Leisurely locking in the sunshine.

We penned up about 1000 and then straight away stopped to take on water. By the time we had finished another boat had penned through and we were off following it. The Lock keeper was very proud of his new grass mower and was keen to see us gone so he could have a play with it. The day was bright but windy. The locks have vertical wires at intervals along the lock wall and it makes it very easy to hold position in the lock, despite the size of it.

On the way up in Hazelford Lock.

The river was quite wide and there was a pretty strong current running. One bank seemed to have low hills and the other side had low flood plain that was largely hidden by the trees on the bank. 

Leaving Hazelford Lock.

The weather was lovely but with the open water and a good wind we needed an outer layer to keep the chill off.

Helen is at the bow as we are just about to enter a lock. Note I have a cap on to keep the sun out of my eyes.

Gunthorpe Lock is near to a village and a road and there were quite a few gongozzlers. I was glad that I didn't mess up. The lock is in a lovely setting but the weir on the left pushes the boat about at bit. Once in the lock behind the one already in we were asked several questions, but they were largely about our cat Macy who was spied on her perch in the window.

Not long after leaving the lock we were having a bit of soup and toast for lunch when an extra gust of wing blew my cap off. Reluctantly I thought it was gone but turned anyway to see if we could retrieve it as the kids had bought it me a long time ago. The wind had blown it right by the bank. I was nervous that by getting close enough to be able to pick it up even with our long pole as once we stopped i thought we would get blown on to the bank. Somehow we managed it and I have it still.

The next lock was Stoke Bardolph Lock. This one had no road near so we had a private entry, other than the cruiser that passed us just before the lock. In this lock there are wooden posts with metal bars alongside for you to loop the ropes through.

The top of Stoke lock showing the scenic and quiet setting and the weir on the right.

The cruiser we had  shared with had got sufficiently far ahead of us so that he was penned up separately. We had to wait for the lock to be turned round so we were able to dawdle along. We penned up and settled on the low wall just the other side. It is right next to the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepoint. The canoe slalom course is right next to us. We watched singles and pairs practicing along the course. The had British and Scottish kit on so maybe getting ready for the Commonwealth Games?

Canoe slalom course.

This guy had a very short dumpy canoe and we wasn't doing slalom or speed but seemed to be doing tricks in the back wash such as flips and spins. I suppose it must be a new discipline in canoeing.

It is a lovely evening now and we had a chat with a guy who was telling us all about his 50 years on the River Trent and 22 years living on his immaculate boat.