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Tuesday 4 August 2020

Trip down the tidal Trent.

Sorry about no blog yesterday as it was a day of visit and chatting so not much to share with the rest of the World.

Although we were not due at the lock until 0730 I was awake at 0530, when the boats that were setting off for Torksey at the first of flood we getting set for the off. We penned through on our own bang on 0730 and disappointingly thete were now big ship movements and none on the local jetties either.

Straight after leaving the lock you come to the 'Top Gunness' berths on the left bank, and then the combined road railway bridge, formally known as the King George V bridge, or more commonly as the Keadby Bridge. It opened in 1916 and has a rail track as well as a road running across it. As you can see the left hand side had a lifting section to allow vessels to pass to head up the Trent. This was last lifted in 1956. This made things quite difficult for the Humber Pilots that guided sea going ships from sea as far as Gainsborough. We had to get them to the bridge as early as possible with just enough water to float to get under the bridge, and then rpounded up to allow more tide to come in to give enough water to reach Gainsborough. If I remember correctly ships had to be under 60 mts long and commercial ships of this length do not know exist.

The next bridge, three miles from the lock, is the M180 bridge. Only the second bridge to the Isle of Axholme after the Keadby Bridge. It was started in 1977 and opened in 1979. It is the contact point when heading north to call up Keadby Lock to say you are nearly there.

We were soon then at West Butterwick where the elegant post mill stands out. It was built in 1824 with four sails and driving three stones for grinding corn. It became redundant in early 1940's.

The next largish village was Owston Ferry  and the sun was making a valiant attempt it piercing the overcast. In the heyday of river transport Owston Ferry was a busy place with many mariners living here and it was here where the river users got together to have the annual regatta where they had various competitions and a great day out for all the family.

After a couple of hours we were passing the River Idle at West Stockwith. Originally the river went north and joined the River Don. It was the 1620's when work was going on to drain Hatfield Chase that the river was diverted down an old Roman waterway to reach the Trent at West Stockwith. It was navigable to Bawtry by boats 48 x 14 feet. Once the Chesterfield Canal was opened the trade declined despite plans to extend it through to Retford, and by 1828 trade had ceased. The local boat club organise sailings through the barrage, but these are few and far between so one of those rarities.

We spun round at HW West Stockwith but the tide was still quite strong. The lock keeper hung a rope on the bollard and we waited for slacker water. HW time is when the water is at it's highest, and then it starts to go down but the characteristics of the river are that the tide continues to come in at the surface for another 15/30 minutes. We just bent her round the corner using the rope to help the bow round into the lock.


They brought us up very slowly using ne paddle so that we needed no ropes and just stuck to the wall whilst we chatted. We were soon up and then out of the basin and through the road bridge. We stopped for water as we were low, before  moving up the canal a little. We ignored the stone bank as there looked to be an edge under water. A little water was a gap in the bank reeds where we moored right up alongside to piling.

We went for a walk to Misterton as we wanted to get to the butchers for their haslet and pork pie that we like. We then walked back via the fields and the banks of the River Idle. I loved this ginnel to a footpath where the wall had been built especially to accommodate it.

It was a nice walk through the field paths with lots of wild flowers out in great variety. We had to cross the railway line and in the distance is West Burton Power Station. It is surprising how nervous we were standing on a railway line despite being able to see a good distance in each direction.

At Misterton Soss (Soss is thought to be a corruption of the Dutch for sluice, as much of the drainage work was done by the Dutch) are these two pump houses. They were constructed to pump water from the Mother Drain, that drained the land to the east of the Idle, that is to the left. You can see the Mother Drain running between the two pump houses. The right hand pumping house was built in 1828 with a beam engine called Kate. The left hand one was constructed in 1839. They are now converted into a house and are Grade II Listed.

We stopped at the local brewery pub for a pint or two. The White Hart is home to the Idle Brewery and as always it is nice to sample local produce.



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