Wednesday 18th May 2022

Not long after arriving in Newark, we soon realised we were spoilt for choice - a number of fine establishments (PUBS) ready to take our hard earned cash in exchange for fine ale’s and provide us the opportunity to plan the next stage of our adventure.

Our Planning normally takes place in the local pub, familiarizing ourselves with the locals (holders of unfathomable local knowledge) and partaking of crafted beers, which only serves to enhance our thought process.

Just Beer Micropub at Newark was dog friendly, and had a fine array of very tempting beers and ciders.  Their mission statement is :- “We will strive to serve every pint in as near to perfect condition as we can” and they didn’t let us down 😊. Apparently in the last twelve years they have served 5,518 different BEERS from1,468, different BREWERIES.

Meeting Agenda, Moorings, Trains, Wedding , not forgetting the River Trent tidal times.

Well the Captain of NB Sefton had already sorted out most of the above, which facilitated a very productive meeting, leaving more time to partake of the beer 😊.

Steph needed an evening out with the girls to sample some Spanish cuisine, Tapas at The White Swan in Ockbrook while Jake and Paul had a Chinese takeaway and a few beers.

Weddings are always a special event, when “Two become One”, we had been looking forward to  this wedding, one of Chantelle’s best mates. We’ve had the privilege of seeing this beautiful girl maturing into something very special, as an NHS nurse in Intensive Care Unit throughout the covid crisis and great friend to Chan.

Today was their day and we felt honoured to be there, also a chance to catch up with some faces we had not seen in what seemed like ages. Simply a truly fantastic evening & Paul met another ELO fan, the Groom’s father 😊. It was also nice to put on our glad-rags for a night and practice “Mun & Dad” dancing 😊.

 Saturday 21st May 2022

Surprisingly we woke up the next morning with very minor hangovers, we had a train to catch and then a short cruise to Cromwell lock, ready for the departure early the next morning. The Captain of NB Sefton had booked our passage from Cromwell to Torksey.

For some reason there is always a level of apprehension on returning to our boat when we’ve left it for a couple of nights in a place you have never moored before. The train ride was great, even though these led to the demise of the canals we love so much. The boat moorings were only a 10 minute walk from the train station and we were soon de-moored and cruising to Cromwell Lock.

The journey is only just over 5 miles, with one lock to do. It was sunny and it felt good to be cruising again, We soon approached Nether Lock. Tucked away on the north-east of the town, this is another lock that requires a BW key, as it is automated. Steph soon had the beast tamed and we were through in no time, just a little tricky finding a spot to get her back onboard again 😥. Once through the lock we re-joined the main channel of the River Trent again and under the bridge carrying the Newark bypass.

The villages of Muskham and Holme are situated either side of the river, once connected by a ferry 

 History:- North Muskham was a large ancient parish, which also included the villages of Bathley and Holme. Until about 1575 the River Trent ran further east, but there was then a cataclysmic flood which changed the course of the river. Holme was therefore separated by the river from the rest of the parish. In July 2016, A traditional River Trent ferry crossing between two villages was re-enacted by Sea Scouts from Newark, who took villagers from Holme to North Muskham as part of North Muskham’s biennial riverside event. The original Ferry which ran for about 400 years, once took school children from Holme to the school in North Muskham but was sadly abandoned in the 1960s due to lack of demand. A pub/restaurant namely apt The Muskham Ferry is thought to have been the ferry location.

We soon arrived at Cromwell lock and moored up for the night, quite an idyllic spot, in the middle of nowhere with all the facilities you could wish for, even a BBQ area for those who come prepared. 

Cromwell Lock is where the non-tidal River Trent ends and the tideway starts.  It was built in 1910 and was one of the first big locks on the Trent.

There is a memorial here to ten Sapper volunteers of the 131  Parachute Squadron who tragically died in 1975 when their boat went over the weir during a night exercise.

We are assured the lockkeepers are both friendly and knowledgeable and worth getting to know them before venturing on the tidal section of the river which requires a very different approach to what we have previously encountered. By the time we arrived they had finished for the day, so we did the sensible thing and got an early night without visiting any pubs…. Only because there aren’t any in the local area….  

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