The weekend started on Saturday morning with a highly unpleasant drive down the M6 in heavy traffic and heavier rain bringing standing water on the motorway and speeds down to 20mph, so the journey to Nottingham took far longer than planned. Then when we arrived we just had time to transfer all our stuff from the car to the boat before the heavens opened again - this time with thunder and lightning.
When everything had calmed down I took Starcross into Castle Marina for some gas and diesel and was surprised to be greeted as a long-lost friend, especially as I'd only ever been there once before back in June. Then, I'd paid to leave Starcross there for a fortnight, but in practice the towpath moorings outside are so "safe" that this time I'd saved my money. So I was also pleasantly surprised to be given "moorer's discount" on the diesel ("well you did moor here once") which as I'd bought 101 litres was very welcome. Meanwhile Hil was in Sainsbury's, shopping and hating every minute of it! We don't usually use supermarkets, preferring real markets and smaller shops so it was quite an ordeal for her. "Thirty sorts of cheese - ridiculous, far too much choice!"
After all that we decided to stay the night outside the marina and after tea walked down the towpath into the city for a visit to the "Olde Trip to Jerusalem", which claims to be the oldest pub in England (although the nearby Bell Inn claims it's the oldest in Nottingham!). If you only ever visit one pub in Nottingham make it "the Trip". However old it really is it certainly feels ancient,with rooms cut like caves into the rock that forms the back wall of the building. (I almost said "the living rock" - in a cod American accent there!). Despite being owned nowadays by national brewer Greene King it does sell other beers, including an excellent pint of Nottingham Brewery Rock Mild.
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