Sun 10th
Apr Yelvertoft
Sunset previous evening
We had a
beautiful sunset last night, and whilst out taking the photo, two little owls
flew past and disappeared. We guessed
they had gone into a hollow tree on the other side of the canal.
This
morning we walked into the village and visited the shop, which was fairly basic,
and the butchers, which was very good. They are open from Wednesday to Sunday, but
closed on Monday and Tuesday. We
continued to the Congregational Church next door for the service at 1045.
Congregational Church
We had a
good welcome from Jim and Jan, yesterday’s visitors on Gabriel. Jim led the service, and the talk was based on Nehemiah
and illustrated that we can still have hope, despite suffering setbacks. Jean,
in her late eighties, led the worship on a keyboard. Barry, the minister, arrived late after
leading a service in the local prison.
Jim
announced the plans to organise an evening folk concert in October, plus a
canal-based service the next day.
Further discussions took place over coffee after the service. It was good to see such a small congregation
wanting to reach out with the gospel to others in the area.
After the service at Yelvertoft
Congregational Church
Chat over coffee
L-R Hazel, Barry, Jim, Jan, Jean
We went
for a pub lunch at the Knightley Arms, which had a very basic menu. Somehow it
felt that they were doing us a favour by accepting our custom.
When we
arrived back at the boat, Large Marge
and Maggie May had departed.
The wind
increased, and Hugo rushed in a few times because he doesn’t like the noise, or
the wind in his fur.
After we
went to bed we heard some strange noises a bit like a cat. We had also heard
them last night, but we thought it was the tropical bird they have on Large Marge. Tonight Large
Marge was no longer there, so it had to be something else. We concluded that
it was the little owls. The bird book
backed up this theory.
No boating
today
Mon 11th
Apr Yelvertoft to Welford Junction
The owl tree
We left
Yelvertoft today and went past the owl tree. We paused to fill up with water,
and had a loud drive belt whine as went into reverse. James went down into the
engine bay to see if he could identify which belt it was, but they all seemed
well tensioned. The noise diminished later as the belts warmed up. Lots of boats were coming towards us. Not
many were going our way. At one point we overtook the red boat with a German shepherd
dog on board. We first saw him at Watford Locks.
We had
some good wildlife sightings, with an excellent view of a chiff chaff, which is
a small warbler, usually difficult to see. We also saw a tree creeper, a partridge
and some reed buntings. We noticed the
rape was now coming out, making a strong scent in the air.
Rape field
Apart from
a brief encounter with the A14 rushing overhead, we were entirely in rural
Leicestershire, with fields and spinneys and the occasional farm.
Under the A14
We moored
by bridge 39, where we were fortunate enough to spot a golden oriole in 2011.
The wind was still quite strong, and we were sheltered here by a hedge,
although it restricted our views.
The weather
forecast for Friday has changed, and instead of being pleasant, it looks as
though it will too wet for boating. We
therefore planned to travel a bit further in the fine weather tomorrow.
We thought
we heard a tawny owl in the night.
Our mooring near Bridge 39
0 locks, 7
miles, 1 tunnel
Tue 12th
Apr Welford Junction to Smeeton Aqueduct
In the
morning we spotted an owl box on a pole the other side of the field, so last
night’s tawny owl was probably from there.
We set off past some excellent moorings with wide towpaths, and at
Welford Junction we turned left on the main line instead of diverting to
Welford.
Wide towpaths near Welford Junction
Welford Junction
Welford Junction signpost
We passed
a boatyard at North Kilworth, and considered calling in to find someone to look
at our belts, but there was no obvious visitor pontoon, and it all looked very
quiet. The next significant landmark was
Husbands Bosworth Tunnel. This was
nothing like as wet as Blisworth – just a few drips.
Approach to Husbands Bosworth Tunnel
Husbands Bosworth Tunnel.
Emerging from the tunnel
We saw a
green woodpecker, and then were excited to see our first swallows of the season.
There were about six of them, circling and wheeling above us. We passed the picturesque Laughton Hills
before reaching Foxton Locks.
Laughton Hills
At the
locks Hazel reported to the lock keeper, and discovered that there were three
boats ascending the lock flight, and we could go down after the second one had
arrived at the top, and we would cross over with the third at the halfway
point. We went to the cafe and had a
sausage roll and a sandwich between us. When it was our turn, there seemed to
be about four volunteers helping at different times.
Foxton Locks
Entering top lock
Crossover halfway down
When we
emerged from the bottom lock, we turned right and tied to the swingbridge
bollards in order to empty three cassettes.
The sign said the bollards were for swingbridge use only. Well James was
using the swingbridge as he had to walk across it to get to the elsan
point! Meanwhile, a hire boat appeared
from the direction of Market Harborough, i.e. their first day. James opened the swingbridge for them so they
didn’t have to tie to the bollards. They
went onto the water point and made a complicated job of a simple task, with
four people standing on the gunwale on one side, so the boat tipped alarmingly.
We turned
round and set off for a further two miles, mooring at Smeeton Aqueduct.
Moored at Smeeton Aqueduct
15 miles to Leicester
Ship’s cat enjoying the sunshine
Blackthorn
Reflected sky
Concrete
aqueducts are not easy to moor to, except this one has steel rods built in to
the concrete, which can take a rope or chains.
What they are actually for we are not sure, but they work well as mooring
points.
Mooring points in the concrete
We arrived
at about 2pm and no boats passed for the rest of the day. We couldn’t hear
traffic or trains. It was very peaceful.
We had noticed some badger setts across the canal and there was a
footpath crossing the last bridge just a few yards further back. James went to find a good place to watch
badgers, but discovered that he couldn’t get from the canal towpath to the
public footpath on the bridge overhead.
The farmer had gone to a lot of trouble putting up barriers and barbed
wire to prevent people getting from one path to the other. If he had put in a stile or gate it would
save him a lot of trouble.
There was
nowhere on the canal side from where we could have a good view of the badgers
if they emerged, so we abandoned that idea. The blackthorn is coming out more
and more in the sunshine, and Hugo was happy with the area, which was full of
rabbits.
10 locks,
11 miles
Wed 13th
Apr Smeeton Aqueduct to Kilby
A
beautiful morning greeted us as we prepared to leave. Still no boats had passed us since we had
arrived yesterday afternoon. Just around
the corner was Saddington Tunnel, which was mostly dry. There are bat boxes in the tunnel, so
presumably all the bats are in the boxes, which is why we don’t see them.
Sunny day at Smeeton Aqueduct
Saddington Tunnel
Sunshine again
Soon after
the tunnel, we paused to hang out the washing go shopping at the Co-op in
Fleckney.
We managed
to get a weather forecast, which showed Friday as being very wet. Thursday was also shown as damp. We decided
to go further while the sun shines, rather than do locks in the rain.
As we were
having an early lunch, Caspar went
past. We have been playing leapfrog with Caspar
for the last two or three days.
When we
set off, we came to Kibworth Top Lock, which was of course empty and needed to
be filled. There was a man from the lock cottage there who was trying to be
helpful, and telling us what to do. He said we needed to use the left gate as
we left, as we would never get the right gate open. We planned to do as he said, but when the
lock finally emptied, the right gate swung open by itself!
A boat
coming the other way said that there were two boats going down in front of
us. Caspar
was one, and the other had waited half an hour for a boat to share with.
When we
reached Wistow, which had been our planned stop before we saw the weather
forecast, we found Caspar and the
other boat moored up, so we carried on past.
At Newton
Top Lock and Spinney Lock, we found a CRT maintenance crew, clearing
vegetation, and checking the paddle gear. It was good to see some regular
maintenance being done, instead of just crisis repairs.
Top Half Mile Lock 25
There was
a team of contractors at Bottom Half Mile Lock, working on some posts and a willow
barrier on the field opposite the towpath.
Their work boat shared the next three locks with us, until we reached
our planned mooring between Tythorn and Bumblebee Locks.
Sharing with work boat – Turnover Lock
27
Moored below Tythorn Lock 28
We put out the rest of the washing. Hugo was very
happy, rolling on the grass in the sun, and scampering around. Caspar
and the other boat went past.
11 locks,
6 miles, 1 tunnel.
Thu 14th
Apr Overcast
We had let
the fire die out last night as the day had been warm. We had rain in the night but it was dry in
the morning. We used the diesel Webasto heater to warm up the boat and heat the
water. Yesterday’s work boat went past, meaning that Bumblebee Lock should be
in our favour.
We set off
round the corner, and discovered another boater, wanting to come up the lock, had
already started emptying it. He was on
his own, so James helped him through.
Waiting for Bumblebee Lock
When it
was our turn we started to move into the lock, and a third boat came into view
below. We told them that the boat in front had just left, and if they walked just
round the corner they would find him setting the next lock, and they could
arrange to share the remaining eleven locks, instead of having them all against
them. They didn’t seem interested.
When we
arrived in Kilby Bridge we went first to the facilities block to get rid of
some rubbish, before choosing a mooring on the empty row of bollards. We have never been the only boat here
before. Caspar was on the water point, so presumably he and the other two
boats from this morning had all been there last night.
Caspar at the facilities block
Hazel went
to find out about buses, as Google Earth did not show a bus stop at Kilby Bridge,
although it was clear that route 49B went past on the way to Leicester. We were told to flag it down by the ‘phone
box.
We decided
to make the trip today, and we were soon on a large double decker going round
some housing estates. Thankfully some
locals told us where to get off (in the nicest possible terms) and where to
board the bus again on our return.
We
followed signs to the tourist office, as we needed a map of the city. The signs
ran out, and we couldn’t see the tourist office, so we went instead to a large
Methodist Church where they were advertising teas and coffees. What a lovely
oasis this was in the midst of all the bustle of Leicester. It was one of the first Methodist Churches in
the country, being built in 1815.
As we came
out refreshed, we spotted a red i on a
white square background, so went over and discovered the place was empty. You would have thought a Tourist Information
office would have given some information about where they had moved to! The clue is surely in the name! We saw a sign to a library, and went and
found someone there who directed us to the new information building just round
a corner out of sight.
We
obtained a map and a bus route guide, wandered through the market and found a
noodle bar for lunch – excellent! Called Chinese Snack Box, in the High Street.
Leicester Market
We did
some other sightseeing, finding the medieval Guildhall, and Richard III’s tomb
in the Cathedral. We also visited the
Jewry Wall Museum with the remains of the Roman baths before catching the bus
back.
Guildhall
Roman wall
Leicester Prison from the top of a
double decker bus
Moored at Kilby Bridge
1 lock, 1
mile
As there
is quite enough in this blog, I am ending it here instead of Saturday.
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