We had spoken with the lock keepers at Torksey and Keadby and the plan was to pen out at Torksey for about 1000 and wait on the pontoon below for a while, until the ebb was away and arrive at Keadby for the first of the flood tide.
We filled up with water and were sitting outside the lock for the allotted time, and were let in. I had just enough time to take the photo before were gently let down to the river Trent level.
I wanted to compare today's lock with that of 1905. As you will see the lock looks shorter in this photo however the bridge abutments can be seen in the new photo but the lock has been extended and a new bridge added over the the new length of lock. The iron railings have been replaced by the addition of the concrete flood wall. The ighting is modern, although the old gas lamps are still around the garden area. The brick chimney on the other side of the bridge is from the old pumping station that pumped up water from the Trent into the Fossdyke.
Torksey Castle was built in 1560 for the Jermyn family. As the family took the Royalist side in the English Civil War the house was 'slighted' by Parliamentary troops from Newark and was never restored. It is the west wall and part of the rear facade that remain. When the river banks were heightened in 1961 part of the remains were buried. The remains were stabilised in 1991 but the Grade I listed building is at risk.
Torksey Railway viaduct is also Grade II* Listed as it is regarded as the first box girder bridge. It was built between 1847 and 1849 for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. In 1897 a central truss was added un the upper deck to add strength. In 2016 it became part of the SustRans cycle and walking routes.
The mill at Trent Port dates from at least 1799 and was working until 1927 when the machinery was removed and installed in a place in Gainsborough. The port was a busy place of trade with a malt kiln, candle and pen factories and two roperies. The houses doen by the river were prone to flooding and were demolished in the 1950's.
The Chateau was built in 1747/8 after a solicitor from Gainsborough bought an estate at Gate Burton. There had been no house so he had this built as a stop gap. The main house was built in 1768 and the chateau became a summer house and then later a shooting lodge. The building fell in very bad repair following a series iof sales until 1982 when it was offered to the Landmark Trust who renovated it and it is available to rent; £400 for 4 nights in November for 2 people.
West Burton Power Station was commissioned in 1968, taking 10 years to build, and can supply 2 million homes. In 2013 a combined cycle gas turbine power station opened next to the coal fired one and this can supply 1.5 million homes. They are both run by EDF at the moment.
Just past the power stations are a couple of very sharp bends in the river. The first is Turn Post Corner and this one is Stoney Bight. You can look down both reaches as you pass the apex.
On the outskirts of Gainsborough you pass the Kerry Mill. This is a large business that is an Irish Company. Here they mill and package flour, including the Homepride brand. The mill was built in 1962 for Spillers that imported grain via the Trent as well as by road from the local area.
Looking down river through the Trent Bridge at Gainsborough. It was opened in 1791 and the next bridge across the Trent was at Newark in those days. It was a toll bridge until 1932. The pilotage district for Humber Pilots is actually the upstream side of this stone bridge. It would have been interesting taking a ship through the bridge though.
There is a pontoon alongsid the old quay sapce in Gainsborough where you can wait out a tide. I want to go and have a look around the town but time did not afford us the chance today so we just passed by. There doesn't seem to be too many of the old warehouses and maltings left from the town's heyday though.
The Chesterfield Canal was opened in 1799 with the lock down into the Trent being the last thing to finish. It was built as a narrow canal, but was built wide from the Trent to Retford. However the last wide beam was noted in 1799.
It was quite a pleasant day with the occasional sunny periods, however the wind was cool. We saw nothing moving until right at the end when we were caught up by a boat that had followed us later from the pontoon at Torksey.
Another old tower mill that has lost its sails just outside Owston Ferry. The dome makes me think of the Kremlin for some reason!
At Owston Ferry is the mooring for the 'Trisantonia II' which must make a nice vessel to chug up and down the Trent on.
The tide was still ebbing and we just went along at the same 1700 revs. The plan was to arrive at around 1500 about 4hr 15 mins after setting off and we were on schedule.
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