit of a cruise to Torksey.

It was only 10 miles and whilst we didn’t open the after-burners we still managed it in just over the 3 hours.

The lockie was right where we first moored up, getting some grass cutting done and advised us to move down close to the lock ready for the next day, and we ended up mooring on one of the water points – we were later on joined by three other boats – so it was all the normal thing to do.

On good advice from Jennie we headed to the café and had cake and coffee which was lovely.

Looking from our mooring at Torksey - ready for tomorrow

We were now ready for the next adventure of the river tomorrow.

13 Miles

YTD:  280 miles (451 km), 154 Locks, 13 Tunnels, 3 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4912 Miles (7905 km), 3305 Locks, 137 Tunnels, 69 Lift Bridges, 175 Swing Bridges

Walking distance so far: 41.9 km (previous) + 5.3 km (Tuesday) =  47.2 km (Total)

Out onto the Tidal Trent (and off again!)

Saturday 8^th April to Saturday 15^th April 2017

We had already booked our time with the lockies at Cromwell Lock; we had double checked with the previous afternoon – it would be 8am.

There had been talk about a neap tide and that it would be fairly easy going and nice and flat with no problems likely – so long as we stayed to the line of passage in the charts.

With words of reassurance like that still with me, it was with a little consternation that as I looked out the windows that morning about 6am and could not see the other side of the river.

A thick fog had descended overnight and it literally was too thick to see anywhere – I certainly could not see the other side and even had a misted look of our own side.

 

I couldn't even be sure which way we were actually facing

Nothing existed past the end of the pontoon

Even with the sun coming up, it was difficult to see anywhere

If it doesn’t lift we will just have to stay another day and leave the next day at 8:30am (I have already looked ahead and asked about a Sunday passage).

By 6:30 there was some visual recognition of the far bank – the outline/shape/shadow of a few trees could be made; by 7.00am it was definitely improving; 7:15am and the lockie thought that it would be fine by travel time; by 7:35 it was quite clear and the sun was shining down and we were moving forward towards the lock.

The bottom lock gates opened right on 7:50 and we tentatively made our way into the outer chamber; the river was running but not hard – certainly no worse than we had already experienced in the previous days.

 

The outer lock - that's the tidal Trent in the distance

Still a little bit of fog, but we could see where we were going 

So power on, bow pointed a little more upstream than we expected to be (allow for the flow) and we were off.

We have now experienced a number of rivers and this was no where near as fast as some – the River Douglas comes to mind for anything approaching concern – so we kept the engine revs up a bit; consulted the chart; sun was at our backs – we were off.

It would be about a 16 mile trip; the lockies had advised that they would inform Torksey lock that we were on our way (when they could get hold of him) – it seems that the signal – both phone and VHF radio is not the best at Torskey – but we were reliably told that there were moorings below the lock well off the river flow.

Sit back and relax; keep an eye on the line; tea made; breakfast on the go; enjoy the journey; and enjoy the warmth of the sun – though the air was still a little on the chilly side.

 

As far as the river was concerned it was like a mill pond

Smooth as..

It was such a great journey we had little time to be concerned about much at all – just as we were approaching Normanton Island (sunken i.e. a sand bar) there were a couple of cruisers coming the other way, but there is plenty of room to pass by – Diane did a great job getting around there.

We decided that I should try to contact Torksey at the 4 km mark (to go) – no answer; at the 2 km mark there was still no answer; Torksey arrived and we steered off the flowing river and into the lock approach; Diane said try one more time – success, and in just a few minutes the lock gates opened and we entered another quite large lock with middle gates that had not been used in quite some time.

Some might say "Glad to see this" but the journey was quite lovely - we were
pleased to get here, only because we were ready to see the Fossdyke

Still a bit of the remnants of the morning fog around, but the lock is in the distance

After calling the Lock-keeper on the VHF, the lights turned green and the gates
opened and we were heading in.

A strange collection of teapots on the lock gates -
These gates didn't move

The lock-keeper was very friendly and helpful, providing us with plenty of information about the Fossdyke and Witham Navigations.

 

Diane chatting up the lockie and getting plenty of good information -
including where to and not to moor and some of the sights to see

The only boring part is that it is so straight, but the banks at the side are not
so high that you cannot see anything. Remember that this was constructed
2000 years ago by the Romans

We had decided to carry on past Torksey and would moor up at Saxilby – it was Saturday and Diane was desperate for her weekly copy of the Daily Mail – so another 5 miles or so and we were there and moored up.

We spent a couple of hours wandering around the village – Diane had found a walking map of the village – I presume that all villages, towns and cities are proud of their own part of the world, but the good people of Saxilby had provided these maps in a holder where we had moored - maybe a thought for others to do the same – boaters like to know about where they are stopping.

 

Saxilby church - probably the highlight...

...and the stained glass window

So we toured around and came back to the back and rested – over 20 miles cruising and early morning nervous energy and 2 hours of walking deserved a sit down.

We only stayed the one night – after all we had seen it all and we were eager to get down a bit further and see Lincoln.

It wasn’t a long cruise – 5 miles in total – but we found a mooring spot – past all of the Long Term Moorings – still in the bright sunshine and nice and quiet – if you discount the University building work which didn’t last long for a Sunday.

We set off to do a bit of exploration of Lincoln and head up the hill (dare I say mountain) – it was quite steep and the road up, which happened to called of all things Steep Hill (wonder where they thought up that name), is among the steepest in Britain.

 

Another city - another city of crowds

You are not kidding about that

Looking up...

...and looking down; it's steep both ways

At the top were the dual delights of Lincoln Castle and Lincoln Cathedral – being a Sunday and sunny, it was packed with people – we much prefer less in the way of crowds so instead we simply purchased the tickets to see all of it in the coming week.

Monday was another lovely day and we once again trudged up the hill to see Lincoln Cathedral in detail – a guided tour was due to start at 10am, so we latched onto that and found out so very much about the cathedral that you just do not get to know by yourself.

 

The outside is worth the climb up the hill...

...but the inside is simply spectacluar

The little chap highlighted in the centre is the Lincoln Imp

Diane as usual lit candles for her mum and dad and also for dear Lauren.

After all of this touristy stuff we had built up a bit of an appetite and where else would be go on a Monday but to the Slug and Lettuce (they still have the 50% off all food Monday deal) – Diane was super pleased with that.

 

The west gate to Lincoln Castle - we will be visiting that when we return to Lincoln

After all of that we made our way back to the boat – I still needed to do some work – but we needed to rest – we must be getting a bit old.

There was a pressing appointment down at Watford that we needed to get down for – so as we would normally do, we called upon the services of Enterprise and hired a small van for 3 days – this is actually cheaper than to hire a small car and they are usually diesel and a bit more fuel efficient.

What was so pressing? Well, after living for 36 years in the one house, Diane’s uncle and aunt had sold their house and were on the move – only a mile away but into a lovely bungalow – for anyone in Australia, that is not what we would automatically assume to be – i.e. a small house of probably 2 bedrooms that we might use as a holiday house – in the UK it refers to a house all on one level (no upstairs).

So we had agreed to help them move out and move in – fortunately they had removalists to do the heavy stuff and there were 4 young guys more than capable of doing all of that – and very efficient they were too.

We followed along and moved the last boxes that would go – the last of the kitchen stuff but the most important – cups, tea, coffee and milk, so that we could have a cuppa straight away.

 

Maggie was happy to be moving, Paddy is not so sure

All moved in and they are just glad that everything has been moved

Everything went very well, but it was a long day – we headed off at 5:30am and made it back to the boat around 10pm.

It is quite an anomaly here for the Easter weekend – in Australia, everything is basically closed on Good Friday and limited places open on Easter Saturday and Easter Monday; here Easter is referred to a bank holiday like every other public holiday and everything appears open on Good Friday and Easter Saturday – the Sunday is the big day.

Anyway, that all meant that we could return the van on either the Friday or the Saturday – well we decided that we would take a trip down to Boston and save the trip of 102 km round trip from Lincoln to Boston and back again.

It was still a tad over an hour in the van but we had a lovely time down in Boston and a good walk around the town as well as learning about this very important port from over a hundred years ago.

We were recommended to “the Stump” and “the Windmill” which we managed to see but also plenty of other sites (not to confuse with sights) – thanks to a walking tour map – yes, yet another in the continuing series conducted by Diane.

 

The ceiling inside St Botolph's Church (The Stump) in Boston

And views from the tower - Diane made the trip up the 200 steps - I stayed on the ground

This part of the river is called the Haven and is below
The Sluice and heads out into The Wash

Further up the Haven and just on the right hand side beyond the railway bridge
is the Sluice...

...where the lock-keepers will let you down at the right time and tide

Maud Foster Mill - where flour was ground almost 200 years ago
up until 1948

After that it was back to the boat and some rest.

Saturday we were up not too early; the van needed to be returned which it duly was (no problems) and we had decided that we might cruise down a little bit onto the River Witham – have you noticed that seemingly all of the rivers are named in that way – the word “river” appears first e.g River Thames, River Trent, River Ouse etc etc – the rest of the world uses it last e.g. Nile River; Amazon River, Mississippi River, Murray River, Yellow River.

So we gently cruised through Brayford Pool and headed through the Glory Hole and came to Stamp End Lock which is a guillotine lock and handled by CaRT key in the box (for the guillotine top gate) – the bottom one is handled by windlass and bum pushing the gate.

 

Brayford Pool - right in the heart of Lincoln - around this "bay" would have been
many many warehouses, but now it houses a marina and is undergoing much
building and is a mecca for tourists

Coming through the Pool we head through the Glory Hole

greeted by this impressive statue which straddles the navigation

As Sam would be saying "Where is the Lion?"

Stamp End Guillotine Lock

It was a lovely cruise down to Bardney, where there was one further lock before we moored up on the pontoon; lovely and quiet; lovely sun on the panels; and a little bit of a walk into the village shops – not a lot to see but lovely all the same.

 

Down on the River Witham, the banks are a bit lower than on the Fossdyke
and the surrounding countryside is very very pretty

The river is wide and the flow allowed us move along quite quickly

Looking back to Lincoln, the cathedral is an imposing structure even this far away

This sculpture to represent wheat growing in the fields was impressive,

Leaving Bardney Lock

and Bardney Church

So here we moored to have a bit of a rest.

41 Miles, 4 Locks

YTD:  256 miles (412 km), 152 Locks, 13 Tunnels, 3 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4888 Miles (7866 km), 3303 Locks, 137 Tunnels, 69 Lift Bridges, 175 Swing Bridges