The journey to Leicester - finally!

The Leicester branch goes through Leicester - obviously - but the Leicester canal section had been in Covid lockdown for several weeks as I was slowly making my way. Finally the navigation restrictions were lifted and I was able to proceed. But not before another diversion into a lovely canal arm from the bottom of the Foxton locks.

Market Harborough

I turned right at Foxton and went to Market Harborough. Even more than the Leicester line itself, the Market Harborough arm meanders around a lot and even turns back on itself just before entering Market Harborough. It is a very pleasant 5.5 mile long stretch without locks with good views of the countryside and you get to see some very well manicured gardens approaching the town. This was planned as the original Leicester canal mainline and was supposed to continue to Northampton. The money ran out and it never materialised so this was a slightly arbitrary end to a canal.

One of those darn swing bridges again

 

On the way to Market Harborough

There is a day boat hire in Market Harborough and the hirers are often inexperienced, which made for some interesting encounters. One woman panicked and headed straight for me as she saw me coming. Collision was only avoided by another person taking over from her just in time. As we passed, she said that she hadn’t actually learned how to steer yet. I hope the rest of the trip went better for her!

After much meandering I arrived at Union Wharf in the basin very close to the centre of Market Harborough. There were a few empty spaces on pontoons in the basin itself, so I staid for a few nights even with the luxury of shore power (£12.50 per night). It was a great feeling to actually be around houses again after such a long time only seeing fields, sheep and cows. I am a city girl after all! 

Willum at Union Wharf

Evening after a hot day

Sun dial at Union Wharf

From the basin it was only a five minute bike ride into town. Market Harborough is a pretty and busy (relatively speaking in Covid times) market town with an indoor market and the biggest row of supermarkets I have ever seen.

On to Leicester

I made my way back along the arm, passed the bottom of the Foxton locks again and turned right back onto the main line. Mooring is quite difficult along this stretch as most of the time the towpath has tall reeds next to it, so mooring is impossible. Every now and then, a little section is kitted out in piling the length of one boat, the ultimate social distancing measure. These sections are infrequent, but there are so few boats here that there was plenty of space to choose from. 

Socially distanced boat mooring

The wheat fields are turning golden

The section between the Foxton locks and Leicester was noticeably more empty than the stretch before. I don’t know if this is because of the Covid situation around there. I think that the route through Leicester is not very popular generally, which is a shame as it is such a beautiful canal. Lack of use also reflects in the state of the repair of the locks. Sadly, the locks are wide locks again like on the Grand Union from London. They take much longer than narrow locks single-handed and there was nobody around to share with.

My next stop was not far from the Foxton locks at Debdale Wharf. It was a very nice spot with road access and parking, near a farm. The farm was ever present via three cattle gates on the road that I had to open and close every time I went through. The rural nature was also emphasised by a flock of sheep galloping past the boat one afternoon, first one way, then a few minutes later back the other way. I learnt later that somebody had left a gate open and they escaped (it wasn’t me, honestly!). They looked like they enjoyed their little outing. The next day one of the women from the farm came by with four dogs and two pet goats! She walked the goats daily on this stretch of towpath with its lovely long grass. One fancied a change from the grass and hopped on my deck to nibble on my flowers! 

Not a sight you see every day

Enjoying the nice grass

 

They also enjoyed being petted

Leicester

Reminder that this used to be a lockdown zone

So then it was finally into Leicester itself. The canal goes around the southern suburbs of Leicester for a long time before entering the inner city. In contrast to most other cities the canal goes right through the city centre, which was exciting. In most cities the canal goes through the backyards past the tyre shops and derelict industrial places. I guess this is because the navigation is mainly the river Soar canalised in the city.

As in all urban areas it is good to get some local advice on where to moor and what areas to avoid. Leicester city centre has a few gated moorings that are very safe for boats, but I got advice to not moor anywhere on the approach for about seven hours cruise, possibly longer. I was a little apprehensive going through the allegedly rough suburban stretch, kept the boat closed up at locks and put nothing of value on display. But I felt it was unnecessary. A few graffiti are nothing to be scared of and I did not see any anti-social behaviour or even any rowdy kids at all. As it was a hot day, in one lock some kids maybe 8-10 years old were playing in the water. I thought the best strategy was probably to befriend them. I asked them politely to get out and they were very nice, helped with the lock and asked a lot of questions how it all worked. 

First houses of Leicester

Lots of water lilies on this stretch

I did stop over in the "unrecommended" section and it was all fine. The locks were just too much of a pain to do it all in one day. They were in a bad state of repair, badly leaking, badly balanced (gates not staying shut) and rickety.

Half the wall is missing in this lock!

 

The lock with the kids swimming in it

The Leicester inner city canal itself is interesting. It is really divided into two very different sections. South of the city centre the canal approaches in a grand straight tree-lined avenue with ornamental bridges. It feels like a big river in a big city (think Seine in Paris - well kind of!). 

This straight stretch was built as a flood defence for the city centre in the 19th century. The "old" river Soar goes round the back of some buildings and meets the canal again north of the centre.

Tree lined avenue - the Mile Straight

Just like Paris ...

I found a mooring at the gated visitor moorings in Castle Gardens. As the name suggests, it is right by a park that is locked at night (the castle itself is now a business school!). I must say, in the centre I was glad to not be on the public towpath. No boats whatsoever were moored on the towpath in the city centre.

Willum on his inner city mooring

I liked Leicester as a city from what I could see as a tourist and from the outside only. I have created a separate page for those interested seeing a bit more of Leicester.

North of the centre, the navigation is much more canal-like going past old industrial buildings, often derelict sadly. There are a few nice examples of preservation and redevelopment, like Friars Mill with offices and residential areas, the oldest surviving industrial building in Leicester built in 1739 and Wolsey Island, also shown below.

The other gated moorings close to the city centre at Friars Mill

Getting very colourful here

Is this Hackney?

Beaumont Press

 

Last reminder of hosiery industry on redeveloped Wolsey Island

Throughout the city the river Soar weaves in and out of the navigation via a number of huge weirs. This was a new experience for me and I found it quite intimidating. Some of the weirs were not very well protected and it was not obvious sometimes where the actual navigation continued around the weir. Not a passage to day dream, but stay focused throughout. Fortunately the river was very well behaved at the time as there hadn’t be any rain at all for a while. In fact I was warned of low water levels by a CRT guy and even got a little stuck on one lock landing. The locks were still difficult all the way. At three locks I needed help from passers by as I just could not open them.

Most of the locks have these boards at water level - all green at the moment

 

The first one of the massive weirs

The weir is right by the Leicester City Stadium

Another massive weir straight ahead

Weir at the end of Wolsey Island with National Space Museum

DON'T turn right

Where am I going??

Once I had passed through Leicester I learnt what the river is capable of when it rains. But that is for my next post, where I will cover the river Soar from Leicester to its junction with the Trent.

Route covered in this post