Journey to Nottingham

We set off from Atherstone top lock at the Barge and Bridge pub at noon today looking forward to making the journey to Nottingham. We have plans for a month of fun, creativity and work so with a bit of luck things will go to plan. We are taking the route that we took to come to Atherstone so we shall see it unfold in reverse.

And to begin the first lock of the day...


I forgot how heavy these gates are to move.

One down, ten more to go. We did a swap around of helmsman and windlass-man which gave Leigh the chance to get to grips with gates and paddles and for me to practice controlling the boat.


Leigh got the locks down. The wind got the best of me as I bashed and scraped the boat into the narrow locks. Also I realized that I need to check when I put the boat into neutral and not just go by the sound as I discovered the boat still powering ahead when I'd jumped off with the rope hoping to moor up.


We passed the old winter stuck spot - recall when it was like this??


There are eleven locks in total at Atherstone locks and we glided down each one with ease. We passed some other boaters, one couple on their way to London (two weeks to get there for one week in London and two weeks back) but for the most of today there were few people around.


I managed a bit of time between locks emptying, to pick some elder flowers and I've just been deciding what to do with them. Cordial is for sure and maybe in the morning, elder pancakes.


By 4pm I had wound the last paddle down and we were leaving the last lock...




We chugged on to Polesworth...




passing some grand old boats...


...and found a lovely mooring for the night just before Tamworth next to a woodland. My eyes are blurring so, until tomorrow and a new amount of energy. Good night.