Foxton and Market Harborough again

Terrible recent stormy weather changed our more adventurous plans so we aimed to go out for 3-4 days in a window of sunny opportunity. And so, in warm sunshine, though amidst chilly winds and cool mornings, we set out from Welford for Market Harborough.
We are quickly down the Foxton locks in an admirable 40 minutes, mooring at the bottom and eating in the evening at Foxton Locks Inn.

Next day we are up promptly and off to Market Harborough in bright sunshine, though it's still chilly.  We note the pedestrian swing bridge is still broken, push aside the swing road bridge and continue down the Market Harborough Arm. The trees are turning to autumn gold, the canal is full of substantial branches brought down by the strong winds and spying floating logs ahead makes me think of spotting crocodiles in the Zambezi River (there are more hippos than crocs on the Zambezi: Ed).
One of the timbers attaches itself to us but John bravely fights it off with our boat hook and we are saved. Nevertheless the canal is awash with green shade and sparkling sunlight: ideal idle boating.
After an uneventful stroll through Market Harborough (see recent references in our blog here and here) we head back and moor up at Black Horse Bridge, anticipating a pleasant meal at the Black Horse Inn. Frustratingly there is a large sign proclaiming NO FOOD TONIGHT so we trot back down the hill, and in gathering gloom we move our moorings nearer to Foxton Locks basin and return to Foxton Locks Inn for a second night.

On the third day, with no time for reflection, we climb once more up the scarred and leaking locks of the Foxton flight (yes it's two staircases of 5 locks each but it's convenient to call the whole lot a flight.)
The homeward stretch is very pleasant, pausing for advice at the old North Kilworth boatyard.
We note also that the new marina at Kilworth is now open for mooring and not overly expensive for annual mooring, compared with Welford, if you don't take the £600 Services package. However do note that if you don't want electricity, laundry etc but you do want water, it seems you'll have to buy into the package - an expensive way to buy water.
Happily home at Welford (and with free water ...) we take the opportunity to wash and polish dear Patience, leaving her burnished and shining - at least on the port side. Next week, weather permitting, we may polish her starboard.

Foxton Locks looking down

Foxton Locks looking up

To Market Harborough

The previous post recorded a trip from Welford through Foxton Locks towards Market Harborough, which was then aborted due to a tree across the canal. We repeated this trip and succeeded in reaching Market Harborough this time.
The weather throughout was a perfect balanced of a slight breeze, sunshine and warmth which highlighted the peace and beauty of both the Leicester line and the Market Harborough arm. For us this offers us a restful passage through overhanging greenery punctuated by a tunnel at Husband's Bosworth, the impressive locks at Foxton and the interest of two swing bridges with a final destination in the attractive market town of Market Harborough. It's just two hours from Foxton to Market Harborough, offering a pleasant day out from Foxton.

Market Harborough arm

We recommend the museum and library here, situated in The Symington Building, the old corset factory. We also remember that pioneer of the canal revival, LTC Rolt visited the town in "Cressy" (see chapter 12 of Narrow Boat), and later, with Robert Aikman, proposed the first boat rally at the town, in 1950.
We moored at the beginning of the Market Harborough Arm, which is off the Leicester Line of the Grand Union, with the choice of refreshment from Bridge 61 traditional pub, Foxton Locks busy restaurant and - our preference - The Black Horse at Foxton. We note there is also a steak house at Foxton but we opted for The Black Horse which is just right for us with a range of beers and excellent pub grub, plus wi-fi.

The bottom lock at Foxton

It was a relaxing trip with the exception of one pushy boat who forced his way in front of us and sped ahead at a rate we had neither desire nor ability to compete with. "It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive" and "Boating is the fastest way to slow down" are firmly in our minds.

Welford to Foxton again

For Patience, moored at Welford, the trip to Foxton Locks is a convenient overnight, and could be done in a day. This time we planned to visit Market Harborough which we last visited two years ago.
All started well, though the weather was a bit variable with much putting on and taking off of jumpers and waterproof jackets. Nevertheless we reached Foxton in good time (less than 4 hours) with only a slight collision between our aft rail and the brickwork of the Husband's Bosworth tunnel to spoil the journey. Having swept away the brick dust and found the rail grazed but not injured, we felt inspired to descend the staircase at Foxton, which can take anything between 40 minutes and several hours, depending on traffic. We feared a long queue of boats returning from the Crick event but it was no worse than usual.
We moored conveniently in the basin and celebrated with a beer and a meal at the Foxton Locks restaurant. Very busy here in the warm evening sunshine.
In the morning we headed down the Market Harborough arm, hoping to visit their museum, but unfortunately a fallen tree had blocked the canal - conveniently close to a winding hole for us but inconvenient for those hoping to leave Market Harborough.

With no way of knowing how long the waterway would be blocked we turned and retreated towards Foxton. With noise from Foxton Locks Inn echoing in the distance we decided to try The Black Horse at Foxton - and that was a good choice. It was quiet, an attractive pub and grounds, with good beer and very good value lunch. The church is worth a look too. We ambled back to Patience, moored just 100 metres away, and found that the tree was now cleared.
However we were now facing the wrong way for Market Harborough so we continued back to Foxton where we used the convenient water point to wash the roof.
Now we decided we couldn't be bothered to head to Market Harborough once more so we joined the queue for the locks. Three hours later we emerged at the top lock after more than an hour queuing at the bottom plus an hour or more moored in the centre pound while descending boats passed us by (or nearly collided - Horatio that was close!).

Wooden butty Raymond man-hauled through Foxton locks

Working boat ‘Nutfield’ passing Patience in the centre pound at Foxton

One plus from this was that we saw the wooden butty Raymond which was laboriously man-hauled through the locks by the volunteer lock keepers. Raymond was the last wooden narrow boat built for carrying in Britain, launched at Braunston in June 1958.

Reaching the top at 7pm, well after the lock keepers' bed times, (we salute you, hard working men!) we moored up near the sculpture of the boy and the horse then walked back to The Black Horse in Foxton. After a close shave with a fast moving black Audi we decided the towpath route was preferable to the country road ....  Nevertheless we had a very good meal and good beer and were able once more to stagger back to our moorings above the locks.
Next day we set off early to return to Welford, a very pleasant trip through dappled shade, with delightful views of the Laughton Hills.  So dreamy that I nearly missed our turning to Welford! We were further surprised to find another Patience just leaving Welford. There are 56  entries for Patience according to The Boat Index so the name is more common than we thought, but we've only seen three other boats called Patience in our seven years of boating.
Final painting of the fore deck and the roof and another excellent value meal at The Wharf in Welford. It felt like more than three days - but in a good way.

Day Trip to Foxton

It's been a busy summer but there's a nip in the air, there are logs on the stove and we decided on a two day trip to Foxton Locks as a farewell to the 2016 boating season. Together with our wives we set off for Welford amid some heavy showers and set off up the arm under cloud and in rain. Not a promising start.
We moored up at the junction for our picnic lunch, contemplating whether to go back or go on. Fortunately the weather cleared and the canal opened up to the usual splendid views across fields and plains and the Laughton hills before the approach to Foxton Locks. I plan to stroll the Laughton Hills at some point, with convenient moorings just south of Foxton, but that will have to wait for another day.
This was a relaxed and uneventful trip to Foxton, mooring near the turning junction above the top lock and an evening stroll to the popular Foxton Locks Inn, always wary of the water surrounding us in the dark.

Next morning dawned bright and clear but, wary of the weather forecast of afternoon rain we headed back to Welford for another picnic lunch (and a few minutes of painting) before reaching home by mid afternoon.
Soon we'll need to do some winterising, patch painting, rust treatment and general maintenance before it gets too cold to work comfortably. Then Patience will be tucked up for the winter. 

The Leicester Arm - Welford to Foxton

Welford is on a short arm off the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union. We've often been up to Foxton Locks (see previous blogs) as it's just a three hour trip to the top lock with good moorings, interesting museum, attractive scene and the only lock is that at the end of the Welford Arm.
This time we thought we'd go further north and maybe venture into Leicester itself. However there are negative comments about the canals around Leicester, suggesting yobbish behaviour, broken windows, damaged locks - none of which we have any proof for, but tended to put us off. The general opinion was that Kilby Bridge was a useful and safe place to stay and by mooring there for two nights we could avoid the suburbs and more locks, while having easy access by bus to Leicester.
And so it proved. Foxton Locks was unfortunately busy with boats heading for the Crick Festival so we were queued at the summit, then again in the central pond while eight boats went up. It took just short of three hours to get to the bottom - including a challenging couple of minutes while Duncan conducted a complete circle in the central pond, whisked around by undercurrents. Or so he said.

Memo to users of Foxton Locks: the ten locks are deep but the paddles are easy to wind and the gates well balanced so the two flights are less exhausting than they first appear. However the locks are fed by side ponds which recycle the water and while economical on water use there is a danger for spectators (and there are always spectators at Foxton) of falling in (it has happened ...) and the inrush of water causes treacherous currents which can drive a boat in odd directions in the pound.

Anyway, we eventually moored just north of bridge 62 (see above) and enjoyed first a thirst-quenching pint at Bridge 61 then a pleasant meal at the Foxton Locks Inn. Tomorrow we would be in unfamiliar territory as we aimed to pass through 12 locks and a tunnel from Foxton to Kilby Bridge.

Hail Welford!

We cut short our planned expedition because of unpredictable weather and so fortunately missed very heavy rain on Monday. However no sooner had we boarded Patience in Welford than we were hit by sack loads of hail!

 

Yes that's hail, not broken glass ....

 

When we finally left the marina John spotted that the water temperature was shooting up and sure enough, after a bit of a panic about possible perforated hoses and dodgy alternators, we realised there was simply not enough water in the radiator. Why we're not sure, (never happened before or since) but by simply topping it up (with nearly a gallon) we were able to go on without a problem.

And so we enjoyed most of the trip up to Foxton (when not caught in heavy showers) and were able to relax into a fine sunny evening and a good meal at the Foxton Locks Inn.

We moored above the lock staircases and close to the delightful statue of the boy leading a horse along the tow path.

Foxton to Market Harborough and a bit of the Leicester Arm

Clearing Foxton Locks we turned sharp right into the Market Harborough Arm, having opened the little swing bridge first. As the Foxton Locks are so deep and a staircase, and there are two swing bridges on the Market Harborough Arm, this is not easy territory for single handed boating.

In fact the second swing bridge, Bridge 4, shown here, would seem impossible to use single handedly. You must moor on the left going up, walk across the bridge to the other side, insert your key in the mechanism, go off to close road barriers at both ends, return to the mechanism, release a brake and push with considerable effort so the road swings at 90 degrees. At this point solo boaters would find there was no way to get back to their boat (even assuming they'd separated their engine key from the waterways key used for the bridge mechanism).
Fortunately John and I were able to slip easily across and leave the bridge behind us.

Much of the Market Harborough Arm is in quiet tree-lined countryside with a few views through the trees. That changes from Bridge 13, notable for what seems to be a travellers' site of mobile homes and wrought iron gates. The number on the bridge is actually pockmarked with pellets, which is not promising, and an adjacent house is for sale. Here the canal edges are poorly defined until we are clearly on the outskirts of the town and bungalows with well cut hedges and lawns slope down to the water.

Soon enough there are good moorings and there is the Basin beautifully defined with an old warehouse converted to an up-market restaurant - The Waterfront restaurant here is partnered to The Old Boathouse  at Foxton Locks - some modern flats, architecturally in keeping with the site, and narrow boats moored neatly alongside pontoons. There are fuel and pump-out services. This is where the first Inland Waterways Association Festival was held, by Aickman and Rolt in 1950.
The town centre is just 15 minutes away, with a diverse range of shops and a purposeful atmosphere. Having been impressed by Symington's Corset Factory, home of the liberty bodice and now a museum, we pause for a quiet pint at The Angel and head back to Foxton to moor up by the swing bridge and have another evening meal at The Old Boathouse.

Morning Mist at Foxton Locks

Next day we venture a little up the Leicester Arm, which is the third arm at Foxton junction, as far as the winding hole near Bridge 72, and the Smeeton aqueduct, a little before Saddington Tunnel. From several sources we hear that vandalism in Leicester and immediate surrounds make mooring a dangerous pursuit, as local lads compete to throw stones and smash windows of boats. We did see some broken boat windows near Market Harborough and wondered why there were wooden shutters over some of the windows. We are assured it is safe as far as Kilby Bridge, but north of that Leicester is best passed through without delay.
Here is the view back at Foxton, seen from the end of the Leicester Arm. The Boathouse restaurant is directly ahead, the Bridge 61 café / pub is immediately to the right after the bridge and mooring places for those queuing for the locks are directly to the left and right after the bridge. You must report to the lock keeper before entering the locks so moor up immediately after the bridge where you can.

Our return to Welford pausing at Husband's Bosworth and North Kilworth is noted in the previous blog.