Goodbye to the Soar

We've now come through Leicester left the River Soar and on to the Grand Union Canal (Leicester Branch) which will take us through the narrow locks at Foxton and Watford to Norton Junction to meet the main route of the Grand Union towards London.  However, that is getting a bit ahead of ourselves as we are moored tonight in a remote spot with sheep bleating just two days out of Leicester.

On Thursday while staying at Zouch we went for a walk through the riverside meadows and had our first definite sighting of a Reed Bunting:

On Friday we cruised from Zouch through Loughborough to Sileby Mill, an idyllic spot where we've never moored before.

The stretch of the River Soar upstream of Zouch is very pretty and passes Normanton Church seen here.

This gives a good idea of the lower Soar.  A fairly wide river with gentle river meadows either side.  Compare this with later pictures on this posting where the river gets much narrower.

This swan is shepherding her cygnets out of the way of a passing Leo.

This is Barrow bridge which comes just before Barrow Deep Lock.  The channel below the lock is quite narrow and it pays to tie up the bow to stop the boat being thrown around when emptying the lock.

Round a few bends from Barrow we passed a field with horses and a surprising number of young foals, including this one which can only be a day or two old.  Its legs look out of proportion with its body.

Here is Leo below Sileby Lock with the mill in the background.

We went up the lock and moored above.  Here is the view looking back from above the lock.  The only problem with this mooring was an amazing number of flies, though they did not seem to bite.  No fish jumping and no swallows: perhaps that was why there were so many flies!

We walked through flower meadows to Sileby village where we saw this fine thatched pub.

The meadows were packed with buttercups - yellow as far as the eye could see.













On Saturday we carried on up river to Birstall where we spent two nights as our son, David, came to visit on the Sunday.  We ate out twice at the Old Plough in the village which is cosier and cheaper than the White Horse on the riverside.

Oddly, where the River Wreake joins the Soar, the navigable route goes up the Wreake for a way before joining a cut that goes back to the Soar.  A navigation along the Wreake valley used to go to Melton Mowbray and on to Oakham but is now disused.  This picture shows Leo on the Wreake.

Watermead Country Park is on both sides of the river at Birstall.  A full sized mammoth made from concrete and steel stands on a hillock in the park.  The connection with the park is that mammoth bones were found here.

There are lots of lakes in the park which were once gravel pits.  We saw these strange figures from a distance.  Next time we must get closer and find out what they are.

This picture is taken through the galley window when a goose family came to visit.

With David we walked a mile or so to what is called Leicester North Station, though it is some miles from Leicester.  The station is on the old Great Central Railway which runs steam trains the 8 miles to Loughborough.









From Birstall on Monday it took us just 2 hours to reach the centre of Leicester though the stretch of water between Belgrave and Lime Kiln Locks is foul.  The water is black, bubbles rise from below and break to give a horrible stench.  We had been warned also of rubbish in the canal and we ground to a halt under a bridge with a green sari round the prop. 

From beside North Lock artists have been allowed to paint some colourful murals on the walls of the industrial buildings.  Two painters with aerosols were at work on this one.

We've been to Leicester before but this time discovered the delights of Abbey Gardens.  The ruins of an enormous abbey are here and Cardinal Wolsey was buried in the abbey, having fortuitously died on his way to London to face the wrath of Henry VIII who was later responsible for the sacking of this and other monasteries.

This is part of the Abbey Gatehouse which survived Henry VIII but was burnt down in the Civil War.

The Abbey Gardens (looked after by the City Council) were a delight and include a boating lake, a miniature railway and a pet zoo, all for free (though no doubt you need to pay for the boats and trains which were not running on a wet afternoon).  This rose was one of many in the gardens.







On Tuesday morning we joined forces again with Geoff and Sue on Rubbin Along to tackle the 12 locks and 8 miles out of the city to Kilby Bridge. 

We moored in the city at the new pontoon mooring at Friars Mill downstream of West Bridge seen here and Rubbin Along was at Castle Gardens the other side.  So we came through the bridge to meet our arranged start time of 9.30.

The navigation out of Leicester first goes along the Straight Mile which describes it perfectly.

For a short way you are still on the River Soar but, as this shot shows, it is now a lot narrower and is very twisty too.

Though we didn't have any rain to speak of until the evening, this householder was taking no risks of the washing getting wet!

This was our last section on the Soar below King's Lock.  The Soar comes in under the bridge but the navigation goes left away from the river.

On Monday evening some delightful people had opened the top gates of Whetstone Lane Lock and all the bottom paddles.  As a result the canal above the lock was empty.  By the time we arrived a team of CRT chaps were working to refill it and had moved this motorbike from the middle of the channel.  We had to wait below the lock for 2 hours.






 Last night we enjoyed a meal at the Navigation Inn at Kilby Bridge with Geoff and Sue and today (Wednesday) we have come 7 locks further to Wistow which is a favourite quiet country mooring.

Leo and Rubbin Along are sharing Newton Top Lock which is the last one we have done together since we met this year near Nottingham.

Geoff and Sue have a very gentle and well behaved German Shepherd dog called Harriet so this photo is by way of being a goodbye to Harriet.

Here we are following Rubbin Along coming out of Newton Top Lock.

And here is Rubbin Along heading off as they were going on to the bottom of the Foxton flight this afternoon.  As for us, we've had a restful afternoon in the sunshine, including a short walk to the garden centre and church across the fields from us.








In the next few days we will be continuing south up the Foxton locks and to Norton Junction near which we will be leaving Leo for a week while we go home for various appointments.