Random Writings

The rain two days ago manifested itself today in the form of at least 1mph of stream in the river. I plodded gently up to Nottingham during the afternoon, and the progress did seem to get quicker as I got there. The river was very quiet – I saw only a handful of other boats, and most of the lock-keepers were expecting me. It’s also surprisingly pretty – little or no industry and lots of nice riverside pubs. At Nottingham, I moored on a smart new pontoon opposite Nottingham Forest FC. The river in Nottingham, despite being very wide and full of rowing and dragonboat clubs, is actually a dead-end: a wier at the west end of the city blocks it. The navigation continues via the very much smaller Nottingham Canal, looping through the city centre and rejoining the river at Beeston. I went for a wander and found three interesting pubs: the first two were by the canal. Canalhouse is a pub in an old warehouse that was once a canal museum. It has an internal canal basin with two narrowboats in it! They appeared to be ordinary private boats, rather than the pristine ex-working boats I was expecting. They also had rather nice beer. I then meandered around the corner to Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which claims to be the oldest inn in England. Having been to Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans (which actually is the oldest pub in England according to the Guinness Book of Records), I was curious to investigate. The Trip is certainly interesting – it’s partly buried into the outcrop of rock under Nottingham Castle and several of the rooms are actually caves. Most intriguing. A gentle stroll back to the boat through the city centre (shops and shops and trams, oh my!) confirmed the city as being rather pleasant.

Day 63: Fiskerton to Nottingham (Trent Bridge), 17 miles and 4 locks.
Total so far: 700 miles and 517 locks. Seven hundred miles exactly, wow!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at 9:18 pm and is filed under Narrowboat.