The huge old British Waterways building by The Navigation pub (once the home of Annie’s burgers) now incorporates The Company Inn Wetherspoons pub.
We arranged to meet Nancy, Steve and Jazz, their sprocker dog at an outdoor table at Via Fosse where we sat shivering under an umbrella and ordered drinks on the Greene King App.
Vera had a mooch around Castle Wharf where Nottingham have renovated the canal area of the city.
We enjoyed being in the centre of Nottingham. Just along from our Canal & River Trust mooring was the purpose-built offices of HMRC, which is soon to be superseded by a new office block which will probably be practically empty as most staff are working from home these days and doing meetings using Microsoft Teams.
This was the mooring that we left on Thursday to chug into Castle Marina. You can just make out The Duke on the left bank between the trees.
On Friday evening we braved the bus from Nottingham Railway Station to Ruddington for a meal with friends in the White Horse pub. The buses have a bizarre system whereby each passenger has to pay their fare using contactless with a different credit/debit card - even the driver agreed it was odd if you are travelling as a couple.
On a rainy Saturday morning we got up at 5.30, packed up and we left The Duke at 7.00 as our friends drove us home to Watchet with a splendid sausage and bacon breakfast bap at Gloucester Services. We became less tortoise and more hare as we hurtled along the M1, M42 and M5 back to Watchet.
On Sunday we had a good hike around St Audries Deer Park with Vera and had Sunday lunch in the Carew Arms at Crowcombe in the form of a sharing platter with succulent Exmoor beef with horseradish in a Yorkshire pudding wrap and all the trimmings to dip in the gravy, Photo courtesy of Ian Emerson. To follow there was a salted caramel shared dipping platter with marshmallows, strawberries, cookies and pineapple chunk - heart attack on a plate.
Sunday ended with a glorious sunset over the Hawkins Holiday House. We were not that taken with the new BBC period drama “The Pursuit of Love”.
Hi Steve we hired a 69 ft narrow boat started at Bradford on Avon went to Bath and then on to the over sixteen locks and turned back really enjoyed it . Hope you both are well.