to the tidal Trent and back

Village Church near Newark



Paul decided to cruise down to Cromwell lock which starts the tidal section of the Trent. The day was even hotter than yesterday and the heat wave seems set to stay. I persuaded Paul to put the sunshade up on the back deck and cruise in its shade as there was no wind to blow it over. Our trip took us between two communities divided by the river which has

cooling off

few crossing places because of its width. On one side the square church tower dominated and on the other a spire pierced the sky, both beautiful English architecture. The cows in the riverside fields made the most of the sandy beaches and cooled off in the water. One was eating water reeds while chilling in chest deep water.



We didn’t venture beyond Cromwell lock as we didn’t fancy hours of cruising in the oppressive heat to reach sanctuary at Torksey and there might be nowhere suitable to stop for the dog. Yesterdays toilet stops were

castle gardens

bad enough for her. When we arrived at the lock our friends from the night before were filling with water ready for their long cruise, so we waited  floating around on the river for about 10 minutes. When they moved off we filled up but as we finished 3 narrow boats came out of the lock wanting water so we had to cast off. The low mooring pontoon was full so we cruised back to Newick without stopping. The lock was worked slickly for us and we moored up on the

Newark town

half full pontoon. Within an hour it was full and people had moored on the other side that we had vacated in a hurry yesterday.


The first hour was uncomfortably hot but after a while the breeze picked up, and the trees overhanging added shade bringing relief. After it had cooled down we went for a wander round the town with Lottie. First we found her a path down into the water of the weir stream so she could cool down, and then we walked along the towpath opposite the castle.


Castle at night

We crossed the lock and walked back inside the curtain wall of the castle. It had several interesting features and the wall fronting on to the canal was an eleventh of a mile. After dark we wandered around again and found the castle took on a different
 character lit up against the night sky.