We left at 10:00 this morning, followed by Mick and Sue on – blast, I can’t remember the name. Anyway, we met them up in Skipton and they’ve followed the same route as us, arriving at Holme last afternoon.
But, and here’s the difference, we left Skipton on December 19th, 33 days ago, they left Skipton a week last Friday! What’s that, 10 days?
To put us to shame even more, the Annual Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge has been finishing over the last few days, and the winning crew, from The Netherlands, completed the 3,000 mile journey in 34½ days. The British Team finished today after just under 40 days.
The record was set last year by a crew from London, and stands at 29 days and 15 hours.
It’s about 3 miles to Meadow Lane Lock, which takes the navigation up off the river and onto the Nottingham and Beeston Canal. We’ve not seen a moving boat for the last fortnight, but, as we toddled along upstream, we were slowly overtaking a barge that must have left the moorings ahead of us.
Typical, isn’t it. The first lock in ages that won’t fit all three of us is ahead, so we’ll have to queue!
But then, amazingly, the skipper of the barge turned around and headed back downstream, giving us a cheery wave as he passed.
I think he was just winding us up…
If I could live next to the river I think I’d like a little place like this…
The old British Waterways warehouses on the north bank were a bit of an eyesore, almost Soviet in their aesthetic appeal. I wrote about them here.
But now the area is in the process of being redeveloped, know as Trent Basin, and is well on.
Meadow Lane Lock, dead ahead.
Nottingham Forest’s ground is to the left, Trent Bridge further up river.
We struck lucky, the lock was empty with the gates open, so both boats were able to go straight in.
It didn’t take long to fill the lock and then we parted company. We needed to fill with water, our temporary traveling companions wanted to push on to get to Sawley today.
The two miles into Nottingham are a bit of a shock after spending the last couple of weeks on the open vistas of wide canals and rivers. Not least because you have to wind the paddles up and open the gates manually!
Castle Lock
We pulled up outside Sainsbury’s, on the long stretch of visitor moorings. It’s not as busy here as I thought it would be. Depending on the weather we’ll either have a day here, or press on to Trent Lock tomorrow.
Locks 2, miles 4
Tom, if you're reading this, thanks for the tip re posting the photos. It worked!
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