Busy at Barrow

We didn’t move yesterday. It looked like everyone else in the county was! Boats of all shapes and sizes toddling past, especially when the weather brightened in the afternoon.

Hydrobikes from Barrow Boating
Then in the evening we were treated to a firework display from just over the rooftops on the opposite side of the river.

Bang!
And Wheeee…..
This morning we had a bit of a lie-in, then moved the 100 yards over to the services for the usual emptying and filling.
We pulled a bit closer to the deep lock, and I made a quick trip up to the Sumerfield in the village. It was a Co-op when we were here last, but they’ve merged since.

Then it was a matter of joining the queue for the lock. It’s always slow, this lock. It takes a lot of water to fill a broad lock over 10 feet deep. But it was especially slow today. Both upstream ground paddles were out of action, leaving only the gate sluices operational. To fill the lock took 25 minutes, and by the time we got in there were 8 boats waiting behind us.
Still, once in we were down and out of the bottom gates in 5 minutes.

Sharing in Barrow Deep Lock.

NB Pickles No2 is knocking about somewhere. Pete said Hi at the lockside, but I didn’t see his boat or Lisa, his wife. I’m sure we’ll catch up over the next week or so.

It’s a very pleasant wooded stretch from here to Pillings Flood Lock and the canal section into Loughborough.

Pillings Lock is open now the water has gone back down.
We pulled over near Millers Bridge south of Loughborough.

There’s a boat on the other end, honest.
I’ve got some phone calls to make tomorrow. Pillings Lock Marina to see if they’ve room for us for a week or so, and then Enterprise to book a car for the weekend.

Locks 1, miles 2½