A Knight’s Tale (125: Reaching Nottingham)

Sam and James in Pacific Pete, Jessica watching

Sam continued rowing Pacific Pete along the River Soar through Leicester,

passing the National Space Centre, and

introducing boys at an Outdoor Pursuits Centre to the boat.

A harvester gathered in the crop; a coot paddled by; a mallard breakfasted with her ducklings; and a water snake broke the surface of the river in which a mallow was reflected.

Derrick working lock

James having returned home for a short period, I got to work the locks.

Cattle

Anyone who has read https://derrickjknight.com/2022/03/25/a-knights-tale-118-the-long-walk-begins/ will know how I avoided encountering bulls in the fields I had to cross. This rather amused a gentleman I met en route. He said that no farmer would dare leave a dangerous animal on such a public area. Following this advice with a great deal of trepidation, I mounted a stile around which this herd of cattle were clustered. As I climbed over the animals all ran away; the scary bull in fast pursuit.

Sam at Ratcliffe

Here Sam approaches Ratcliffe lock, in sight of the coal fired Power Station opened in 1968.

Further on, at Beeston, we made another group of friends. Paul, with the long hair, owned a wonderful Dutch barge, on which I slept overnight.

Sam and James in Pacific Pete at Trent Bridge

James had rejoined Sam by the time he rowed under Trent Bridge, in sight of The Brian Clough stand of Nottingham Forest football ground.

Sam interviewd by Radio Nottingham

My son was then interviewed on the bank of the river by Radio Nottingham.

Sam and James in Pacific Pete, Jessica watching

For the penultimate, short, leg of the trip, only four miles in length, we were joined by Becky’s friend Jo Stone, and by Jessica, who watches our son and James moor on the Nottingham waterfront. Sam was to row the race in aid of Cancer Research. Jo suffered from leukaemia, and Jessica from myeloma. The far younger Jo was not to live much longer; Jessica survived until July 2007, having accompanied us to the finish at Port St Charles, Barbados in March 2004.

51 comments

  1. did you walk alongside all the way in sandals? If so you are (a) heroic (b) bonkers and (c) the owner of some of the most robust feet known to man; if you leave any body part to medical science then it should be your feet.

  2. The National Space Centre looks like an inflatable bouncy house to me! I particularly like the reflected mallows. (I seem to be drawn to purple this month, maybe because our purple lilacs have visible buds on them now?)

  3. What an adventure! And Sam hasn’t even hit the sea yet. The bull story made me laugh. And that Sam did it for cancer research is so touching. <3

  4. A beautiful, heartbreaking account of Sam’s journey. And yours, too. And many other folks, some of whom are no longer with you. Made me teary eyed to read this piece.

  5. How wonderful! Beautiful photos of a great adventure and precious memories! Thank you so much for taking us along in your posts!
    So sad about Jo and Jessica. 🙁 🙁
    I greatly appreciate that Sam raised money for cancer research. ❤️
    (((HUGS)))

  6. I have neglected to mention how impressed I am with the design of the boat. I suspect it was fairly comfortable for your son to row it throughout such an arduous journey.

  7. The noble cause behind the expedition turns the journey into a pilgrimage. Your parallel trekking has yielded deeply interesting images.
    Bulls are never to be taken for granted. They seem to be holding unbound angst in their bosom against the world in general. I had a hair’s breadth escape from the wrath of one years ago; I guess it should last a lifetime.

  8. The water snake was a nice catch, and the mallow reflecting in the water quite beautiful. What a wonderful set of memories, and great cause Sam took on with this race. He was a champion on all counts.

Leave a Reply