May 2010     A very busy month on the River Soar, the River Trent and the Nottingham and Beeston Canal. Visited Nottingham and then on to Burton and Stoke on Trent. Finally Spring arrives :-)           First stop was to the oldest pub in England called the Olde Trip for a pint of - Olde Trip!   Nottingham has a very funky theatre with an Anish Kapoor installation called Sky Dish which was excellent.             Then off to the castle, a rather modern building on the site of the original fortified building.   We watched an excellent joust and sword fighting on the bank holiday.             Took a tour through the caves under the castle.   Then went to a 40's day where the locals dressed up.             Took part in a dance exhibition, this one was the 'Stroll'.   This is Joey moored up under the very grand County Hall.             Off to a tour of Trent Bridge cricket ground.   This is the players balcony, lots of boot stud scratches on the rail.             We went on a tour of the Marston's brewery, this is us leaving the mooring, of course not helming under the influence!   Then on to the Flint Mill at Cheddleton.             The only mill left with two working water wheels.   This is the slip vat for crushing up the flint for use in pottery.             Then Paul got train deprevation and we had to go to the Churnet Valley Railway.   Lots of lovely carriages, unfortunately over 80 degrees heat and no aircon.             We then meandered through the Potteries, these are old kilns used for firing the pots. There are lots of these left.   This is the Etruria mill, once part of Wedgewood but now a museum.             We also passed through Harecastle Tunnel, the first canal tunnel which is over 2900 yards long.   It has an incredibly low ceiling, the white line is the start of an even lower section.               Obviously the skipper was very happy to be back in the sunshine again.