River Trent - Cranfleet Cut to Newark - A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers who operated the locks!

Over the last week we have travelled both downstream and upstream on the River Trent on a return journey from Cranfleet Cut to Newark.  The weather has not been the best, in fact it has felt like April at times, but we have had a great time and met some wonderful people including the dedicated C&RT Volunteers operating the large electric locks on the River.

On the outskirts of Attenborough Nature Reserve, we cruised past Barton Island. Here, the 2nd Beeston Sea Scouts have superb 'back to basic' facilities, no running water or electricity but plenty of proper good old fashioned fun.  What a fantastic experience for young people and all maintained by volunteers. Even though it is only accessible by boat, they have unfortunately experienced vandalism, which we find very sad. 

Barton Island

Beeston Lock allows you to bypass an unnavigable section of the River Trent and the Beeston Cut/Canal takes you through the centre of Nottingham. Sainsbury's is a convenient mooring spot to stock up on provisions.

At the end of the Beeston Cut, Meadow Lane Lock takes you back on to the River Trent.  Unfortunately the C&RT facilities at this lock are closed due to vandalism, however there is a water point.

We carried on down the Trent, mooring just before Holme Lock.  At the side of the lock is Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre.  We thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon watching the white water rafting/ canoeing taking place there. 

May we take this opportunity to thank all the volunteer Lock keepers.  Every one of them we met were friendly and made the ascent or descent a lot easier for us throughout this trip.  They do fantastic work!  The lock keeper at Holme Lock put us safely down at 9am the following morning.  It was lovely to see all the lovely Sand Martins flying over the water and going back to their little burrows in the sand banks and all the Canadian and Greylag geese with their goslings along this stretch.

Arriving at Hazelford Lock we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by 2 very friendly peacocks!!! 

We moored for the day on the C&RT visitor pontoon (which is for 2/3 boats) outside the Bromley Pub at Fiskerton.  This is a delightful village with a small post office/convenience store and some lovely walks on the riverside.

Fiskerton

The next morning, we carried on towards Newark.  With nobody on duty at the lock, we operated it ourselves and made our way into Newark.  The lock is just beside the ruins of Newark Castle which was a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War.

The pontoon visitor moorings were full, so we moored on the opposite side which has mooring rings on the wall.  This was great as it was actually more convenient for Newark town centre and the Castle Barge Pub! 😀

Over the next couple of days we explored historic Newark. Chris visited the National Civil War Museum (£8 entrance) which was very interesting. Later we enjoyed a tasty meal at the Castle Cuisine, a curry house which is not far from the Wharf and was  BYO. 👍

We also enjoyed a beer at the Castle Barge, a floating pub with a fantastic interior which gave it a cosy, authentic feel.🍺