Drag rakes and tolls

After the coldest night of the winter so far we realised we wouldn’t be cruising anywhere on Tuesday because of the ice.   When I took Buddy for his quick run before breakfast, three C&RT guys were working on the lock down from where we were moored.  This is one of them showing off his drag rake.

 
When I say quick run for Buddy in the morning it really is that.  When he has done what he has to do he turns round and bolts for the boat as he wants to show me how hungry he is.

Looking at the local forecast for the next few days it seems we may be in luck and the ice should start to melt on Tuesday evening.  If it turns out to be correct then we will have a short cruise on Wednesday.  As we have to retrace our steps for about 20 miles that we covered ‘on a mission’ when coming up to Nottingham we want to stop off and look at some of the sights we missed on the way up.

We planned out a circular walk for Tuesdaywith only about ¼ mile on the road.  

The road part was into Shardlow and we passed the road sign reminding us that it was a famous inland port in the eighteenth century.

Cavendish bridge takes you across the Trent and into Shardlow.  This bridge was built in 1960 to replace the previous one which was built in 1762 and was washed away in 1947.  The stone inscriptions of the toll charges were saved and are preserved at the side of the road.

Shardlow marina sits at the limit of navigation up the Trent.  It also has a large park home park and residential caravans.  Coupled with the many liveaboards on the boats it must make the marina bar a very popular place.

Apparently this is an old salt warehouse but is now a residential property.

After our delicious lunch with baked potatoes I did some more log cutting and Karen completed sewing the placemats she has been making.

We made really good use of the stove for cooking today: baked potatoes for lunch and gratin dauphinoise to accompany dinner.

Here is Buddy running past the old salt warehouse to get away from the ducks who had found some unfrozen water under the bridge.