Down the Tidal Trent from Torksey to West Stockwith

In fact it was on Friday that we came down the Trent but it is a wet Sunday afternoon so I thought now was a good time to update the blog.  The last update was from Lincoln so on Thursday we cruised along the Foss Dyke to Torksey.  The Foss Dyke is not the most interesting waterway being very straight and with high banks blocking the views, so we'll pick up the story at Torksey:

Here is Leo moored near the lock at Torksey.  You can just make out the lock in the background.  We spent the rest of the day making Leo ready for tidal waters and ate at the White Swan nearby which was friendly with good food and beer as before.

This is the view from the road looking over the Trent side of Torksey Lock.  The boats down below are moored on a floating pontoon which goes up and down quite a lot on the tide.  The cooling towers are at Cottam Power Station which is a few miles upstream (left) of Torksey. It looks as though it is downstream (right) but the Trent does a big wiggle if you go left.

Around 9 am on Friday morning we went through the lock with a broadbeam who was bound for Keadby (downstream of West Stockwith).  Both of us moored on the floating pontoons below the lock to wait for the right state of the tide as we had been advised by the lock keeper.

Our broadbeam companion left Torksey at 10.30 whereas we sat there until 2.20 pm.  We managed to do lots of jobs while we were waiting but the time did drag a bit.

There is a cut from the lock down to the River Trent.  This is the signpost for the 'T' junction.  We turned right (downstream) towards Gainsborough and West Stockwith.

So at around 2.20 pm we set off down the Trent.  The idea was to go down with the flow of the river aiming to get to West Stockwith as the tide turned to come in.  That way we would not have to turn the boat to face into the current before going into the lock.  Instead the current would turn round for us.  Soon after joining the river we passed Torksey Castle seen here.  It is really a fortified manor house and was built in the 16th century.

The next landmark is Torksey Railway Viaduct.

One side effect of aiming to meet the tide at West Stockwith is that we were going down the river pretty well at low tide.  Here you can see that there is quite a lot of mud and stones showing.  The snag with this plan is that there is a risk of going aground, not a nice thought in the big river.  More about that in a minute or two.

Another landmark is this folly at Littleborough.

There are quite a few power stations on the Trent and this one is West Burton.  Cruising down the tidal Trent we follow closely the Sissions charts published by the Boating Association.  This has a satellite image of the river with a red line marking the channel.  As we approached this power station we thought we were close to the ideal line but suddenly a grinding noise indicated that we had hit the bottom.  Fortunately Leo just touched and then came off again, though we slowed right down which probably showed we were in shallow water for some distance.  Not a pleasant experience but fortunately nothing worse was to come.  We later mentioned to the West Stockwith lock keeper that the river seemed to be a bit shallow there.

Here we are passing Kerry Mill on the way into Gainsborough. 

And here is Gainsborough Road Bridge which is fine provided the boat is lined up properly in advance to go through the centre arch.  Soon after the bridge there is a floating pontoon which you can use to moor for the town.  However our aim was a bit further on.  We radioed the West Stockwith lock keeper from Gainsborough to see if we were on time to meet the tide.  "Slow down" he said, so we did, cruising for a couple of miles at tickover.  Because of the current however that still meant travelling over the ground at about 4 mph.

Here's Helen, pootling through Gainsborough.

Coming round a bend about a mile from West Stockwith we noticed that the current was slowing.  Then it stopped and then we found ourselves pushing against the incoming tide.  Revs up - 1200, 1600, 1800 and then we were making progress again.  This picture is of Ian making the turn into the lock.  It is essential to be going against the current at this point and the art is to use lots of power to turn in but without hitting the wall in front of you or being swept sideways by the current into the wall on your left.  We did just 'kiss' the bow fender on the wall but avoided any real mishaps and gained maximum points from the lock keeper who was watching and giving advice.

As the tide had turned and the level was rising we had about 2 feet 8 inches over the lock cill.  The lock keeper told us that quarter of an hour before there had been just a foot - not enough to float a Leo.  Though we got in, we were way down in the lock and we came up about 4 metres to the basin above.

And so here we are coming out of the lock into the security of the basin at West Stockwith.

Here is a view later on looking across the basin towards the lock at the River Trent.  'Tilts' moored here was due to go out on the river the following day.

Later in the evening after a celebratory meal at the Waterfront Inn we walked down to look at the river just after high tide.  Quite different to the mud banks we had seen.  It took us about two and a half hours from Torksey to West Stockwith and it is about 15 miles, so about 6 mph - pretty fast for Leo.

After that excitement we are on a proper canal - the Chesterfield Canal which is more narrowboat sized than the waters we have used so far.  We aim to cruise the canal as far as one can to Shireoaks and Kiveton but the story of that will have to wait for the next update.