Back to the canals

Saturday 18^th July; Zouch Cut to Shardlow

There are footpath walks round here, so when I took Jess out first thing we had a short investigation.  Dave took her a lot further in the other direction last night.

The blob on the cut is a duck flying towards the bridge

Before we started Dave thought he’d better check the weed hatch before we went any further.  Just as well.

Better off the prop

It was a cool start for once, a jumper and long trousers day at least for a while.  We left at about 8.15.  The lock was empty, not surprisingly as it was extremely leaky. 

The gap between the bottom gates was huge.

It took ages to fill because of the leak but emptied remarkably quickly.  There seems to be some kind of rowing club along the weir stream as we saw a single scull and a coach/safety boat shoot out as we left the lock, and saw two or three more boats on the way to Kegworth Deep lock.  The lock is also known as Kegworth New lock as another was built alongside the old one – according to Nicholson’s, as part of a flood prevention scheme.

This must have been the side of the original lock, anything else would be hidden by the brambles

Kegworth Shallow lock, which acts as a flood lock, had both gates open.   

 Then it was just two miles to the last normal lock on the Soar, Redhill lock, so it was time to look out for the cooling towers of the old power station.  They were first visible across the fields a while ago, but I prefer this photo, especially as I was steering at the time and still managed to get them vertical!

Ratcliffe lock was busy, with one boat just leaving thus allowing us to go straight in, along with the boat already waiting, and another waiting below for us to leave.  Then it was the long stretch of permanent moorings leading to Redhill marina, with the cooling towers looming behind them.  There was no sign of Oleanna which we knew to be still in the paint shed, but we did look for Pip and Mick at the tables outside the café.  We were several days too early for that!  Still travelling north, we passed through the open gates of Redcliff flood lock and turned westward at the confluence with the Trent.   Now we were cruising upstream against a gentle flow.  Our locking companion stopped on the pontoons just beyond Trent Lock at the end of the Erewash, so we were on our own as we approached Sawley locks.  The lockies were on duty and one of the locks was ready so it wasn't long before we were passing along Sawley Cut.  The marina moorings all along the offside were full, and the long-term moorings along the towpath were also full.  At the end we spotted one of the boats owned by Forces Veterans Afloat, the charity based at Sawley Marina which we first heard about on last year’s Narrow Escapes’  on Channel 4.

At last we had passed under the long long pipe bridge to the second ‘crossroads’ of water; to the right is Derwent mouth where the Derwent joins the Trent, and to the left the Trent continues upstream where is a boatyard and the end of the navigation.

And ahead, at last, is the canal

Looking back downstream.  Too much water for comfort thank you very much.

I went to open the top gate for a small cruiser approaching Derwent Mouth lock.  They had to sort their ropes out before they could descend the lock – one was about to foul the propeller and the other lay hidden underneath the canvas cover.

Leaving the river

The lock was filling itself already as I closed the bottom gate.

I hadn't even opened the gate paddles

It was slow going past the moored boats all the way to Shardlow, where we found a shady spot half-way between the first pub and Shardlow lock.  I took Jess along to the next bridge, crossed over and we called in to the little museum for a look before walking back to the canal along the winding back lane and through an alleyway.  My plan was to suss out the pubs and come back on the towpath, but annoyingly an entire swan family – with 5 cygnets I seem to remember - was on the towpath opposite the New Inn so it was a long walk back the way we had come.  We went along to the New Inn at about 6 (the swans had gone) hoping to be early enough to order food, but by the time I joined the queue to order the wait was already an hour.  So we enjoyed our pint and went back to eat on board instead.

9 miles, 8 locks, including 2 flood locks

Hot, but beautiful well, some of it)

Friday 17^th July; Barrow Deep lock to Zouch cut

We had a more relaxed start today than we have been having during this hot spell, not leaving till 9.30.  Barrow Deep lock isn’t as deep as Somerton Deep lock, but wide and slow filling.  There is a traffic light here to alert you to flood conditions, green today of course, and a large notice lockside in explanation.

Looking back at the road bridge by last night’s pub

It was warm and sunny, and the cruising on a beautiful stretch was delightful.  The gates at both ends of Pilling’s Flood lock were open as expected.

Now we were on the approach to Loughborough, where we needed some shopping.  The whole stretch is infested with floating pennywort.  A widebeam tripboat from the Peter le Marchant Trust just barged its way past a huge mat spreading out from the offside, shoving it aside without a care.  We on the other hand had to stop mid-stream to allow our moustache to float off.

A short burst of bow thruster moved us out of its clutches

We moored before the T-junction rather than turn and go down to the pontoons in the basin as we didn’t really need the CRT facilities.  After we’d tied up I pulled out the long wreath of pennywort that we had picked up in the five minutes since removing the last lot.  We had a break for a couple of hours to go to Sainsbury’s and have lunch before moving off again.  At Loughborough lock it looked as though a narrowboat was going down on its own, but eventually we could see that the small volunteer boat that had been clearing rubbish from the basin was on its way down, piled high with trolleys and other unidentifiable items they had hauled out.  A trip boat – there are several on the Soar and mostly wide-beam – took the lock as we left.  Our plan was to take on water at Bishop’s Meadow lock and dispose of some rubbish, but a boat was on the water point and the rubbish boat unloading its cargo.  What’s more the boat sitting in the lock needed water and was waiting for the rubbish boat to leave.  After a short wait we were on our way down - we have enough water for a couple of days.  There is a stretch of mooring below the lock, in badly needed shade, but we could hear factory noise above the engine and anyway most of the length was occupied.

I wonder how long they have been there?

Normanton looked serene as it basked in the heat, with just a few paddle boarders pottering about.

Normanton church

... some very desirable properties along the river ....

and an interesting vessel at the Soar Boating Club

It is a Falmouth Bass boat, ‘a traditional stable dayboat with the capacity to carry 5 adults’.  It is easily carried on a trailer and is rigged as a gunter ketch – I suppose sailors will know what that means but if you are interested look HERE. 

As we neared Zouch Cut we passed the flood conditions notice and the emergency moorings.  I wondered why they are called dolphins; Wikipedia says A dolphin is a group of pilings arrayed together to serve variously as a protective hardpoint along a dock, in a waterway, or along a shore; as a means or point of stabilization of a dock, bridge, or similar structure; as a mooring point; and as a base for navigational aids.  The term seems to have been in use for a long time and opinions vary as to whether the term has anything to do with the marine mammal.

There is a long stretch of mooring in the cut but it's popular, and we were lucky to find a space between the footbridge and the lock.  We were hot and tired and didn’t want to carry on.  Fortunately the breeze was blowing though the boat and although we were in full sun, it was shining from directly behind us.  With a cream roof to reflect the sun’s rays, and a towel hanging from the hatch to keep the sun out of the boat, we soon cooled down.

6½ miles, 3 locks, plus Pilling’s Flood lock and Zouch flood gates.

More heat as we make our way downstream

Thursday 16^th July; Watermead Country Park to Barrow Deep lock

We were later than usual setting off once Dave had done some checking in the engine hole.  There still seems to be no oil leak, so the reason for our recent trouble remains a mystery.  The weather became extremely hot again very quickly.  As we passed the Hope and Anchor pub the trip boat was making ready to leave – a widebeam, so they couldn’t share with us - and by the time we were in Junction lock the crew had arrived and helped work us through.

We were half way down the lock before the trip boat arrived

The cheerful crew had walked down and insisted I got back on the boat as they would deal with the bottom gates.

The crew worked while some of the passengers looked on.

At Cossington lock they told us they were taking a disabled group and their carers to Mountsorrel for a lunch outing, and then while we were stopped for a pump-out below Sileby Mill lock they passed us.

After the trip boat left the lock, another going up took their place

The Sileby Mill boatyard has their fuel and pump-out machine on a boat moored almost on the river, as the weir makes getting closer to the office area and the wharf rather difficult even in low flow conditions.  The fuel was a reasonable price, though later we learned that the fuel boat moored further back, which I had not even noticed, was cheaper.

Sileby Mill weir

The dreaded floating pennywort was present by now, and we passed some large mats further back upstream, but it wasn't too bad here.   So far we haven’t had any trouble with weed round the propeller, putting the boat into neutral usually gets rid of it and a blast of reverse works if it doesn’t.  We had hoped to make a lunch stop at Mountsorrel, but the moorings were full – of course the trip boat was already there.  We had lunch on the move, enjoying the lovely scenery and with a light breeze the sun didn't feel  too scorching.  We knew when we were approaching Barrow-on-Soar because the pedalos started appearing – brightly coloured cars and swans.

The closer we got, the more crowded the water became

There was space to moor just before the hire place, but we didn’t think much of it last time we were here, so we passed very slowly and carefully allowing the pedalos to take evading action.  We moored above Barrow Deep lock in some badly needed shade.  Later, we celebrated our wedding anniversary with a meal in the garden of The Moorings, the pub by the river.  Just ordinary pub food but we enjoyed it very much and the beer was good - Doom Bar I seem to remember.  We first drank that when we were camping in Padworth, long before Rick Stein arrived so it was relatively quiet and peaceful! In spite of the pub being called The Moorings, you can’t moor here, nor do anything else water-based for that matter.

I wonder what ‘strict action’ they would take?  What if you only stepped in and didn’t jump?

Apart from an occasional plane from the East Midlands airport it was a good quiet mooring.

6¼ miles, 4 locks

Out of the city

Wednesday 15^th 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.

A long way above the park, let alone the river level

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.

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.

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.

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! 

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.

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

Who do we know in Leicester?

Tuesday 14^th July; King’s lock to Castle Gardens, Leicester

This morning I took Jess into the water meadows again for her walk.  The bridge over the canal here is called Pack Horse bridge, but the original one must have been partly demolished when the canal was built.

It’s similar to Essex bridge at Shugborough on the T&M

We left at about 8.30 under cloud and in a chilly breeze to descend the last three locks into Leicester.

The dye works once dumped its untreated waste into the river, which ran black

The first time we were in Leicester was 2013, just after Richard III’s bones were found, and then again in 2016, both times on Chuffed.   I remembered these locks as being very difficult to operate but they really weren’t, just rather heavy.  Maybe my technique has improved over the years.

At Freeman’s Meadow lock, with the Leicester City football stadium beyond the weir, the river is very wide

Just a trickle going over the weir today

Hello

We moored at Upperton Road bridge to visit Lidl (thanks Alchemy for blogging this!) before moving on to Castle Gardens where the pontoon was empty apart from a cruiser at the far end.  The owner came up to ask us very politely if we would help him get his boat across the river, which of course we would.  He wanted us to take a rope across to the other side so he could pull his boat over, with his mate to help.  We did that and reversed back as he took the rope and completed the manoeuvre.

Half-way across

It would have been easier it he had stepped onto our bow and tied onto our bow rather than running all the way across the bridge and faffing about with the rope.

But it worked

We were moored up by midday.  After lunch Jess got a play in the gardens, I had a fun trip to Tesco and the Fuel Doctor arrived on the opposite bank to get the cruiser sorted out.  Then we all walked up to the cathedral (dogs allowed luckily, as it was too hot to leave her in the boat) to visit the tomb of Richard III.  In 2013 we were able to visit the dig at the car park where his bones were discovered and also the temporary exhibition where a hologram of the skeleton was displayed.  (If you don’t want to read more about Richard and his tomb, skip to the last paragraph).  There was a big argument between York and Leicester as to where his final resting place should be – Leicester won, and he was re-interred in 2015.  The coffin was made by Michael Ibsen, who is descended from Richard’s sister Anne of York.  He is one of the people whose DNA was used to confirm the bones were indeed Richard’s.  In the cathedral we watched a video of the making and installing of the tomb which you can see HERE.   

The plinth is made of dark Kilkenny marble.

If you watch the video you will see that one of the technicians was standing in the hole where the coffin would be put to ensure the plinth was placed correctly.  Carving in Kilkenny marble shows up white, so  the lettering is clear as is the small representation of his badge, the boar.

Loyalty binds me

His coat of arms is not, as you might imagine, painted.  Watch the video to see the painstaking preparation of the individual elements.  It was made using the ‘traditional technique of pietra dura.  This involved cutting and fitting together over 350 pieces of stone.  The blue is Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan and the red, Duke’s Red Limestone quarried on the Chatsworth Estate in 1823.’  Taken from HERE.  The skill involved is just wonderful.  The stone for the tomb above the coffin is a Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire.  This was chosen not only because it will polish to a fine finish, but also because the fossils within it are long dead creatures immortalised now in stone’.  Taken from the same source.  Very well worth the visit, and highly recommended if you have any interest in Richard III.

It was beginning to get dark when a knock came on the window – another boater asking were we Debby and Dave?  We had a visitor at the gate!  (It's a secure mooring, the gate opens with a BW key).  Who on earth?  We don’t know anyone in Leicester… well we do now!  Ann, a blog reader, lives nearby and had worked out when we might be in Leicester.  She also reads the Alchemy blog, among others, and saw my comment to Mike regarding the man we met a couple of days ago who was getting his qualification to crew a trip boat in Burnley.  She has connections to Bromsgrove and Droitwich and knew that the boat, specialised for disabled access and now called Ten Thousand Reasons, was the original Pamela May trip boat in Droitwich, which following serious fundraising now runs Pamela May II which we have often seen.  What interesting connections, and how exciting to meet a blog reader!  Lovely to meet you Ann!

3 locks, 2½ miles, old bones and a new tomb, and a new friend

 

Hunting a shady mooring on another hot day

Monday 13^th July; Kilby Bridge to King’s lock, Aylestone Meadows.

Morning dawned cool and breezy and for a short while there was even dampness in the air.  As I took Jess out first thing I checked which boats were pointing in our direction – only four of them, and two of those looked unoccupied.  Our partners from yesterday seemed to be still in bed.  I took the food waste and recycling round to the facilities block opposite, and as I returned a boat ahead of us was showing signs of leaving in our direction so I beetled up to ask if he wanted a locking partner, which of course he did. It was quite chilly at 8.30 when we started, and we made good progress in spite of two over-excited dogs getting in the way of the crew as we started off.

If CRT have to close the navigation again this year these water-lilies will spread right across the navigation

The locks were a bit further apart than yesterday.  At the third, we could see a CRT chap with a rake hauling weed out at the lock.

Both crew were very surprised when he said we shouldn’t have been moving until 10 am.  We knew the restrictions had been brought forward, but had both thought the restrictions didn’t start until 3 this afternoon.  Apparently not!  And we also didn’t realise that if you stopped overnight within the restricted area you were supposed to wait until 10 before you could move.  But he was so pleased we had paired up that he didn't stop us from carrying on.

A very successful locking partnership with Ealisaid

The outer parts of Leicester were beginning to crowd in on the offside.  There was a succession of the usual interesting gardens but I wasn’t sure about this person-sized gnome.

I would find this rather creepy if I were walking the towpath at dusk

On the whole we had no trouble with water levels, although the pound above Bush Lock, which had work done recently to reduce leakage, was still very low.   A bit further on, the water became clear and the canal felt a lot more like a river, although the Soar had not yet joined it.  There was a lot of water-weed, though not yet causing any issues.

Arrowhead

I have been trying to get a clear photo of one of the mile markers for a couple of days.  We had passed the city boundary before I managed it.

We only met one boat going up on our way down this morning.  We pulled in below King’s lock, where the canal becomes the river Soar and is out of the restricted area, at about 1.  Both boats had reasonable shade for the rest of the day.  The CRT man we saw this morning walked by just before 3 to padlock the bottom gates of King’s lock.

There was a fair bit of footfall on the towpath, as this is a popular walk from Aylestone on the opposite bank and it’s shady. 

But closed on a Monday

Later I took Jess to find the entrance to the water meadows, which is at the next bridge.  There are extensive paths across the meadows, where horses and cattle are grazing in some areas.  The access from Aylestone, higher up on the offside, has a clear sign warning you are entering a flood risk area.  Not today though.

Levels below the green today

7 miles, 9 locks, and onto the river