Description: In Victorian times, the village was renowned for its abundance of tea- houses, and it seemed almost every cottage would genially invite you to 'tea and hot water'. During the summer months people visited from far and wide (including from Nottingham itself), and no doubt part of the pleasure was the trip on the ferry from Attenborough where two flat-bottomed rowing boats were used to take passengers to and fro across the Trent. In the 1930's, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, it was common for 200 or more people to have queued on either bank of the Trent, waiting for George Chamberlain or his son Arthur, who lived at Ferry Cottage, to take them across. If on reaching the village the 'trippers' felt too hot for tea, then they could always sample the home-made ice cream served by the Towers family at Pear Tree Cottage. By the late 1940's, this tradition of teas had come to an end. Many of the quaint old cottages which served them were pulled down to make way for the new council houses, but the ferry continued to run. In the 1950's it was operated by Arthur Tindall, who lived at the ferry house (now demolished) on the Attenborough side of the river, and it was not unknown even for cattle to be brought over by boat! Amazingly, the service continued, (albeit spasmodically) until the early 1960s.(information from Barton in Fabis Parish Council website)