The weather here is definitely deteriorating – we have been very lucky up to now but I think we are in for quite a few days of showers. I did a load of washing yesterday which I put out on the airer but had to bring in almost immediately. I put everything in the cratch and this morning it was almost as wet as was when I put it there!
We left the marina as a strong contingency of BW men were starting to clear up the diesel spillage. At the first lock I took this photo of the Shireoaks church which has a strange church
with a very flat tower. It seems that there was once a spire which had to be removed in 1975 due to mining subsidence. The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1861 by Edward VII, then the Prince of Wales. A miner’s lamp hangs above the pulpit as a reminder of the mining industry which was the life blood of the village until it closed in 1990. The church clock has a double, three-legged gravity escapement mechanism! The significance of this is that it is a direct copy of Edmund Becket Denison’s design for Big Ben - we certainly heard it chime every quarter hour. To add to the Westminster connection the stone quarries above Shireoaks were the source of 250,000 tons of stone used to rebuild the Houses of Parliament when they burnt down in 1834.
There were a number of locks to do today which we shared between us – 6 each. As we got to Stret Lock we came across 2 boats moored up near to the Sainsburys we visited on our way up. At the lock were 2 BW men who very kindly opened the lock for us. Below the lock was Ellen, who we had shared a lock with earlier on the canal when the locks were double. She had got stuck in the lock on her way in and had had to call out BW (ooops sorry they are no longer British Waterways but as from July 2nd they became a charitable trust are now the Canal and River Trust but CRT – or maybe it’s CART - doesn’t have the same ring as BW!) anyway the men had managed to flush them out! But that was as far as they could go on the canal and were having to turn round.
We stopped for lunch in Worksop and a trip to the Post Office then carried on to Forest Top Lock for the night where we stopped before. (The photo is of the hatch in the old Pickford’s building in Worksop which I mentioned on our way up.) We haven’t been soaked today but it’s been a coats on – coats off day!
Tonight we had to have the heating on – not just to dry the washing but because it was cold – July 3rd hmmm!
We left the marina as a strong contingency of BW men were starting to clear up the diesel spillage. At the first lock I took this photo of the Shireoaks church which has a strange church
with a very flat tower. It seems that there was once a spire which had to be removed in 1975 due to mining subsidence. The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1861 by Edward VII, then the Prince of Wales. A miner’s lamp hangs above the pulpit as a reminder of the mining industry which was the life blood of the village until it closed in 1990. The church clock has a double, three-legged gravity escapement mechanism! The significance of this is that it is a direct copy of Edmund Becket Denison’s design for Big Ben - we certainly heard it chime every quarter hour. To add to the Westminster connection the stone quarries above Shireoaks were the source of 250,000 tons of stone used to rebuild the Houses of Parliament when they burnt down in 1834.There were a number of locks to do today which we shared between us – 6 each. As we got to Stret Lock we came across 2 boats moored up near to the Sainsburys we visited on our way up. At the lock were 2 BW men who very kindly opened the lock for us. Below the lock was Ellen, who we had shared a lock with earlier on the canal when the locks were double. She had got stuck in the lock on her way in and had had to call out BW (ooops sorry they are no longer British Waterways but as from July 2nd they became a charitable trust are now the Canal and River Trust but CRT – or maybe it’s CART - doesn’t have the same ring as BW!) anyway the men had managed to flush them out! But that was as far as they could go on the canal and were having to turn round.
We stopped for lunch in Worksop and a trip to the Post Office then carried on to Forest Top Lock for the night where we stopped before. (The photo is of the hatch in the old Pickford’s building in Worksop which I mentioned on our way up.) We haven’t been soaked today but it’s been a coats on – coats off day!
Tonight we had to have the heating on – not just to dry the washing but because it was cold – July 3rd hmmm!
Hi Linda
ReplyDeleteI shall make more effort to look for that hatch on the way back through!
Enjoyed reading your account of your journey to the top.
We cycled it today and I've stopped sulking!
Like you, I hate being enclosed and you are right, a lot of the route is very overgrown and hemmed in. I loved all the locks though and the area around Turnerwood was a delight.
Now we have discovered your blog we will follow your travels with interest. Besides, I want to get better acquainted with Millie!!