Part 5 - the homeward run

Part 5 - on the homeward run

Leaving Lincoln we left the Witham River and made our way along the Fossdyke Navigations.   This part of the system was built by the Romans in 110AD to link the Witham River with the Trent River.  

TRACTORS CARRYING TRAILERLOADS OF WHEAT GOING NON-STOP THROUGH THE LITTLE VILLAGE

SAXILBY MOORING

Moored up at a little village called Saxilby for a couple of nights to catch our breath. Cute little village very spread out with a lovely old church just out of town.   We caught a double-decker bus to the nearby town of Gainsborough on the banks of the tidal Trent.   Bit of a rainy day but we took a tour of the town and then found the Gainsborough Old Hall which is over 500 years old and is one of the best preserved timber framed manor houses in the UK set in a lovely garden.  It's owned by English Heritage and operated by the Lincolnshire County Council.  The Hall is a large, late-medieval manor house built by the noble Burgh family around 1460. The house boasts an impressive Great Hall and a huge original medieval kitchen.

THEY CERTAINLY ATE WELL!

ONE OF THE MANY TUDOR  LOOS

 Famous visitors (apart from us!) to the Old Hall include Richard III, Henry VIII (with his fifth wife Katherine Howard), John Wesley and the Pilgrim Fathers.   

A chap called William Rose, who was a tenant at the Hall, invented the world’s first mechanical packing machine and set up Rose Brothers (Gainsborough) Limited. Because of the close relationship and use of Rose’s packing machines, Cadburys gave the name ‘Roses’ to one of their popular products.

The Grey Lady walking the Ghost Corridor upstairs has been part of local legend from before the Victorian era. Dressed in grey and in Tudor style, the grey lady walks the length of the corridor and turns right before the end to disappear through a wall. In the 1960s the lath and plaster removed from this wall revealed a Tudor doorway – at the exact spot where the Grey Lady walks through the wall!  Local legend says the Grey Lady is thought to be the daughter of the Lord of the Manor who fell in love with a poor soldier and planned to elope with him. Her father discovered the plan and locked her away in the tower where she died from a broken heart. Supposedly the girl’s spirit still wanders the tower and the corridor endlessly waiting for her lover to arrive. She was not around on the day we called so we missed out on seeing her though!

THE HAUNTED PASSAGEWAY

Gainsborough Old Hall was given to the English people in 1970 by descendants of the Hickman family.

Next morning we set out towards the mighty Trent River.  We stopped overnight at Torksey to wait once more for an incoming tide.  After going through the Torksey Lock we travelled along the Trent (wearing our life jackets) and just couldn't believe how big this river is and the amount of water flowing past.   Stopped overnight on a mooring just past Cromwell Lock which is the largest lock in the UK.   It was beside this lock a few years ago that 10 RAF volunteers died when they took a wrong turn and were swept over the sluice at the side of the lock.   We were told not to fall over overboard "as they never find the bodies".  We were very very careful!

HUGE TRENT LOCKS

TORKSEY LOCK GATE

LIFE JACKETS - A MUST ON THE TRENT RIVER

Next it was Newark-on-Trent where we moored up at a lovely spot opposite the castle.   Oliver Cromwell fought battles against the Royalists just outside Newark and King John was poisoned and died at the Castle.

DREDGING NEAR THE NEWARK LOCK

It was great returning to this town which was where we shopped for most of our boat's essentials when we bought it 5 years ago.   It's one of the prettiest towns with a large Georgian market square and lots of cobblestone laneways surrounding it.  

  

We spent a night at nearby Farndon Marina where we caught up with Paul and Janet, the owners, and also Peter and Dave who both were on boats at the marina when we first got our boat.  They were all so helpful and gave us lots of clues when it was all new to us five years ago.

MORE BIG LOCKS ON THE TRENT

SPILLWAY AT SIDE OF ONE OF THE LOCKS

Next stop was Nottingham.    It was lovely to get back onto a canal after the big rivers.   We moored up just near Nottingham Castle.    We were heading down to London for the weekend but when our suitcase came out of the wardrobe it was wet on one end and we discovered the water pump was leaking.  This pump sends the water from the front tank (600 litres) around to the taps on the boat.   Luckily we were moored up right outside a marina so it was just a case of buying a new one and swapping it over.    

ARRIVING IN NOTTINGHAM

NOTTINGHAM CASTLE BUILT UP HIGH ON A HUGE MOUND OF ROCK

OLDEST INN IN ENGLAND

ROBIN HOOD OUTSIDE THE CASTLE

DODGING THE LOCAL YACHT CLUB

  FOUR FOOT SNAKE SWIMMING ON THE TRENT

In London we took the girls to a show 'The Scarecrow's Wedding' on Friday then had the Peckham Dog Show on the Saturday which was organised by Sooz's vet clinic.   Nearly 200 dogs were entered and I was the 'International Judge' along with the Southwark Deputy Mayor.   Nothing too serious - the best 'Golden Oldie', 'Best Fancy Dressed' dog, Best Puppy, etc.     Great fun and patted every dog (except one dog that was nearly blind and 'a bit touchy'.   Quiet days at home recovering on Sunday and Monday.  Tuesday the girls went back to school after the 'big school holidays' - Olive in Grade 3 and Iris in Grade 1.

LUNCH IN CHINA TOWN

PECKHAM COMMON DOG SHOW

We trained it back to Nottingham where surprisingly we had an extra passenger - a toy life-size husky dog which was on the front of the boat.   Asked around but nobody knew where it came from.   Funny thing - next morning a lady was walking along the towpath with two dogs that were identical to 'our dog'.  They kept walking around and sniffing it - couldn't make out what it was.    

'WOOF' AND FRIENDS

BEACH AREA SET UP IN THE NOTTINGHAM CITY SQUARE

We started out the next day and went slowly past the moored boats outside the marina but then had no power either forward or reverse for the next few hundred yards.   We pulled the boat back to the marina with ropes and called the RCR (River and Canal Rescue).   Only had to wait a little while for Steve the mechanic to come with a new accelerator cable and then we were on our way again.

LEAVING THE TRENT ONTO THE RIVER SOAR

Back onto the River Trent for a short trip until we turned onto the River Soar.   Made our way south until we reach the town of Loughborough where we have been a couple of times before.   Moored up in a lovely canal basin surrounded by restaurants and a Travelodge hotel.   Sooz, Ten and the girls were coming up on a late train on Friday night to travel down to Leicester with us but that morning we crossed the basin to fill up on a water point and then found the boat had no 'reverse'. Pulled the boat back to the pontoon and called the RCR again, thinking it was a related problem to the accelerator cable.   But no ...when the mechanic came he said it was the gearbox which he would have to take away to get looked at.   Said it may not be fixed until Tuesday.    Sounded expensive!!   (They say things happen in three's!). 

Rang Sooz and told her the situation but they decided to still make the trip.  They arrived after 10.00pm and we woke the next morning to steady drizzle.  We spent the morning on the boat and then explored the town when the rain eased.   Called in at a very 'kid-friendly' museum and then the girls went to see Pete's Dragon at the local cinema which they said was a fabulous show.  Had a great dinner at a Lebanese restaurant that night which even had a belly-dancer performing.

AT THE LOUGHBOROUGH MOORING

TEN AT THE HELM

Luckily the mechanic appeared at 9.30 on Sunday morning with the gearbox which they were able to repair.   After the gearbox went back into place which took about an hour we were ready to go.   The family was due to catch the 3.30 train back to London from Leicester but with quite a few stiff locks to get through and then held up having to untangle a plastic bag containing a 'Frozen' fancy dress outfit from around the propeller they had to get a taxi from Thurmaston - a little village about 10 miles north of Leicester.   Had trouble finding a mooring there where they could get off to meet the taxi so they eventually just managed to catch the later 4.00pm train.    All exciting stuff!

That afternoon we were supposed to be meeting Amie, a friend of Sharron, a neighbour from Ruffy, and daughter of Peter who minded the farm when we were away a few years ago.   Amie was going to spend the last few days on the boat with us before we got back to our home marina.   We kept calling her to let her know where we were but eventually had to moor up in a different place to usual in Leicester because it was so busy.

SOOZ WORKING A LOCK ON THE TRENT

Spent Monday looking around the city and then started out on the final stretch.  Poor Amie - the Leicester section of the Grand Union Canal has some of the stiffest locks and gates on the whole system.   Still.... she seemed to enjoy the journey and said it was a 'good workout'.   Not many villages along the journey so we moored up in the middle of nowhere on two nights but managed to collect some lovely blackberries along the towpath for dessert.

AMIE (ON LEFT) AND WOOF'S DELIGHTED NEW OWNER

LEAVING LEICESTER CITY

AMIE PULLING A LOCK GATE CLOSED



BLACKBERRIES EVERYWHERE!

ONE NIGHT TO GO

Thursday we arrived at Foxton Locks on a glorious sunny day.   While Terry patched up some lost paintwork on the boat we walked up to the top of the locks and then Amie spent some time at the museum and inclined plane site (where they used to drag the cargo boats up the hill instead of going through the locks).   On our last night on the boat we had dinner at the Foxton Locks Inn.

FOXTON LOCKS INN

We were only about 20 minutes away from our marina but Friday morning there was a massive thunderstorm so it was a very wet pack-up of the boat before we caught a taxi to Market Harborough station to catch the train back to London.

Raining heavily when we reached London and it was lucky that Sooz was able to pick us up from the station or we would have been soaked.  Spent the last couple of days in the UK with Sooz and the girls (Ten was away in LA) and flew out on Monday night for a two night stopover again in Brunei where we stayed last year.

So it has been rivers this year rather than canals.  We have been on the Nene, the Middle Level Navigations, the Great Ouse, the Cam, the Witham, the massive Trent and Soar Rivers as well as the Grand Union Canal, (including the Leicester Arm) and the Northampton Arm going through more than 200 locks.   Many of these were huge river locks with some mechanised and others just hard work.   And........... going out to sea over The Wash was certainly  a highlight.