We reach Newark

Our meal last night in Gunthorpe at the Pontefino Italian restaurant was very enjoyable. The food was excellent and the staff friendly. We would recommend the resraurant to anyone in the area - a little pricey but definitely worth it.

We left our mooring shortly after 9am when John, my walking partner, arrived to join us for the trip down the river. After a refill of water before Gunthorpe Lock our passage through the lock was delayed by the need for the lock keeper to refill the hydraulic oil in the lock mechanism - there is a leak, which will hopefully be fixed in the next day or so.

After leaving the lock we entered what the guidebook calls "probably the most beautiful and certainly the most dramatic" section of the Trent. For the next five miles until the next lock at Hazelford the river is lined with farmland on the west and a steep thickly wooded hillside on the east. This attractive scenery enhanced by the very good weather led us to agree with the guidebook's assessment.

Our next task was to drop John off on the west side of the river so he could walk down the towpath back to his car. This could have been difficult as there are no mooring places on that side and the river edge was shallow with large boulders scattered along the shore. Fortunately we noticed a section where the river bank had been built up with sand bags and I was able to gingerly edge the bow of the boat in sufficiently for John to leap ashore.

Staythorpe Power Station

Carrying on down the river we passed the construction site for the new gas fueled Staythorpe power station which will generate sufficient electricity for the whole of Nottinghamshire. It is worth noting that the Trent valley is the major power generation area of the UK - some 25% of the country's electricity is generated near the river.

Entering Newark

We arrived in Newark at 1pm passing through the Town Lock, past the dramatic castle ruins and onto floating moorings an easy walk from the town centre. These moorings have an electicity supply so we wont need to run the engine until we leave on Monday. Which is when I will write the next Blog entry.