Back to Gunthorpe then on to Nottingham

Come Monday morning, we'd outstayed our 48-hour welcome. San Fairy Ann even more so. So we set off back up the Newark Cut. Dave couldn't do the bow-spring turn we'd anticipated him doing, because the river was too narrow at this point, so he turned in the nearby marina entrance and off we went, picking up NB Wandering Star on our way, and going with her in the locks as far as Gunthorpe, where we moored again, squeezing our way into spaces on the bank side of the pontoon, next to a large cruiser.

The moorings were filled within the hour. Other poor folk had to carry on for hours before the next available place to stop.

The day was rounded off with an evening of cards with Sandy and Dave. Much fun.

Tuesday was a day of very strong winds and occasional, very short outbreaks of rain. But this was the River Trent, and she is beautiful, and well worth getting wet for. After Stoke and Holme Locks, we were back on the Beeston Cut, where both boats moored by Sainsbury's again.

After shopping there, and before supper, we all walked into the old town, to Nottingham Castle, an amazing building with a long history, built on top of a rocky outbreak with once-inhabited caves. While the original castle is long gone, there remains an ancient pub "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem", built into the rock in 1189. We didn't stop for a drink (though I would have loved one at the time), but wandered quickly through it to see the rooms carved out of the rock. Fascinating.

In the evening we watched a DVD of Flashdance, that 1983 classic which seems just a little dated now!