Easter Cruise - Spring 2024 - Week 7

 Monday 8th April - Yelvertoft to Welford Junction

A lovely sunny morning and very little wind, such a difference from yesterday.  The view across the fields from our mooring, beautiful.  After filling up with water we decided to move the boat as far as the Welford Arm.

A field with some very new calves in, most staying close to their mothers, but some being more adventurous!  They were so tiny.

Loved the look of these, waterfront glamping for adults, the delightful wooden cabins have their own heated hot tub, what more could you ask for?

Passing under the A14, we used to use this road when we drove to Cambridge and Ely to visit family, such speed and noise compared to our very slow sedate pace.

This looked very pretty as we passed, all the new blossom beginning to emerge on the different trees, and all different colours, shame the photo didn't really do it justice.  We got to the aqueduct over the tiny River Avon and moored up for the day.  

Toby and I went for a walk across the fields and found our way down to the river which Toby was delighted with as he had a play in the water.

8.5 miles, 3hrs, 0 locks

Tuesday 9th April - Welford Junction 

Due to very high winds and driving rain we chose to stay on our mooring and watch the boats passing us struggle with the huge gusts of wind!

Wednesday 10th April - Welford Junction to Foxton Top Lock

A beautiful start to the morning, so we prepared the boat and made our way gently towards Foxton.

We passed north Kilworth Marina and then this is North Kilworth Wharf, it was like threading a needle through a very small eye, with boats moored on both sides of the canal.

The services at the Wharf were very easy to get to, again worth knowing, but we wondered why all the flags were flying at half mast?

We passed through Husbands Bosworth Tunnel and met 2 boats coming the other way, then out the other side we came through the prettiest of cuttings.  All the trees are just beginning to show their brightest of green foliage, standing out against the blue sky.

This is the picturesque Laughton Hills, sweeping down to the canal.  There are plenty of places to moor with easy access to the Kicklewell Spinney and the Hills, so we shall moor here on our way back.

We got to the moorings at the top of the Foxton Locks and moored up for the day, just in time as the rain started once again.  During a break in the rain we went for a walk down the locks and had a drink in the bar at Bridge 61.  The two sets of staircase locks were designed by Benjamin Bevin to take the canal down (or up) a total of 75 feet and comprise of two lots of 5 locks - these were built between 1810 and 1814. 

This is Richard who works for Canal and River Trust as fund raiser, he usually has a table set out with leaflets and information, but as it is either raining or windy, he has decided to be a mobile fund raiser.  

A photo of Ella taken from the other side of the canal heading down towards the now dismantled Inclined Plane.

Taken from the top of the inclined plane.  The incline was conceived in the late 19th Century to help the important East Midlands to London route (operated at that time by the Grand Junction Canal Company) to compete against the rapidly developing railways. They were steadily taking trade away from the canals and many were struggling to survive. The incline saved a tremendous amount of water and introduced the use of much larger craft. Passing a pair of boats through the lift took just a fraction of the time taken to pass the ten locks; unlike the locks it wouldn’t take any water from a summit level which wasn’t particularly well supplied. Despite this, traffic to the lift just didn’t materialise, and when this was combined with the cost of keeping a head of steam (just in case boats did appear) it became uneconomical.

The inclined plane counter-balanced boat lift had two massive tanks which could each hold two narrow boats or one up to 10 foot wide barge. Once parked inside the tanks the guillotine gates would be closed trapping a tank full of water. Then a huge winding drum powered by a 25hp steam engine reeled in the upward moving tank using a heavy steel cable whilst simultaneously letting out the cable which was attached to a descending tank.

Ella seen through the bridge on her mooring.

7.5 miles, 2hrs 42mins, 0 locks, 1 tunnel

Thursday 11th April - Foxton Top Lock to Market Harborough Union Wharf

A very lovely start to the day so moved on down the canal and put on water before beginning the descent of the Foxton Locks.  

Here is Ella waiting to go into the first of the staircase locks, it is so calm she sat quietly midstream whilst the lock was filling.

Sitting in the first lock, there was a volunteer, but he disappeared so we continued on our own.  There are already people watching, these locks are very popular with walkers and people generally visiting for the day, hope it all goes smoothly!

We have successfully come down the first staircase of five locks and are now starting the second staircase.  The paddles are painted red and white, you operate the red one first and then the white one.  

At the bottom of the locks we turned right to go down the Market Harborough Arm.  Dave went to open the swing bridge whilst I brought the boat round.  By this stage we had acquired quite a lot of people following our progress down the locks and it was lovely to see them wave us on our way.

We cruised gently into Union Wharf and turned the boat around and moored the boat on the first available mooring, very lucky.  We walked into Market Harborough and had a scout around to see what was available.  This was The Old Grammar School founded in 1607 by Robert Smyth, a native of the town who became Comptroller of the City of London's Chamber and member of the Merchant Taylors' Company. He left money for the education of poor children. However, The Old Grammar School was eventually home to fee-paying students, who were the sons of the city’s more wealthy inhabitants. In 1614 this schoolhouse was built, in accordance with Smyth's detailed instructions, on posts in the market place.  The building was used as a school until 1892. The building was designed on stilts to allow local farmers’ wives to use the covered area for their weekly butter market.

6 miles, 3hrs 12 mins, 10 locks, 2 swingbridges

Friday 12th April - Market Harborough 

We have decided to have a rest day in Market Harborough.  Dave went into the town and did a big shop and got a taxi back to the Wharf, so he didn't have to carry the shopping back up the hill.

In the afternoon we went for a walk back along the canal and then back beside the new homes building site.  Some lovely blossom coming out now in the enormous gardens coming down to the waters edge.

The building site on the outskirts of the town, apparently there are 6,000 new homes being built here, I wonder what effect it will have on the town?

Union Wharf where we turned the boat yesterday, the building at the end is an old warehouse now a pub.  The wharf was once a thriving distribution centre for coal, grain and wool.

Saturday 13th April - Market Harborough to Bridge 6 Foxton Stepbridge

A pleasant sunny start to the morning, so we filled up with water and began our way back along the arm towards Foxton.

We were following a day boat with a couple of families on it.  We stayed well back to give them plenty of space as they were letting various members of the group on and off the boat.  

This was Bowden Hall Bridge.  Great Bowden Hall lies the other side of the bridge. Early in the 19c The Britannia Inn was built to serve the canal navvies and waterway workers when the Grand Union canal was opened from Foxton to Market Harborough in 1809. In 1857, Great Bowden Hall was a development and an extension of  The Britannia Inn.

We moored up just past Brdige 6, Stepbridge and spent the afternoon walking into Foxton. 

This is the first of two swingbridges as you approach the junction.  Lots of walkers but no boats passing through. 

We walked up the locks and found two trading boats at the top.  Kat’s Crafty Craft boat where we bought a rolling pin and a new small teapot, upcycled and painted in canal artwork.  At Daisy’s Bakin’ Butty we got some cake and jelly beans!

We called in to Bridge 61 pub for a drink in the garden before walking back along the canal to the boat.

4.5 miles, 2hrs, 0 locks

Sunday 14th April - Foxton Stepbridge No 6 to Bridge 79, High Bridge

An exciting day, we are going to do a stretch of canal we haven’t done before!   We are going along the Leicester Line towards Leicester for a short distance just to see what it is like.

We left our overnight mooring and headed back to Foxton Junction.  At the first swing bridge we came across another boat, nbPriceless, who let us through the bridge and we did the same for them at the next swing bridge.  We were delighted to hear that they were going in the same direction as us so would be keen to share the double locks with us.

Fields of very young lambs, this was just one of the photographs Dave took, we did see a lot of lambs!  All was going really well until we got to the first lock, where there were two boats.  One was a training boat, whose skipper had refused to share the lock with the other boat and told nbPriceless to go ahead of them and he would go down with us.  All good for the first lock, then he announced he wanted his trainees to do the next lock on their own so we had to go on alone.  Then he turned round and went back, and we had to descend the next 4 locks on our own.  Not a good advert for canal etiquette!

Approaching the next lock, waiting whilst Dave reset the lock for us to descend.

We eventually moored on a lovely open stretch of canal, looking across the fields towards Wistow Craft Centre and Wistow Church.  We went for a walk across the fields and found the  Great Glen railway station.  It was built by the Midland Railway in 1857 on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin.  Passengers services finished in 1951, while goods services continued until 1962, with it finally closing in 1964. The station houses remain and are occupied by a commercial business.

The first bluebells we have seen this year, just a small collection in a spinney beside the canal.

We then returned to the canal and took a footpath across fields to St Wistan’s Church, dating back to the 12th century.

A beautiful ornate organ, splendid painting on the pipes.  Electricity was connected to the church in 1980 so that the outworn bellows of the hand-pumped Victorian organ could be replaced by a fan. 

Running beside the church grounds is the young River Sence, it mainly flows through private land. However a good stretch, between Wistow Church and Newton Harcourt Manor grounds, has permissive access and is very popular with walkers.  If you follow the river downstream it flows through Englebert Humperdinks garden at Great Glen.

8 miles, 4hrs 54mins, 5 locks, 1 tunnel, 2 swingbridges

Easter Cruise - Spring 2024 Week 6

 Monday 1st April - Braunston

We have spent another day in Braunston.  There was some very heavy rain in the early hours of the morning and unfortunately the window has continued to leak despite the work we have already done on it.  So we have decided to enlist the services of an engineer who will remove the window, reseal it with special tape and replace the window.

We took a walk up to Braunston Marina hoping that they might be able to help, but they weren’t very hopeful as they were well booked up.  We did find nbRaymond moored in the arm with lots of information on the side of the boat.

She certainly looked a very sorry state in1997 and all credit must go to the volunteers who work tirelessly to restore and maintain her as she is today.

The boat she is now paired with, nbNutfield, is currently in dry dock having some work done.  We stopped at the Gongoozler’s Rest Cafe and had a late breakfast, a delicious bacon sandwich, and discussed our options for sorting out the window.  We have decided to go with an engineer who will come out to the boat and repair the window for us.  That way we can continue cruising at our very gentle pace.  

Dave took this from the back of the boat, two boats, neither giving way and squeezing under the bridge at the same time, don’t think I would be happy to do that!  

Tuesday 2nd April - Braunston

Today we decided to move on and went as far as the water point to fill up with water.  The tap was extremely slow and having waited ages for the boat ahead of us to finish it then took ages for our tank to fill. 

The sign states that you can only moor for 30mins to fill up with water!

In the meantime I went and bought Toby a new dog lead and just happened to call into the office to see if there was any chance they could do our window sooner than next Monday.  I was amazed to hear that they could do it tomorrow, so we moved up to just beyond the marina and moored again for the night.

Dave went for a walk around the village with Toby whilst I cleaned through the boat.  These are some of the iconic buildings in the village and by the canal.

Andy came to see the window in the afternoon and said we could have a space in the wet dock tomorrow morning and he would call round at 8.30 to let us know whether we had to go in backwards or forwards.

0.5 miles, 7mins, 0 locks.

Wednesday 3rd April - Braunston 

An early start today as we are moving the boat into the wet dock to have the window fixed.

Andy arrived at 8.30 and said he had cleared a space in the wet dock and we needed to reverse the boat down the arm into place.  Here is Ella moored waiting to have the window taken out, repaired and then replaced.

This is the Tradline shop where we have bought our new tri-coloured ropes from, a lovely shop with everything you could possibly want to do with ropes and fenders.

Here is the window space, the window has gone to have new sealant tape attached and left to adhere securely.  Once the window had been successfully replaced we were able to take the boat back out onto the cut and moor up again just past the Marina Arm.  

Toby and I went for a walk and I found many of these catkins which had been knocked off the trees because of the heavy rain and strong winds.  These are Aspen catkins the male trees produce silky brown catkins before the leaves appear and green catkins develop on female trees. Once fertilised by the wind-blown pollen, they turn into fluffy white seeds which are released in late April and May.

Thursday 4th April - Braunston to Norton Junction

Made an early start this morning and were lucky enough to buddy up with another boat to go through the wide locks.  We were also lucky to have the help of two Volunteer Lock Keepers.

Nicola and Mark prepared the lock ahead of us so we went up very smoothly indeed.  Mark is a trainee and is working under the supervision of Nicola.  Many thanks to them both for all their help.

It did become very busy with boats behind us and many boats coming towards us, but it all went very smoothly.  We then went through the Braunston Tunnel, met one other boat coming towards us but all very straight forward.  

We moored just before Norton Junction, looking out across open fields.  The footpaths here are still very muddy, so we had to put Toby into his fluorescent onesie!

Toby and I walked down along the Grand Union to the next set of locks and found this rather sad looking wooden hull boat sunk on a visitor mooring.  The locks were busy with boats waiting to come up and boats going down.  We are not going this way, but instead we shall turn left at Norton Junction and head towards Leicester on the Leicester Line.

4.5 miles, 2hr 30mins, 6 locks, 1 tunnel

Friday 5th April - Norton Junction to Crick Wharf

A lovely sunny day, so we decided to move the boat to Crick.  We knew the wind was going to get up again in the afternoon so we made a reasonably early start.  At Norton Junction we turned left onto the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal.

This is one of many marinas on this stretch of the canal.  We took this photo to remind us that access to water, diesel and waste disposal is very easy here.  Very important in windy conditions!

We got to the bottom of the Watford Locks and we had to wait until we had informed the lock keepers that we wanted to go up the flight of locks.  There are 7 locks altogether, 2 on their own, a staircase of 4 and a single at the top.  Dave was told that we could go up the first 2 locks and then wait whilst they were seeing a boat down through the staircase.

This is the boat coming down the staircase.  The locks were built to carry narrowboats, and the system was opened in 1814. The locks are hemmed in by the Roman Watling Street (now the A5 road), the M1 motorway, and the West Coast Main Line railway, which all fit through the narrow Watford Gap, between two hill systems. 

Looking back down the staircase locks, it is quite exposed and extremely windy as we ascended the locks.  Once we were out the top we pulled over to top up with water and dispose of any rubbish.  By the time we set off again, the wind was quite vicious and we decided to get as far as Crick and pull over in a sheltered spot.

Passage through Crick Tunnel was easy with no boats coming towards us and once out we found a spot where it wasn’t too muddy and pulled over for the night.  Unfortunately, it was in a cutting which meant that our WiFi signal was non-existent, so a quiet evening listening to music and playing games.

5 miles, 3hr 36mins, 7 locks, 1 tunnel

Saturday 6th April - Crick Wharf to Skew Bridge, Yelvertoft 

A lovely start to the day so we set off for a short cruise to Yelvertoft.  We had a bad night with Toby, he didn't settle at all and spent most of the night padding around the boat and softly whimpering.  Twice we took him out, 3am and 5am, thinking he may need the toilet but to no avail.  We think he was spooked by something in the cutting, so another good reason to move on!

This is Crick Hill which we remember climbing last time we were moored here.  We haven’t attempted it this time as it is still so muddy everywhere.

A detour around this heavily ladened tree which is about to collapse into the canal.  With all the strong winds and heavy rain there will be a number of trees down around the network. 

We got to Skew Bridge and moored soon after and just before the water point. The wind began to get a lot stronger and we decided to call it a day and stay put for the rest of the day.

We went for a walk up into Yelvertoft and found the local church, all the notices advertised that the church was open and welcomed visitors but I was really disappointed to find that it was locked!  We also went to Squ!sito, a butcher and deli, and bought a homemade aubergine parmigiana for our supper.  We also gave him a short list of essentials he could pick up from Waitrose for us and we can go back tomorrow to collect them.  Very handy service.

2.25 miles, 1hr 6min, 0 locks

Sunday 7th April - Yelvertoft

We decided to stay another day here as the wind is even stronger than yesterday and we really don’t fancy cruising in it.

Early morning across the open fields just up from our mooring, happy to report Toby was absolutely fine last night and slept like a log all through the night!

We went for a walk back along the canal to Bridge 17 and picked up a Bridleway that took us back into Yelvertoft.  Toby way ahead of us, looking back as if to say ‘What’s keeping you?’

As we approached this tree it suddenly dropped down onto the towpath in front of us, a large gust of wind brought it down in front of our eyes!

The straight bridleway all the way into Yelvertoft, again Toby way ahead waiting patiently for us to catch up.  We really enjoyed this walk as there was very little mud under foot, made a huge difference.

A lovely village sign featuring the church and a boat coming under Skew Bridge.

Alex from Squ!sito, with our shopping from Waitrose, a delightful service very much appreciated.  Well worth a visit if you are ever down this way.