Trent sparkle

Once the early mist had cleared, we were off up the Trent again. As we were pulling out from the mooring, Angell Hardy II came round a corner behind us. At that point she looked absolutely huge, but by the time she'd followed us into Newark Town Lock, she was  little less threatening.

We chatted with the crew, and then they moved out ahead of us.

The river twists and turns a bit here, and from time to time we would get a glimpse of her apparently sailing among the fields. Very bizarre! The flatness of the country means that water is everywhere (or perhaps the fact that water is everywhere has produced the flatness). We haven't, however, quite worked out which waterway leaves or joins our branch of the Trent under this bridge.

What was clear was the point at which the Trent divides into two, before rejoining north of Newark.

The water pours over the weir. The geese like it, but boats stay well away

This section of the Trent was steadily becoming more and more attractive.

It was sparkling in the sun. There was more to see, and it was easier to see it.

After a few miles we joined a couple of cruisers in the next lock. They'd previously overtaken us, but had to wait anyway when they got there. There was also a couple in a small boat with an outboard, who were having a great day out.

All three left ahead of us – they were likely to be going a bit faster than us on the next stretch. The river was sometimes broader, sometimes narrower. There were a lot of fishermen in some sections, but they mostly seemed to fiddle with their tackle as we passed, rather than exchange a greeting. Unlike the canals, there's very little sense that they are going to pull back a rod as you go by. The onus seems to be on the boat to avoid them, even though lines often seemed to stretch way out from the bank.

The countryside was beginning to get some vertical interest.

The occasional small, wooded hill would poke up on one side, usually involving  a bend in the river.

Other things were sticking up as well. We weren't close enough to see what these standing stones were, and Nicholson's doesn't mention them. Since they've been adorned with a couple of brass plaques, they may not themselves actually be ancient monuments.

Up through Gunthorpe Lock, and found a nice mooring on a floating pontoon. One or two noisy parties have threatened to join us, but have thankfully gone away again.

So this is the view through the side-hatch this afternoon, and very peaceful it is.

This has been by far the most enjoyable part of the River Trent that we have encountered so far, and we're hoping for more of the same while the weather holds.