Nottingham, but no sign of the Sherrif so far ...

True to the forecast, a mixed bag of weather today but no rain, so that was positive as we had a mixture of river and canal again, which is what much of this stretch of waterway includes.

The imposing towers of the power station at Sawley

The lights are green, so back onto the Trent

Shared a lock with this steam powered narrowboat


The lock keeper squeezed as many boats in the locks as possible

I'm beached bro'

I'm beached as

I'm so beached ...

Some of the poor boats we saw along the way.

For the non Kiwis, go the link below to see the 'beached as' Australian piss-take of the kiwi's ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVHZwI8pcA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnationaltrust%2Eorg%2Enz%2Fbeached%2Dwhale%2Dnz%2F&feature=player_embedded

We found ourselves in the middle of a steam boat regatta of some sort

Lovingly restored craft that just glided through the water with just the occassional hiss and puff of steam-beautiful

The passengers must have been full of tea by the end. Everytime we saw them they were drinking tea (made on board of course!)

Jill and Den met us at Beeston, a small town on the outskirts of Nottingham. We stayed here briefly for lunch in April when we were travelling around boat hunting, and weren’t sure due to our previous experience that we’d find a decent place for lunch. Luckily we asked a passing cyclist who recommended ‘The Victoria’ just over the bridge towards town, which we found fairly easily by car. What a fabulous place! Certainly not cheap, but an extensive menu and the food was delicious. They have a good garden bar, spoilt only by the chairs and tables being placed in regimented rows and the fact that passenger and goods trains pass by every few minutes, yards from where you’re sitting! A very pleasant lunchtime, thank you Jill for such a wonderful treat.

Sandra and Jill at the Victoria Pub in Beeston

Sandra, Den & Jill. Fabulous lunch, thanks again Jill

The pub is hidden away on a dead end street by the railway station, it must be a local secret

Their events list was extensive and by the look of the 'Sold Out' notes on some, are really popular (e.g. curry and quiz night next Monday)

We went back to the boat for a cup of coffee and a walk to the lock, which Jill had a go at doing as she’d never done one before. She was like a duck to water, no problem.

Jill and some random guy closing the lock gate

The steam boats returned as we were doing the locks

Still drinking tea ...

Just cram them in!

Sandra & Jill - midwives/lock girls extrordinaire!

Lots of hours of polishing here

Send this lot out ...

... and bring the next lot in

"Zara Finn"

Jill about to catch her skirt in the mechanism

After that we took them for a short drive down the canal and back again. Jill tried a spot of driving then came to the front of the boat with me and we talked midwifery (another colleague to talk to and put the world of women and babies to right!), while Den and Barry ‘manned’ the boat. On turning round back at the lock, I stood up and the cushion that had been behind my back fell into the canal—luckily Jill noticed it floating away. OMG, one of my £10 ‘NEXT’ cushions; I almost jumped in to save it but managed to restrain myself. Barry and Den, with some skilful manoeuvring, managed to retrieve it for me and amazingly it wasn’t too wet and dirty.

They must have loved the boat ride a lot as they are now coming back on the train tomorrow until Sunday, so we’ll drive down river to Newark-on-Trent. It looks like an interesting journey with six or seven locks so Jill will get plenty of practice! It'll be great to have visitors on board again.

They must have a heap of spare time on their hands here in Nottingham to restore these beautiful boats

Went for a walk down the towpath to the next lock in the centre of Nottingham

Loved the composition and reflections in the canal