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| Leaving Goole, a familiar view of the Aire and Calder |
We moored up at the top of the New Junction Canal, one of our weekend haunts before we sailed away as continuous cruisers. We were surprised to see a lot of flooding in the fields and the bottom of the canal aqueduct was under the high waters of the River Went.
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| The submerged trough of the Went Aqueduct |
We set off the next morning, I was on the bike to open the numerous bridges and had the camera to take some photos.
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| Looking down from the footbridge as the boats cross the Went Aqueduct |
At Sykehouse Lock we had a surprise, a new building has replaced the lock-keepers cottage which was a burnt out shell last time we came through.
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| The new house at Sykehouse Lock, rumour has it this building will feature on Grand Designs |
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| Little Bess looking out from the back deck |
We continued south and Chris had the pleasure of stopping the traffic to lift the bridge at Barnby Dun. We moored up at Doncaster which has excellent markets as well as being a good shopping centre.
On Friday we set off back to Bramwith and from there onto Thorne where we stayed for the weekend. We're going to sail south on the Trent but CRT's winter opening hours don't coincide very well with the tides, hence the longer than usual stops until the timing is right.
We arrived at Keadby on Monday and after a chat with the lock-keeper we arranged to lock out onto the Trent at 8.30 on Wednesday. Usually we would go out onto the river before the tide comes in but due to the winter opening hours the tide will already be coming in. We would run out of help from the tide long before Torksey and had considered stopping at Gainsborough but the lock-keeper advised against this, apparently the pontoons attract unwanted attention from the local youths. Instead he suggested West Stockwith and as we haven't stopped there before we thought it a good idea.
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| Geordie Spirit leaving Keadby, the lock entrance is behind the bow of the coaster |
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| Moored up at West Stockwith |
We stayed a while in the pleasant basin, the White Hart served excellent meals, Bess and Brinny enjoyed their walks along the Chesterfield Canal and Kev took off on the bike. On Sunday afternoon he set off for the Co-Op in Misterton with his phone in his pocket. He came back with the shopping but no phone. I rang the number and a woman answered, she had seen the phone lying in the middle of the road and had already tried ringing some of Kev's contacts. Luckily she was walking back towards the basin and I was able to go and collect the phone.
On Monday we left West Stockwith and had a reasonable run down to Torksey. The following day it took 4.5 hours to sail 16 miles to Cromwell. We knew the tide wouldn't be helping us but 7 feet of fresh water and strong winds created a powerful current against us. We were pleased to arrive and see the pontoons were empty. I plugged into the electric point, inserted a new card and started the washer. During the second load the electric ran out, that card should have lasted a week but the electric points at Cromwell have always been temperamental.
On Wednesday we moved onto Newark. Although the river is non-tidal after Cromwell there was still a strong current holding us back. We tied up on the pontoons under the CRT office, very convenient for a complaint about my electric card and I was pleased when they offered me a replacement.
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| On the pontoons at Newark with an ominous cloud overhead |
Our journey from Goole to Newark
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