Up the stairs and down again!!

We've come north on the Leicester Branch of the Grand Union and we're now moored part way down the arm that goes to Market Harborough.  This was originally intended to be a main route for wide boats going through to Northampton, but this link was never built, leaving a narrow canal linking to the main part of the Grand Union and another set of narrow locks down to join the River Nene at Northampton.  This is one reason why you still can't take a wide beam boat from north to south in England.

The last posting on our blog was at Norton Junction where the Leicester Branch leaves the main line of the Grand Union.  Last Tuesday we carried on north first going up the Watford flight of locks.  These are close by Watford Gap services on the M1, indeed the canal goes round the back of the services car park before going up the locks.  There are two single locks, then a staircase of 4 locks and a final single lock at the top.

Here is Leo having come up the first two single locks and waiting for clearance from the lock keeper to come up the staircase.  The lock keeper's cottage in the background had a fine showing of marigolds in pots.

Looking the other way you can see the staircase ahead.  For non canal buffs, a staircase is where the top gate of one lock forms the bottom gate of the next, so there is no gap between the locks.

The Watford locks are very well kept either by the lock keeper or by volunteers.  Flowers are everywhere and the services and office block at the top looks pristine.  We are moored here taking on water and getting rid of rubbish.

We moored Tuesday evening at Yelvertoft which is a quiet and attractive village.  Here is the church but we did also visit the pub.

These sedilia in the church have very eroded pillars as you can see.  Apparently Cromwell's soldiers sharpened their swords on them.

We found this huge thistle in a garden in Yelvertoft village.




















Wednesday and Thursday we carried on up the Leicester Branch including the mile and a half branch to Welford.

The Welford Arm has a small lock (only rising three and a half feet) and here you can see Leo in the lock which lifts the canal to its highest point at 415 feet above sea level.

At the end of the Welford Arm we watched this moorhen with her very young chick.  Very late in the year for such a tiny one.

This is the wharf at the very end of the Welford Branch with two narrowboats moored in the bay at the end.  

It is not far to walk into Welford from the end of the canal.  It is an attractive village.  Look at the ornate brickwork in these cottages.

Humbling to see in the church this story from a hundred years ago.  The local doctor was doing his duty trying to help injured soldiers caught on the barbed wire at the Battle of the Somme and was shot himself and died.  Very sad and so unnecessary.  An agreed break in fighting like that now happening in Aleppo could have saved his life.

There are three tunnels on this canal.  This was Husbands Bosworth the second tunnel about three quarters of a mile long.  You can just see the light at the end of the tunnel.










We wanted to get through the Foxton Locks before the weekend because it is a very popular spot.  So we went down on Friday.  Foxton has two staircases each of five narrow locks.

At the top is this engaging bronze of a young lad with the horse towing a narrowboat.

We had to wait about an hour before we could go down, while three boats came up the 10 locks.  This is the view looking up the flight from the top of the second staircase of five locks.  In the pound between the two staircases we passed the boat  you can see in the picture.  The ten locks take you down 75 feet.

Although it was not a weekend there were plenty of gongoozlers as this picture shows.  Still, plenty of volunteers to open and close bottom gates as we descended.  The flight has side ponds with paddles painted white and red.  "Red before white and you'll be alright", "White before red and you'll wish you were dead".

Here Leo is in the last lock and once again there are plenty of visitors.  Not a place to make a mistake with so many spectators.

That evening we turned right at the bottom of the locks to go up the five mile arm to Market Harborough.  We moored after a couple of miles and Ian repainted the light blue line at the stern between white and red.  Most boats have a black line at this point but Leo is pleased to be different.

After doing the painting we walked through the fields to the village of Great Bowden just to the north of Market Harborough.

Great Bowden is another attractive village with a shop and two pubs as well as the church shown here.  We  had a drink at the Red Lion but we were too late to patronise the village shop which had closed.









Today (Saturday) we cruised into Market Harborough and have now come out again and moored near Foxton.

The canal basin at Market Harborough is well restored and marks the end of the five mile arm, so it is time to turn round.

This view looks the other way across the basin.

When we came here two years ago the market hall was behind hoardings being restored.  It now looks splendid next to the parish church of St Dionysius.

Some of the Arm is pretty narrow and overgrown with reeds.  We're not sure what the works is making or processing but the smell (not unpleasant) and the noise made it clear it was still functioning.


















In the next few days we will be heading down the locks towards Leicester where the canal meets the River Soar.  This river has a reputation for flooding so we hope there will not be any heavy rain.