Sheffield and Sprotborough

Our few days in Sheffield have been really enjoyable and we can recommend taking the trip up, do not be put off by the thought of the 12 locks of the Tinsley flight as the lock keepers operate the flight in an efficient and timely manner with everything prepared before you arrive so you are up and down in no time.
The city has changed beyond all recognition since our last visit, with the centre full of new buildings and road layouts, on Friday it was warm and sunny so we sat out side a bar near the Peace Gardens and enjoyed a drink and bite to eat whilst watching the world go by.
We moored in Victoria Quays (about 10 minutes walk from the town centre), this is operated by CV Marine and all facilities are available, however we did not see a diesel point, not a problem for us but worth noting should you want to visit.

Scruff and Alfie

The chap that looks after the mooring is called Paul and he most most helpful and made us feel very welcome, we went to a family function on Sunday and he offered to look after our dog Scruff whilst we were away, Scruff enjoyed her time with Paul and his dog Alfie who became Scruff's best friend!
On Saturday we were joined by Carole and Jim who stayed overnight on the boat, we went to the Old Queens Head for dinner, this is a great pub, they allow dogs so Scruff was able to join us too.
The menu is usual pub fayre with the addition of a Czech section, well worth trying as two of our party tried this and really enjoyed it, the pub is located close to the Bus Station on Pond Hill, to rear of Ponds Forge Leisure centre.

A rare selfie! with Steve and Geri

Our trip down to Sprotborough began with the short run to the top of the flight of locks, these had all been prepared by the lock keepers and we were soon under way, again we travelled with Geri and Steve on NB Tischomingo and enjoyed their company all the way down to Sprotborough finishing off with a visit to the Boat Inn. We wish them Bon Voyage as they continue their journey down the Trent and hope that we will meet again on our travels.

Red light !!

Our journey down was briefly interrupted at Mexborough top lock, we had picked up on the radio that a large oil tanker was travelling in front of us, these boats require a travelling lock keeper to operate the mechanised locks to speed up their journey. We arrived at the lock after the lock keeper had left, normally in this condition we would expect to see an amber light, indicating that the locks are set for self operation.
This lock had a red light meaning the lock was in-operable so a call to CRT was required. CRT called me back and informed us that a lock keeper was on his way down to sort it out, he arrived approximately 30 minutes later and penned us through, he kindly offered to drive down to the next lock to and get us through to make up some of the time. This the second favourable experience we have had with CRT on this journey.
We finally moored at Sprotborough this is a great spot set in a magnesium limestone gorge, all the buildings are built of this soft yellow stone that seems to glow in the sunshine.