{Calm, slow music}
Holme Pierrepont is to the east of the city of Nottingham and there's 270 acres of country
park here. The National Water Sports Centre offers some of the most comprehensive water
sports facilities in the world. The 2000 metre lake hosts many national and international
rowing competitions and the River Trent is diverted down a fierce whitewater course here.
There are plenty of mooring spots on the run up to Holme Lock as well as a very slow tap,
bins and an elsan disposal point. The large lock gates are mechanically opened and it's at
this point the river starts to show its power and size. I moored up here for a number of
days and was able to leave my car overnight in the water sports carpark. Be aware the
centre has recently introduced a parking charge of £2 a day and the exit is locked overnight.
It was a really peaceful location apart from the odd party boat that turned before the
lock but they don't travel late into the night.
{Party music and chatter from boat}
{Happy, playful music}
My journey will mean I head north leaving
Holme Pierrepont behind. The remaining suburbs of Nottingham cling to the north of the river
and I pass the village of Radcliffe-on-Trent and through Stoke Lock. All the locks from
now on are manned. I'll then wind my way downstream to Gunthorpe Lock which is between the villages
of Gunthorpe and East Bridgford. I'll carry on out into the countryside and moor up on
the other side of Hazleford Lock. So I've left Holme Pierrepont. Really nice
place to moor up at actually. Be careful if you're coming in to moor because there's some
metal bollards that are the entrance down to the rapids. Of course the water flow is
going down there. Now yesterday, the water was like a mill pond on the river but underneath
the flow was really strong and I was just coming back from the car and a narrowboat
was coming in to moor up and he bashed against the metal bollards. Really quite hard and
I could imagine everything falling out of cupboards inside, if not damaging the hull,
so just be aware of that. Come in nice and wide and come in a little bit further down.
But yesterday I moved my car to Newark. That's where I'm heading today. I caught the bus
back, back to Gamston and then walked back up to Holme Pierrepont. Today I'm not going as far as
Newark because I don't know what the mooring's like. Usually, people leave moorings to go
out on a cruise either very early in the morning or sort of mid-morning after they've had a nice breakfast
and that's the best time to arrive at a mooring because you've got a pick of really good choices
really. But if I carry on to Newark today, I won't arrive until mid to late afternoon
and that's a little bit late for me because if all the moorings are taken, I'll either
get a - not very good mooring or I won't get a mooring at all and I'll have to carry on.
So, I'm going to moor up maybe one, maybe two locks before Newark and then tomorrow
morning, I'll nip up, nice and early and get a nice mooring.
{Natural water sounds}
Just downstream of the lock
at Hazleford, there are a number of high and low moorings, depending on your boat size.
The lock is based on an island between two large weirs. Water, toilets and bins are available
here. Weirs prove a bit of a problem for migrating fish such as salmon, trout and eels. The River
Trent is the second longest river in England and here at Hazleford a programme is underway
to help restore the eel population. The European eel is classified as critically endangered
as over the past 40 years, their numbers have declined by as much as 90%. Eels are an important
part of the water environment, feeding on water bugs and dead and decaying animals. They are
also tasty treats for herons and otters. EDF Energy has teamed up with conservation groups
in two key areas of the Trent Valley. Idle Valley Nature Reserve near Retford and here
at Hazelford Weir. The Canal & River Trust has employed these guys from Fishtek Consulting
in Devon to build a new eel pass. Funded by EDF Energy a long aluminium trough has been
built alongside the weir. Inside the tough is a bed of solid plastic studs fixed at a
set gradient. There are two sizes of both gaps and studs. To an eel this is like a ladder
and as they climb, they need the support of the studs. Larger eels will travel up the
larger gaps and the younger eels will use the lower smaller studs. Today is the day
this trough will be put into service and water will be allowed to enter the top of the trough
and flow downhill. When an eel reaches a weir they travel back and forth trying to find
a path up the river. As the water is way too fierce and strong at this weir, they are unable
to migrate any further. However, when they reach this new trough they will sense there
is a water flow and instinctively try to climb. The trough has fixed lids so that wildlife
can't just sit there picking out their lunch all day and towards the top of the trough
it levels to give the eels a bit of a rest before they embark out into the river above the weir.
Both these projects will help to reverse the declining trend in eel population in the
UK. I stayed at Hazelford Lock for the night and then continued up the river to Newark
on Trent. If you've not already subscribed, please do, it doesn't cost you anything and
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ya later.