But that’s where we are this evening, moored outside Sainsbury’s in the middle of Nottingham.
After getting thoroughly wet on Friday we took yesterday off, and in the evening had my sister Kay, her partner Paul, and my nephew Aidan over for a couple of hours. It’s always good to catch up with family, and this was no exception. A glass or several of very pleasant shiraz lubricated the conversation, but didn’t help my pace on a fast 7½ mile run early this morning!
I love these signs!
We were in two minds whether to stay put for a second day, but it seemed a shame to waste the fine weather.
Mist rises from the river at 06:30
By 10 we’d pulled back to the tap near the Erewash Canal entrance, and John and Barbara, our locking partners for several days, came to see us off.
While we’re heading north they’ll be going west, back to Stone.
We sat chatting while the water tank filled, then set off, at around 10:45. No pressure today, we were just going into Nottingham.
Cranfleet Lock was not only manned by three volunteers, it was also opened to release two boats just as we arrived. So that made a good start to today’s trip.
Cranfleet Lock
The lock emerges onto just over 4 miles of pleasant river cruising to Beeston Lock and a return to canal in the form of Beeston Cut.
Out on the river
It was cool in the breeze when the sun disappeared behind the scattered clouds, but not too bad.
We struck lucky again at Beeston, a small cruiser was just leaving the lock as we arrived, and a helpful gentleman looked after the offside gates and paddles for me as we went down.
Back to canals, although the Nottingham and Beeston Canal starts wide and deep.
The character of the canal changes at Lenton Chain, the terminus of the original line of the Beeston Canal and where it joins Nottingham Canal. The northern section of the Nottingham, from here to Langley Mill and the Cromford Canal, has been filled in and built over, but the current route down to the Trent uses the old canal bed.
Looking back at Lenton Chain.
Trevithick’s boatyard, near the old junction, has been building and repairing boats here for 120 years!
Another 10 minutes or so saw us passing Nottingham Castle Marina and pulling onto the moorings not far after. It’s fairly busy along here, but then it often is, with easy access to Sainsbury’s and the city.
Thanks Alf, Ade, Doug and James and KevinToo for telling me that Shakespeare Line went to the wall earlier this year. There might be some cheap boats going…
Tom, KevinToo. I’m getting there with Windows 10. I think I’ve resolved the problems I had with permissions,
now I just need to sort out the camera downloads… On the plus side, it does load a lot faster, and starts with a pretty picture…
And most of my legacy software works, just some old stuff (Windows 95! Yes, I know what you’re going to say, but I don’t like chucking anything out!) that it can’t cope with, even in Compatibility Mode.
Locks 2, miles 8
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