We were heading for Retford for a rendezvous with our daughter so we took a couple of days to get there with stops at Drakeholes and in the country. We had a couple of walks in the nice weather too.
Gringley Lock is quite scenic and is between Misterton and Clayworth
We stopped at Clayworth to drop off our rubbish and top up with water. There was a boat there that was heading in the opposite direction and just finishing with the water. They had not much nice to say about the Chesterfield Canal so it was a good job we had been before and knew the truth. There is a sharp bling bend under the b ridge that will catch some out. In 1919 there was a breach in the embankment of the canal to the west of Clayworth and a large length of the canal went dry, including Clayworth. It was doubly difficult for the residents of Clayworth as the canal was their main source of water. This may have been so until at least 1925!
Clayborough church watches over the canal as we pass by on yet another beautiful day.
We met up with No.1 daughter and decided to head out of town. We ended up at the Middle Forest Lock where we had a never to be forgotten evening, swimming in the canal and admiring the sunset.
As we moored up late we were pretty confident that there would be little, or no, traffic through the lock after us, so we hung up on the end of the lock landing. There was little movement of boats during out visit, despite the West Stockwith lock keeper saying that it had been busier than usual after the lock down had finished.
At the Forest Top Lock, or Charlie's Lock we again stopped to top up with water. We hardly ever pass an unoccupied tap without topping up, as you never know what is around the corner. After that there are some beautiful long tree shaded straights where the trees make you are in an old tithe barn or cathedral. ( The Great Ranby Robbery occurred just a little ahead of the boat in this picture).
We were soon at Ranby (this photo was taken n the way back). There are some fine bends to navigate with plenty of weed to catch you out if you wander off line.
The Great North Road used to pass by Ranby but Retford activated to bring it to their town so that they could profit from the trade it would bring. In later years it would have been a poison chalice as the traffic through the middle of Retford must have been horrendous before they built the M1 and Ranby could once again have the 'benefit'. The motorway crosses the canal not far away from the town.
In the middle of the 1850's Clayworth and Misterton were well known as the home of a set of villains that made honest folk's lives a trial. In 1853 two boatmen were found guilty at Retford Assizes of stealing 120 stones of potatoes from three piles in a field near Misterton. Some have of them had been riddled clean of mud. They had been seen moored in a field near the clamp and the owner, a William Corringham of Misterton had quickly alerted the police when the theft had been discovered. Geoffrey Ellis was a well know villiain and had been to prison several times previously. His accomplice, William Coulston, stated that he hadn't been on the boat at the time as he had gone home to visit his sick wife and child. They were both found guilty. Ellis got transportation for 7 years and Coulston got 3 months imprisonment with hard labour.
Then there was the Great Ranby Robbery! In February 1854 several men from Clayworth were committed for a robbery of 7 qts. of malt worth £24, from a maltings near Ranby, 150 yards from the canal. The Maltings were found just before Ranby as heading to Retford and at the end of the long straight in the picture above. They were John Taylor, 25, boatman and his crew John Hindley, John Otter, 25 Labourer, and Thomas Knight 27 Labourer, Martin Herring, 23 Labourer and his brother William 21, also a labourer. As John Hindley had just done what his master bade he was released without charge. There was a large crowd outside the courtroom as over the last couple of years many people had been robbed by these men. In fact William Wilkinson, who had been robbed, had lost 80 qts. of malt in 1853 alone!
The men had been seen conferring on Clayworth bridge the day before the robbery. John Taylor with the 17 year old Hindley had taken their boat to Bartram's Lock and moored up in the lock. They had put their horse in to the stables of Bartram at the Lock. I am not entirely sure which lock this is. The one before Ranby is Forest Top Lock, now known as Charlies, and there is a house next to the lock, The one on the otherside of Ranby is Osberton Lock. The idea was that if they put their horse into the stables nobody would think it their boat would be involved. By the same logic they may well be thinking that if they have thought that if they moored before and had to go past the scene afterwards nobody would believe they had done the deed . As Forest Top lock is closer, and away from the big house at Osberton I think I favour that as the place. About midnight Knight, Otter and three other Clayworth men knocked up Taylor at the boat and they then man hauled the boat, with young Hindley steering, to the cutting close by the Maltings. Once moored up Hindley went to bed and the others broke in and took 14 bags of malt and stowed it in the boat having removed a few of the hatch boards earlier. They then pulled the boat back to the lock with Taylor steering. The others then left having told Taylor to set off before daylight.
After being informed of the robbery a police inspector set off along the towpath and soon over took Taylor's boat. When asked what his cargo was he replied 'nothing'. When he went into the boat he found 11 bags of malt. Taylor then admitted that he had negotiated with a man, whose name he didn't know, and who he wouldn't recognise again to take the malt that was delivered in a cart to Chesterfield for 7s. Taylor and Hindley were arrested. When returning to the Maltings it was found that the malt was the same as the heap it had been stolen from. At the trial John Hindley gave evidence of what happened over night so it was pretty open and shut. The two Herrings went missing for a couple of days and in then end the police gained entry of their house through a window and found them in a cellar. They had made attempts to disguise themselves by shaving off their whiskers. In the light of the evidence John Taylor admitted his part was as Hindley had stated but the others all denied anything to do with the robbery. An outstanding conviction was also proved against John Otter and he was given 2 years imprisonment as was John Taylor. The others were given eighteen months. The local newspapers were full of the fact that a major gang had been broken up and life would become better. There do seem to be less crimes reported following these convictions. I'm glad they didn't use the term criminal masterminds as in both these cases a canal boat was used as the getaway vehicle! It is true what they say, life was slower in the old days!!
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