A few Merry Men.

Hi again,

Another week over and this time we’ve been out and about a bit visiting a couple of local attractions.Thursday saw us in Newark on Trent,a lovely little town that sits,surprise surprise,on the River Trent.The river flows past warehouses,through a large lock and then on past the ruins of the castle.Lisa and I spent all afternoon wandering around some of the towns pleasant narrow streets market square,all dotted with some picturesque historic buildings.We first walked along the river,watched a couple of boats navigating the Newark Town Lock,and then crossed to the other side,after we passed the Canals and Rivers Trust yard.It was here that we found the Millgate Museum,housed in the old Trent Navigation warehouse.It’s quite an interesting place that catalogues the history of the area in and around Newark.If you ever find yourself anywhere near Newark it’s well worth visiting,you can also walk into the castle grounds and look down on the river traffic as it goes through the town lock.

Sunday was a tad different.We went out just to have a walk around somewhere away from our caravan,nothing special,just somewhere to have a gentle stroll for a few hours.We had looked for somewhere in the local tourist guide that would fit the bill and wasn’t too far away,The Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve seemed to be the ideal place.As we got closer there were signs warning of road closures,but,not knowing the area,and as the sat nav said keep going,we pressed on,until,that is,we got to the back of the queue.This was when I stated that had I known,we would not have been anywhere near there,but it was too late,we couldn’t turn on the narrow road so we had to stay with it,the queue,that is.Vowing to go straight past the entrance,when we got there,proved to be futile too,’cos this was where the road was closed and the only way forward was into the car park.I have to admit the queue wasn’t too bad so we paid a fiver and went into what turned out to be a very entertaining afternoon.Sunday was the last day of the Robin Hood Festival,people were arriving in their thousands and a quick look at the What’s on pages of the tourist guide would have told me this.

Now,I was born in Nottingham not so many years ago,and I spent my formative years in the area,but,believe it or not,I had never seen the Major Oak.The reason I guess,is,it’s just one of those things that’s on your doorstep so you never get around to visiting.The Major Oak is probably the highlight of The Sherwood Forest Nature Reserve on an average day but Sunday was not an average day.The Festival was a celebration of Robin Hood with all sorts of events taking place,people dressed in medieval costume were demonstrating crafts and skills like Falconry,Archery,Alchemy,music and pottery making.The Visitor Centre has an exhibition dedicated to the history of Robin Hood as well as the ecology of Sherwood Forest,the Major Oak is a thousand years old,would you believe.The highlight of Sunday though,was the medieval jousting with Robin and some of his Merry Men pitched against the dastardly Sheriff and his motley crew.No prizes for guessing who won,and what a great day we had.

On Friday Kingfishers posted their blog and on it where the latest photographs of Chyandour,so we were able to see the progress that had been made since our visit on the previous Monday.Check out the Photo’s here if you would like to see all of them.I have pinched one or two again for this blog and they will be added to the pictures that we have taken through the week since our last blog.

We made our usual trip down to Trent Lock again this Monday so we could see the progress first hand and get updated on any details that required our attention.It is good to see how Chyandour is coming along,each visit gives us something new and this week was no exception.Our first surprise was the Tiller Pin.This was something that we have given a lot of thought too ‘cos we couldn’t find one we liked.While we were in Rye a few weeks ago,Lisa found a metal casting of a Dragonfly,and with the help of her Brother in Law,Steve,we got it made into a Tiller Pin.On one of our visits to Trent Lock we had a chat to Jan Deuchar,who lives on a narrowboat there,and is also a brilliant artist,famous for her Narrowboat Art.Click here if you would like to see some samples of her work.

                         

There’s the finished Tiller Pin above,it’s about the size of the palm of your hand and when we bought it,it was jet black.Jan has done an excellent job.

Ok,photo’ time.Below are some of this weeks pictures taken at the places we have visited.First of all,a couple of Newark.On the left is Newark Town Lock as seen from the castle and on the right is a Dutch Style Broadbeam  as it enters the lock,with the castle in the background.

 

 

Above left is the world famous Major Oak surrounded by a trees equivalent of a Zimmer frame.At a thousand years old who wouldn’t need a bit of support.No,that isn’t Robin of Sherwood on the right,he was pretty good with a Longbow though,he could hit all of the targets that can be seen at the top right,and gave an interesting and entertaining exhibition.

 

On the left we have the world famous Sheriff of Nottingham.Here he is taunting the crowds.The right hand pic’ is Robin Hood,in the green obviously,and the Sheriff having a bit of a joust.

Now for a picture or three of Chyandour as she was on Monday

The one on the left is the beginning of the tv shelf and corner cupboard.On the right of this will be some more shelving. Then on the right we have the dinette almost finished.Just bits of trim,the table and the cushions to fit.This converts into a double bed for guests,but most of the time serves as our dining room and underneath the seats will be more storage.

                              

Above is our hearth,on here will be the solid fuel stove,all of this has had to be built to conform to all the safety regulations required now days,with insulation and air gaps behind the tiles.

Our friends Janice and Dai were at Trent Lock when we got there on Monday,their boat Jandai is going into the dry dock to have her bottom blacked,her propeller replaced and the Bow Thruster repaired.Here you can see Dai manoeuvering towards the dock.It looks like he’s on the lawn.

 

The right hand picture is a family of ducks,Mum showing her kids how to feed in the weed that covers this stretch of the Erewash Canal.

That’s all for this week folks.We aren’t going down to the boatyard next Monday ‘cos it’s a bank holiday,so we will be going on Thursday before we go on holiday on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal for two weeks.There will be a blog of our travels this week though.Take care.