Enjoying Being Back on Canals

Think that might be rain up ahead.....

In all the excitement of last week’s referendum results (not that this week has been any less exciting in the political world!),  I completely omitted an important anniversary.  24 June was our second anniversary of setting off on our travels from Weedon and in that time we have travelled 2585 miles and gone through 1837 locks – and we’re still enjoying it!!  We spent a few days in Leicester, taking advantage of the local Enterprise to hire a car for a day and pop up to York for a doc appointment for Mike.  Having picked up from NB Lillyanne’s blog that sometimes it’s cheaper to hire a van, we have now done so on a couple of occasions too, the van being £22 for the day compared to £45 for a car.  The first time from Newark, when Mike explained why we had hired a van, they explained they were a bit short of vans, so offered him a car for the same price.  The next time at Leicester, we ended up travelling to York in a van….. but for half the price of a car so all good.  Back in Leicester we revisited the Istanbul Restaurant on Narborough Road and had another excellent meal, and took time to visit the cathedral and the Space Centre, which we hadn’t done last time around.

Beautiful Grave of Swaledale Marble for King Richard III

Looks like I caught something nasty at the Guildhall

Exploring the night sky at the fantastic Space Centre, which we sadly ended up rushing around as we didn't realise it closes at 4pm.....

Mike drives the Mars vehicle

Mike is still dining out on Uranus jokes......

Leicester is a great place to visit, plenty to see and do over a couple of days and great shopping, both in the big indoor mall and in the Leicester Lanes area, where there are lots of wee independent shops and cafes.  Sadly, many boaters will still warn you not to stop there as it’s not safe.  We were lucky to be on secure moorings this time, so no problems, but last year we ended up on the towpath side for three nights over the weekend.  We had no problems at all.  Yes, there were a couple of blokes having their carryout during the day nearby, but they were gone by sundown and there are no pubs on that stretch (near the Tesco Express), so little, if any, footfall after dark.  The Narborough Road area, behind said Tesco Express, is a vibrant, culturally diverse area with great wee shops and restaurants and a lovely buzz to the area.  Please stop in Leicester and take in what this city has to offer, but take the usual precautions you would in any city and avoid mooring at the Belgrave Lock area (near the Space Centre).  I spoke to a boater a couple of days ago and they had been set adrift through the night there as they had to wait with another six boats for river levels to go down a year or so ago.  But if you can’t get on the secure moorings, the towpath to the south of Castle Gardens was safe enough for us.

We left early on Wednesday morning (29^th June), and I mean early – off the pontoon by 8am – because the weather forecast was poor for the day from 11am onwards.  We planned to boat for two/three hours, moor up for four/five hours while it rained heavily, then boat on for another couple of hours in the evening.  Light rain arrived not long after we left, and was with us more or less for the next couple of hours when someone somewhere turned a tap on and we quickly moored up a bit short of where we’d planned.  Around 4pm we set off again, waiting for a boat to come down the next lock, and as we headed in, saw a boat coming behind us.  It was NB Grey Wagtail, who’d also been on the pontoon mooring and had done the same as us, boated til the rain came then battened down the hatches for a few hours.  We locked up the next few locks with them and discovered they were from Fenny Compton and know our friends Alan and Jill who live there – small world indeed.  We left them above Blue Bank lock and headed on towards Kilby, where we stopped at a lovely rural mooring below Kilby lock.  I must apologize for the shortage of photos this week, but with the rain coming and going so much, we didn’t want to keep the camera on deck.  And sometimes I’m just too darned lazy……..

Next morning we had just finished breakfast when a boat came down the lock and another was coming along behind us to go up.  We spend a very pleasant day locking up with Malcolm and Julia on NB Figment who were heading for Wistow.  We left them early afternoon and continued on in the sunshine, mooring up a couple of hours later at Fleckney, where we had moored last year coming the other direction.

 

Small retired ponies keeping an eye on the lock

Are you sure you wouldn't like to live on our boat with us - we have sugar lumps?!?!

Leaving the winding Soar behind us

Okay, it's blurred, but it's the first time we've got close enough to a Kingfisher for a photo!!!!

The next morning (Friday) we were just a short hop to Foxton Locks, which weren’t too busy and we were booked in to go straight up after the two boats on their way up now.  As we climbed the flight, I kept looking back and decided that the view from Foxton Locks is one of my favourites.  The Leicestershire countryside is really lovely and it had been a great trip coming down from Leicester.  I didn’t remember it being so beautiful last year and wonder if it’s with being on big, wide rivers for the last two months, sometimes with no view, that I’ve appreciated this stretch of canal much more this time.  It felt really good to be back on canal!!

Mike's turn to take us up a few locks

Looking back down the Foxton Staircase locks - one of my favourite views

We moored up at the top of the flight where there were another couple of boats on the two-day visitor moorings, but by 6pm they were full!  It had been a glorious day but as the afternoon wore on, some big, dark, heavy rain clouds came over and dropped a lot of water on us.  When this passed, we reversed up to the water point and washed the boat, as she was filthy, then just as we got back to our spot, the heavens opened again and rinsed most of the soap streaks we’d missed off – happy days…..

Saturday took us to Crick, where we thought there were spaces near Bridge 12, from where you have access to the village, and we needed some supplies from the Coop.  But the spaces were where the marina entrances are, so we backed up and moored up in a proper space, went to the Coop and settled down for the night.

From Crick it wasn’t far to Norton Junction, going down the Watford flight on the way, which would take us to the Buckby Flight and back onto familiar territory heading down to Weedon.  Jill, Alan and Ben joined us as we approached the junction, and once moored up, headed to the New Inn for a well-deserved pint.

Waiting in line for our turn to go down at Watford - the flight was busy and we waited 50 minutes for our turn, which is quite quick apparently!

Safely at the bottom of the Watford staircase

Monday we waited at Norton Junction for another boat going down.  It didn’t take long for two to come along together, but one was stopping for water, so we paired up with Chip and spend a pleasant couple of hours on the flight with them.  The flight was busy, so we had to wait for locks a few times, but the sun was out, shorts on and no hurry.  We bade goodbye to Chip at Whilton Marina as they stopped for lunch and we popped into the chandlery for some bits and pieces before continuing onto Weedon.  Which is where we’ll be for another few days as we need to get our solar panel looked at.  Our battery state of charge is just the same as it was before we got the solar fitted, so something isn’t quite right, as at this time of year, the panels should be keeping our batteries topped up, and they’re not.  Making use of the facilities, Mike is currently sanding back the shutters to let them dry out properly before I revarnish them…….. and I’m catching up on some admin, with periodical stops to feed the swans……  Looking forward to watching Wales tomorrow night!!!!!! C’MON!!!!!!!

Lots and lots of water on the bottom lock at Whilton

Last one with NB Chip (so called because she was built to look like a butty......)