Bridge over the River Trent

I'm getting a little bit excited about my trip now, because I've been finding out a lot about the River Trent, and it's all very interesting. It's the third longest river in England at 185 miles, and it's source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It is a tidal river and at certain times of the year the lower tidal reaches experience a moderately large tidal bore up to five feet high. It is known as the Trent Aegir.

I borrowed a couple of books from the library which make interesting reading about the history of the carriage of cargos by inland waterway craft. There is also details of cross river passenger ferries which operated well into the twentieth century. This book, The River Trent Navigation, is full of black and white photo's, if it wasn't so heavy I would take it with me. I am hoping to photograph some of the places in the book so I can compare the old with the modern day buildings and bridges.

This book is one mans account of his livelihood as a river waterman. Sadly the author Arthur Caldicott, died shortly before his manuscript was published. It's an interesting read.

I came across this tidal information sheet during my research. Although I don't understand much about the actual calculations for the tides, it gives the distances between bridges and locks and places the river passes by. From Sawley Lock to the Trent Falls is 92.2 miles. I shall be walking about 110 - 120 miles

Planning the walk has been interesting, looking for accommodation on the side of the river that I am on, and looking for places to cross if I need to. Looking closely at places on Google earth, where can I cross, is there a bridge. I found information on a web site about a bridge that was taken down in 2002 because it was unsafe. Google earth shows a path leading nowhere. Now I see that a new foot bridge has been lifted into place just this week. I thought, oh good, untill I read that it wont be ready to use and I still won't be able to cross there. Never mind I will take a look at it anyway. Here is the news item.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-14940797
My overnight stops will be
Melbourne - Kegworth - Radcliffe on Trent - Kelham - Dunham on Trent - Gainsborough. If anyone is around give me a shout, contact details on the side.
Anyway, must get packing, toodle pip.