Nottingham to London day 8

We left our lovely mooring and passed underneath the black and white bridge leading to a field of rabbits that Delia had a fight with the other day.

The trip was picturesque.


We stopped at Debdale Wharf marina to use the pump out facilites.


At £10 it was a most reasonable price and they did it for us which was nice. I recognised this area from the journey we took getting the boat to Nottingham when we had not long purchased her.

We reached bridge 62 just before Foxton Locks Staircase and needed to fill up with water after all the washing yesterday.

There was quite a queue for the locks and it started hailing so we decided to abandon the flight until tomorrow. We retired to Bridge 61 pub, overlooking the basin and enjoyed some great food and a pint. This is one of my favorite pubs plus I discovered they had a shower for £1.20. It was a marvelous power shower - I came out super clean and sparkling.

Washer woman

We took the day out today so that Leigh could rest and I could do a day of washing. I've approximated that a small load of underwear and t-shirts uses 25litres of water to wash and rinse. By the time I had done the third load the water pump was struggling to pump anymore water to the kitchen tap. Thank goodness we are filling up with water at the marina tomorrow! Out water tank is only 100litres which for a boat of our size is really, really small.

We have s small selection of clothes hangers inside the boat to dry small items but are in need of something that we can put outside for larger items to air so the lounge doesn't get filled up with wet washing.


I fashioned something of the kind from the broom and mop handles and pegged some bits out on the stern. I have seen before boats that have special pole holders fixed to their stern for a clothes dryer that opens out - perfect for catching the wind. This would be nice to have one day - i'll add it to the list of to do's.

Nottingham to London day 7

It was a glorious day yesterday! We started off for the 5 final locks (of the restriction) in the morning and discovered we had jostled in between a couple of boats working through all the locks together. So we let them head through and settled a while at the mooring point for the locks, to wait for another boat.

I had time to bake a loaf of bread for lunch whilst we waited.


Leigh and Delia took a stroll down the towpath to explore.


I decided to walk ahead and see if there were any boats on the way down to us. Fortunately there were some walkers passing by and they had seen some boats coming our way. I knew that this would leave the locks in our favour and we could start the move up shortly.

Once the two boats came through the lock, we went in alone as still no single boats had arrived. We waited for boats coming down before we proceeded thorugh the rest of the locks.


Whilst I was waiting at the tiller inside one lock, I looked down at the reeds floating on the surface and spotted this little thing...


We've learnt a lot about locks during this stretch.


When going alone in double locks there is a knack to filling up the lock to stop the boat flying across to the other side and hitting the wall. Also, I now know how best to open the gates without straining.


The real secret is going slow.

There was a large field of 'Delia's' on our route today...


We moored up at bridge... so that we could walk into the village of Fleckney to pick up some supplies.

We set off again and I did the first tunnel of the journey.


Saddington Tunnel is 800m long and took about 10 minutes to travel.


This being my first tunnel I have navigated through, I realised the level of concentration required to keep to the centre - quite a difficult task when it was so dark. About half way through I realised I still had my sunglasses on! What a wally!

Leigh took some beautiful photographs from the bow, under the cratch cover...



We had reached a bridge before Debdale Wharf marina where we need to use the facilities and pump out. As it was after 5pm it made sense to moor for the night so we could go in there tomorrow.

The early evening sun shone across canal and flooded the boat. Leigh and I did a few jobs outside...


including rooting for potatoes as the tops were falling apart from all the bashing about in locks!



We ended up with a lovely bowl full!

Nottingham to London day 6

There are riots in North London and this is where we plan to go with our home. We will keep our ears to the ground and see how things pan out before tootling in between bricks and batons.

As for today, we got up late morning to discover all but two unoccupied boats had left the mooring site and continued through the lock. This meant waiting for another boat to come along so that we could motor through the locks ahead in duo (saving water as suggested by British Waterways). By chance a crew of BW boys were coming our way and asked how we were doing. I said we were waiting for another boat. One guy said that we should proceed alone as we could be waiting 3-4 hours for another boat as it was a quiet day and they hadn't seen another boat on route. Strange, Leigh and I thought what with all the notices to share locks, conserve water etc. But they are the controllers of the waterways so we decided to make a move.


We filled up the water tank at the local facilities in Kilby and dropped off the rubbish and headed along the canal.

It was our first lock of the day, Tythorn Lock (28) and the gates were open so Leigh dropped me off on the towpath edge and glided the boat in. It was here that we met with another of the boys in blue.


The conversation began with are you on your own? Yes. Then you'll have to wait. What? In 1 mile the voice of BW had changed from go on your own to wait for another boat. Confused? So were we.


And so a lengthy conversation ensued with us trying to get the BW guy to listen to what we had been told, for him to realise we weren't spinning a line and that in the end of it all we were more than happy to wait until a boat was on the approach. He made a phone call to set the guy straight down the line and stated that different regions don't have great communications.

So we waited...


and still no boat came along to join us in the lock.


As it happened there were a few boats on the way down the locks so as they would've had to fill up to move through we went up in the lock alone to leave the lock in their favour.


This was the case for the rest of the day. There were an abundance of boats coming down, so we waited for one lot to come down then entered the lock and filled it up to take us up a level and leave the lock ready for the next boats coming down.


Did I just repeat myself? It has been like that all day, approach lock, open gates, wind paddles, leave lock, appraoch lock, open gates, wind paddles, leave lock...

Seven locks and we had reached Newton Top Lock of Newton Harcourt.


It has been very noticeable how low the water level really is from the sandy banks showing and getting stuck when mooring up waiting for boats coming down locks. It should rain again tonight however and help to replenish the reservoir.

The weather today has been very overcast and windy, making maneuvering the boat a whole lot harder. Though Leigh has mastered working with the wind - of which I am still to learn. Sadly, in early August there are signs of the leaves turning...


We carried on for a mile stretch without locks and as it was 3.30pm, it made sense to moor for the night. BW's rules included locking up the paddles and gates of the locks on this stretch at 4pm and with another 5 locks to pass before the clearance of the restriction we'd never complete them. Plus this stretch is a lovely mooring spot...

Nottingham to London day 5

Today has been full of locks, locks, locks. I feel like I've climbed a mountain. With tired arms, legs and hands plus a dazed stare I sit and write this post.

We left our mooring at 9am for Kings Lock 38 - the beginning of the water restricted locks. We were advised by notice that due to the lack of water in the reservoir we should share locks and wait for another boat to come through if the lock is not in our favour. So, we shared this leg with a family on a holiday boat and fortunately didn't have to wait long for passing boats coming down the locks. It was very noticeable in some areas exactly how low the canal was - by up to 1.5 foot lower in water level. This meant it was important to stay in the main channel of the canal so as not to get stuck - fortunately we didn't have to struggle with oncoming craft through the worst of it.

However with all our thrift, behind us was a family on a boat who bluntly ignored all notices and verbal communications about the water shortage and proceeded to drain every lock after us so they could come through on their own. It is a real shame to encounter this selfish behaviour because this seemingly small thing could have a huge impact on the ability for cruising along the route for all other boaters.



We continued until early afternoon by which point we were both hungry and exhausted. We had reached Kilby Lock 30, had travelled 6 miles and completed 8 locks.


After mooring, we went for a pub meal (and wouldn't return there any time soon) and had a well deserved cat nap. We decided to call it a day and enjoy the mooring.

On our route today we passed this brilliant bike on the back of a boat. They had built a custom channel for the wheels to sit in. The guy steering the boat said it can be a bit hairy in locks with it on the back. I think it is brilliant - a real inspiration!

Nottingham to London day 4

I was feeling much better today, so we set off for Leicester. Our first lock, Junction Lock took us back onto the GUC.


It had started to rain again today so we were in and out of wet-weather gear and having to cover up the map with a plastic bag. With the wet weather comes hazards and slipping is one of them. When winding down the ground paddle of the lock, my hand slipped and the windlass spun and whacked my lower arm giving me a corking bruise and dull ache for the rest of the day.


We journeyed on passing under bridges and moored boats...


and then the sun showed it's smiling face for a brief while.


We passed through Thurmanston Lock


and the science centre with it's weird and wonderful architecture...


We shared the next stretch of the locks with a couple in a cruiser, which was great for them and us.

This section of the GUC was still lovely and leafy


but I got to thinking that BW doesn't seem to maintain the trees or hedgerows particularly well. We had many a sharp corner where it was difficult to see the way round between large branches hanging over the canal. This is supposed to be a suitable route for a dutch barge, but I wouldn't bother trying to navigate one of those down here.


After another couple of miles cruising by the area of Birstall, we passed underneath Loughborough Road Bridge...



and were heading into the industrial city of Leicester.


We passed some fine iron bridges...


and along by some modern apartment buildings overlooking the canal.


We moored up to get some food supplies and Delia did a runner escaping when I didn't want her to and was playing with me trying to get her in, until Leigh came back with the goods and teased her in as he can do.

We carried on along by the football ground where there were more dead fish floating in the canal. (We noticed a large amount by the science centre earlier in the day) What is was? I'm not sure but I would suspect chemicals.

We found a mooring spot for tonight


just before the restriction site at 38 Kings Lock.



Moored in the area of Aylestone, the surrounding is rather leafy but also heavily littered. We are next to a weir which seems to be a keen spot for fishing.


Delia approves.