nb Bridge Street

Sunday 30 th September 2018 After a nice cooked breakfast we walked up into the town. It had been decided that Chris and Donna could not come all the way to Leicester and not see Richard III’s tomb. A Sunday service was just finishing when we got to the cathedral but we were able to go in, there had been a lot of people at the service. After another walk around we had a coffee before returning to the boat. Chris and Donna then left at about 2pm. As always when visitors leave us, we felt a bit flat. It was nice to have them. We then spent the afternoon with Game of Thrones. We have now finished series 4. Weather: light patchy rain in the morning. Dull afternoon. Much cooler today.

Saturday 29 th September 2018 The boat and windows were cleaned while waiting for Chris and Donna to arrive. They turned up at 1pm and we all promptly set off for the town. We planned a cook-in meal tonight so we headed straight for the market. Tremendous choice and very cheap too. We bought mango, avocado, chillies and a moulli, kind of a long, white, mild radish. Scallops, prawns, black pudding and trout.                                                                                                                  Leicester Market After a walk around the town we settled a...

Friday 28 th September 2018 We timed our departure so as to arrive at Friars Mill in the centre of Leicester between 11 and 12 o’clock, when any boats that were going to leave would have left, but before any boats would normally arrive. The cruise was only two hours, arriving at 11:15, but a cruise of great contrasts. The first mile was narrow, twisting, very rural and seemingly isolated. There were a number of multi-arched bridges under which it was not obvious which arch to take. At Belgrave Lock the surroundings began to change. Beside the lock is a massive weir and in the distance, a building not dissimilar to the Gherkin in London. It looked to be a giant inflatable building, but apparently it houses the National Space Centre. The area then became very urban, not all of it nice. On one side were old mills in the process of being transformed into apartments, on the other, the backs of terraced housing. Quit...

Thursday 27 th September 2018 We had kippers for breakfast. Kippers, poached egg and toast. After breakfast I walked up into town, Mountsorrel, for a quick look although there wasn’t a great deal here. The Buttercross and Market Cross though, were very old. It was promising to be a hot day today and so it proved. We left the mooring in glorious sunshine, the river, very clear and very picturesque, meandering its way beneath the A6 to Sileby Lock. Here we picked up another boat, always nice to get a companion on these double locks, so long as they prove their worth and do their share of the work. So many don’t and leave you to do all the work. The river meandered its way to Cossington Lock, very rural, beautiful. We watched four buzzards hunting above us, noisy with their squaking. Half way to Cossington, there is a bend in the river that the navigation by-passes, forming an island. The island has just one house on it and has become their smallholding, quite enviable. ...

Wednesday 26 th September 2018 We had planned to spend a second night in Loughborough Wharf. There was a lot we had planned. I wanted a visit to B&Qs for plywood to make another porthole bung and a side board for the bed, and we wanted to travel on the preserved Great Central Railway. However, something just said to move on, a maximum stay in the wharf was only supposed to be 24 hours anyway. A shame really, one of the boats at the wharf was a Braidbar belonging to John and Martina, who we had met in Middlewich about 3 years ago and we would have liked to have spoken more to them. We should have taken on water before leaving the wharf but the water point meant climbing up a 6-foot ladder. The side frames of the ladder consisted of metal bar that stuck out and would have ruined the sides of the boat. There was another water point just beyond the junction so it was decided to wait. As it turned out this, and the next water point, had fallen out of use. We left the wh...

Tuesday 25 th September 2018 The mist again, was floating above the water this morning. It is always a lovely sight. Setting off, we passed Zouch village, for all there is, and, once under the road bridge, there followed a pair of flood lock gates and then a massive weir that seemed to go on forever and a huge rotary sluice gate. The river then opened out very wide and scenic, meandering through spectacular scenery. There were many wooden chalet types homes, all mounted on stilts. Then, around a bend, appears the village of Normanton-on-Soar. Gorgeous, expensive houses, all with very long gardens that slope down to the river. This stretch, quite easily, could have been anywhere on an expensive part of the Thames.                                          ...

Monday 24 th September 2018 Well we are finally on the River Soar. The dog was walked before 7am this morning. A lovely morning. Cold, but the sun just rising and mist on the river. We had a busy hour or so preparing, watered up, rubbish dumped and toilet emptied. Then it was in to Sawley Lock. On leaving the lock, the river level marker had dropped considerably since yesterday morning, about 6”. It is about 50 yards after the lock that the river section rejoins. As soon as it did the boat sped up significantly, she fairly surged forward and it took quite a while to get the buffeting and steering under control. Even with the engine just ticking over we were at Trent Lock and the confluence of the River Trent and Soar in no time at all. Thrumpton Weir, up close is enormous and you can feel its power. It was quite difficult to find the mouth of the Soar. The confluence is a massive body of water, the sun was low down and directly in our eyes and, as it turned out, the S...

Sunday 23 rd September 2018 We had been planning to start our run up the River Soar towards Leicester today. However, taking the dog out for his walk this morning down to Sawley Lock, the marker board for the river is almost in amber and there is a very strong flow on the river itself, so we reluctantly decided to stay put for the day. The river sections have marker boards that have green, amber and red sections, showing the level in the river and hence the flow. Green show it is safe to proceed, amber proceed with caution and red is unsafe to proceed. Dave, the proprietor of the Lockkeepers Rest micropub and ex-lockkeeper, had said that the River Soar was a cheeky river that, with it being narrow in places, was susceptible to flooding, but the level drops as quickly as it rises. So, treating any river with respect, we decided to err on the side of caution and have a rest day. We both seem to think anyway that, being in a marina grinds you down, and you need a rest day...