Wednesday 15th July; Castle Gardens to Watermead Country Park
It was cool enough for long trousers when I took Jess for her early morning walk in Castle Gardens. We walked to the far end and up the Castle Motte, the mound which is all that is left of the original Motte and Bailey castle.
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| A long way above the park, let alone the river level |
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| I wonder if there were steps back in the day? |
I popped over to Tesco for a couple of things, and while I did that Dave wrestled with the filler cap of the gearbox to check the oil level. It took some effort to get it off, but the level was fine. So far there have been no leaks evident, so it’s all a bit of a mystery. It was hot when we left at about 9.30, much later than anticipated.
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| Intriguing mural past West Bridge. I found several references to Leicester murals but nothing about this one. |
There were no other boats on the move for quite a while. Last night Ann had warned us about the high wall at North Lock landing, so I considered getting off the boat at Friar’s Mill and walking over the footbridge and the weir to the lock. But with the moorings at Friar’s Mill full, and a boat all closed up moored on the water point, that wasn’t an option. Luckily Dave was able to get off quite easily. With the boat secured I could scramble up and went to work the lock. Jess of course flew up as if on springs, but had to stay on the lead as there was a road alongside.
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| High edge at North lock |
The lock was deep and scary but at least it was easy to get back on the boat afterwards! And although the last time we came this way I thought the locks were extremely hard work they really weren’t this time. The next lock was Lime Kiln, but as Alchemy had blogged there were moorings and a water point at Memory Lane just before it. We stopped for water even though the depth wasn’t quite enough, and discovered a brand new and very clean and tidy rubbish, recycling and Elsan compound as well. As we finished topping up the water, our locking partners from the day before yesterday turned up to use the Elsan so we waited for them in the lock.
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| Another lock with a mural |
Further on we passed the Wolsey Chimney on Frog Island. I remember the Wolsey brand of stockings being a bit expensive for me when I was growing up – yes old enough to wear stockings before tights were generally available! They were horrible and uncomfortable, but we so wanted to feel grown-up!
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| The Wolsey chimney |
The company seems to have taken its name from Cardinal Wolsey. He died in Leicester before Henry VIII could arrest and execute him, and was buried in Leicester Abbey. In spite of several digs taking place in Abbey Park, which is close by the factory site, his remains have never been found. We shared the remaining locks with Ealisaid – Belgrave, Birstall and Thurmaston.
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| Cinnabar moth caterpillars in their stripy jerseys at Birstall lock, feeding on ragwort. Cinnabar moths are day-flying, bright pinky-red and black |
Now we were out of Leicester the river was winding and rural. I remembered this section because of the high banks of nettles and hoping we wouldn’t get too close. Once we got to Watermead Country Park we pulled in on the first suitable section of Armco for a late lunch. We could see that there would be shade later on so we stayed put for the rest of the day. Dave and Jess went for a walk around King Lear’s Lake.
A busy road runs a few hundred yards away on the offside, and we could hear factory noise too, but it wasn’t intrusive enough to make us want to move on.
5 miles, 5 locks
