Monday 8^th October 2018

We finally got to explore Market Harborough. It is a really nice place, with a nice feel to it. A large town centre with lots of shops ranging from the more well-known chains, to boutiquey, chic shops. Plenty of restaurants and pubs too. In fact a lot of pubs. The buildings range from medieval to modern, but seemed to be mainly Georgian.

The church, St.Dionysius’, was a fine building and very unusual with the type and colour of stone. The earliest parts of the church date from the 13th century, with most features dating from 14th and 15th centuries. Part of the tower was destroyed in a storm in 1735 and the replacement was several feet shorter, the present tower stands at 154 feet and dominates the town still. The interior was also unusual with side galleries above the main floor.

Next to the church was a grammar school dating from 1614, and used for that purpose until 1892. It stands on wooden stilts and the town market used to be held under it.

        

   

                                                 St.Dionysius Church, Market Harborough

    

                                                       The Old Grammar School, Symington’s Corset Factory behind                    

                                                                                 Symington’s Corset Factory

      

                  

                                                                       Town Square, Market Harborough                                          

                                                                            Street scene, Market Harborough

There is an old factory right in the centre of the town, in an iconic building. This now houses shops and the town museum but was Symington’s Corset factory in the 19^th century.

Market Harborough has quite a bit of history attached to it. On 13^th June 1645 during the English Civil Wars, Royalist forces were encamped in the town after pillaging their way across Leicestershire. The next night, after a decisive Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Naseby, the Parliamentarians were camped in the town with the Royalist survivors held prisoner in the church.

Thomas Cook, was a wood turner and cabinet maker in Market Harborough. He organised the first group travel by rail from Leicester to London in 1841, and went onto found the travel agency that still bears his name.

In 1950 the canal basin was the venue for a week long National Festival of Boats, the first such festival organised by the Inland Waterways Association and marked the beginning of the revival of the canal network for leisure use.

We returned to the boat and left at 11:30. Most of the housing along the canal have huge gardens stretching to the water’s edge. There is a massive construction site on the outskirts of the town. It looks as though a new town is being built with a new road bridge over the canal.

The run to Foxton is very rural so it comes as a bit of a shock when a big works is encountered at Gallow Hill. This used to be the home of a bone mill that was incorporated into British Glues and Chemicals.

We had a bit of a drama just past these works. We had entered a narrow cutting, were half way along it, when another boat appeared around the corner ahead of us. The guy’s wife was actually standing on the bank but made no attempt to stop him proceeding. We had to reverse about 100 yards to let him pass. I’m far too considerate.

At Foxton Swing Bridge, we just missed the bridge being open, a boat travelling in the opposite direction had just closed it. We moored up so we could both open the bridge, but it turned out to be a lot easier to operate than when we last came through.

                                              Foxton Swing Bridge with Brenda showing her stuff

We moored on the last of the 48 hour moorings before the junction and went for a walk to Foxton village itself. I don’t suppose there would be many boaters’ visit the village itself. The village is a delightful place, many old buildings. There are two pubs marked on our guide, one we couldn’t find and the other is being refurbished and was not open.

We walked up to Foxton locks and ate in the Foxton Locks Inn. Good fun there watching the boats negotiating the junction. A film crew came down the locks filming for an episode of “Antique Road Trip” to be screened next year. The cast looked so out of place on a canal boat and were proper stuck up, announcing themselves as “TV stars” when asked what the filming was for.

We stopped for a drink in the Bridge 61 pub on the way back. A very small place full of character. Here we met a really nice couple, Phil and Michelle, off a Black Prince hire boat. They hire 3 or 4 times a year.  

Day Total: 0 locks; 5 miles; 1 Tunnels; 1 Swing Bridge; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 1.9

Overall Total: 255 locks; 440miles; 16 tunnels; 2 Swing Bridge; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 271.3