Ah, the social whirl….

We’ve not so much socialising for ages. On Sunday afternoon we had my sister Kay and other half Paul, along with the canines Elvis and Ruby, over to visit.

Taking up the towpath

It was a fine day so we sat outside apart from when we had a rather ad hoc dinner, prepared by yours truly. I can’t do with sharing my food with the local fauna. The dogs are bad enough.
The washing up bowl is drinking water for the dogs. Ruby can suck a standard bowl dry in 5 seconds flat. When they came to see us at Derwent Mouth Lock near Shardlow I got so fed up with going in to fill the water bowl that I started to fill it from the canal. I was not favourite brother the next day; Ruby had the squitters, and believe me, a St Bernard with the runs is not a pretty sight…

Kay and Mags posing
Yesterday we were collected and taken to brother Andy’s for a BBQ. ‘Tother sister Sue and hubby Trev from New Zealand are stopping with them. It was good to see them again, they’re both looking well. We really will have to try to get over there, they live in the mountains in South Island, and it looks fabulous, like a mega Lake District.

Today we thought we really must cruise a bit, so set off to Loughborough. Just before Junction Lock we came across Dave and Dilys on Trundle. They are on their “weekend” off from running Raynsway, and had arrived last night while we were out.

Dilys on Trundle
And Dave at the lock
We stayed together to Barrow, where D&D stopped to go to a grandson’s first birthday party.

Here we picked up a day hire boat out of Sileby, so we dropped down Barrow Deep Lock with them.
Pillings Flood Lock was chained open as expected, with the dry weather we’re having at the moment.

Through Pillings Flood Lock.
We turned down to the wharf in Loughborough, but the pontoons were full this time, so pulled onto the facilities mooring. I emptied both loo tanks then left the water tank filling while I dashed off up to Argos to redeem a voucher for a free 16” LCD TV. It’ll just do nicely in the bedroom…

Services at Loughborough Wharf. Everything but rubbish disposal and spotlessly clean, but you have to make the effort to get up there…
We turned back, retracing our wake to moor for the night just above the flood lock. We should have gone through the lock and moored on the lower landing really. It’s not in use with the lock fixed open, and TV reception is much better there.

Swan stand off at Nottingham Road Bridge. They shall not pass….
We’ll head back to Sileby tomorrow, where we’re picking up Sue and Trev. They’re staying with us overnight, so we’ll head north again, probably up to Devil’s Elbow, for the night.

Locks 5, miles 12½

Gun Swan Fight at the OK Corral Thurmaston Lock

I’d told them not to encourage the swans into the lock, but the crew of the day boat out of Sileby kept offering bread as they went in, so the swans followed. I tried to shoo them back out, but they were having none of it.

We’d left Raynsway about noon, after saying our goodbyes to the 2 D’s, Dave and Dilys. It’ll be next year before we’re back this way.

Bye, Dilys
There was a boat heading down Thurmaston Lock with the day boat waiting to come up, as we arrived.
The family of swans that live below the lock had, of course, gone begging on the lock landing, with considerable success. I’d spotted the other pair with their cygnets above the lock as we arrived, which is why I tried to keep the larger family out.

The day boat came up and left the lock, then mayhem. The family was spotted in the lock chamber, and the pair above decided they had no business being there. Swans are VERY territorial.

One of the adults successfully held off the attack, protecting his/her mate and the youngsters, and then took the fight out of the lock, and around the corner of the lock island.

We went in the lock and took the one remaining adult and the 5 cygnets back down to their own territory. No sign of the other adult, I hope he/she (how do you tell them apart?) was OK to fly over the sluices to rejoin the family. There was no sign as we left the lock.
Andrew Denny witnessed the same thing on the Stort a few years ago.

After this excitement we had a very quiet run along to moor just above Junction Lock. We’ve spent a couple of weekends here recently, it’s quiet and peaceful. We were the only boat on the stretch when we arrived, but were soon joined by another, then another, and another… Ah well, so much for peace and quiet.

Locks 1, miles 2

A mighty fine day

We had a superb day yesterday, one of those days where everything seems to come together just like it was designed that way.

It was a fine warm day, most of the locks were with us, and we were cruising the favourite stretch of a river I have a soft spot for, even though it’s notoriously unpredictable.

The first lock of the day, Pillings Flood Lock. Still in use with a fall of about 5”.

If the dry weather continues I reckon the gates will be left open later. The river is in the green, but still a couple of inches above norm.

We met quite a few boats heading downstream, some I expect getting mooring spots at Redhill for the forthcoming IWA National. Among them were a couple of ex-working boats.

Motor boat Aquarius and butty Ilford heading to Redhill.
We shared Barrow Deep Lock with a party of canoeists from the Outdoor Pursuit Centre at Quorn Hall.

The heavy boats came up the lock with us, the lighter ones being portaged round.

Company in Barrow Deep Lock.
The youngsters and instructors waited for the boats to come up to them, and Meg made some more friends.
The contractors are still doing battle with the Floating Pennywort. It’s going to be a long job, with each clump having to be sprayed.
The local farmer was taking advantage of the warm breezy weather.

Making hay while the sun shines….
We had a bit of a pause at Cossington Lock while waiting for a couple of boats to come down, then shared the lock with a family out for the day.

Cossington Lock

Just around the corner we were hailed from the bank, I looked round and there were Ginny and Gunner from NB Wilvir. They’d been over to Rothley for a bit of shopping, and were moored just below Junction Lock.

Ginny on the bank, Gunner having a swim.
We pulled over for an hour, to have a chat. They’re a really pleasant couple, and we’ll be looking out for them in the winter over near the Shroppie.

Wil, Ginny and Gunner
We could have stopped all afternoon, but I’d booked us into Raynsway at Thurmaston for a couple of nights, so shoved off following a boat heading to the lock. It turned out to be Nouveau Lady, who we’d moored alongside in Loughborough.

Leaving the lock, I thought we’d have to break out the fire extinguishers as a day boat come towards us, trailing smoke.
It turned out they had a barbeque going on the fore deck. Not the safest of places, I should have thought!

The long cut past the flooded gravel pits (now Watermead Country Park) took us up to Thurmaston, up through the lock and into Raynsway Marina.

Into Raynsway, rather better weather than the last time we were here.
Dave filled us up with diesel, then we moved over onto our allocated berth for the next 2 nights.

After tea we joined Dave and Dilys on one of the picnic benches for a drink, enjoying the last of a good day. Talking about just about anything, we were out there till gone 10! A really good end to an excellent day.

Today I’ve taken advantage of the laundry facilities, catching up with washing bedding. We can do it on the boat, but each set makes up 2 loads in our compact machine, and there’s the matter of getting it dry.
In between we’ve taken delivery of a Tesco order, and I’ve got some of the repaired or modified woodwork at each end of the boat varnished.

I see anyone doing the Cheshire Ring Four Counties Ring (see comments) has a problem. Shebdon Embankment has sprung a leak, and is closed till maybe the middle of next week.

Locks 7, miles 8.

From plane spotting to train spotting.

Yesterday was such a lovely day we decided to stay put. I took advantage of the dry weather to get the rest of the woodwork done. Just needs varnishing now.

Meg and I had a gentle stroll into Kegworth for some shopping. A fine village that could do with a bypass. The A6 running through the middle does it no favours.

Kegworth Church behind Harrison’s Cottage.
Our quiet mooring (apart from the aircraft!) became busy in the afternoon, with another 5 boats arriving and mooring either side of us. Out came the chairs and bottles of wine, I carried on with my circular saw….. I was here first!

Another visitor was this dragonfly, who got himself stuck between the curtain and the window. I extracted him with no harm done.
This morning we woke to rain, so hung on till lunchtime before getting off. It gave me the opportunity to re-lay the laminate floor at the front of the saloon. We were on our own again by the time we decided to move.
The afternoon improved as we headed towards Loughborough. We arrived at Zouch Lock just in time to join another boat, NB Jade. They pulled over to moor above the lock, so we carried on alone.

Elephant shaped ivy at Normanton
Another fortuitous arrival at Bishops Meadow meant that the departing boat left a gate open for us, then we pulled over above the lock for the facilities.

I had to empty and open Loughborough Lock all by myself, but by the time we’d come up another boat was heading our way, so at least I could leave it open.

Heading towards Loughborough Junction. The white building on the left is The Albion.
We made a quick stop just after the junction to the wharf so I could pop in to B&Q for the varnish. The checkouts were busy so I decided to use the self serve one. How hard could it be? Anyway, an assistant had to come and sort me out in the end, muttering about it being more trouble than it’s worth. I hope she was talking about the checkout, not the customer!

Out of Loughborough and the Millers Bridge moorings were busy, so we plodded on to moor just above Pillings Flood Lock. It would be a very nice spot, if it weren’t for the trains whizzing by. At least they’re a bit more infrequent, and lot quieter, than the planes.

Moored just above Pillings
Locks 3, miles 8

The water goes down and we head south again.

But not until today. The Soar was still up on Saturday morning, but, rather than stay on Sawley Cut, we decided to move downstream on the Trent to Cranfleet Cut. The towpath is a lot more Meg-friendly here, with a strip of grass between the river and the path.

Down Through Sawley Locks

The Erewash Canal, Trent Lock just visible.
I was able to make a start on cutting the new woodwork for the rear step, and to have a couple of good walks with Meg along the Trent Valley Way.

We had a bit of excitement on Saturday evening, with the local constabulary chasing a couple of youths down the towpath. They’d been causing a ruck at the Steamboat Inn, and when the law arrived decided to do a runner. The reason they ran became obvious when one of them threw 6 packets of a suspicious white powder in the canal.

Police “eye in the sky”
Both miscreants were apprehended with the help of a police dog on the ground and a helicopter in the air, and the drugs were retrieved from the deck of a passing narrowboat.

The Soar had dropped to a navigable level by Sunday, but the traffic became intense as everyone with a boat decided to take advantage of the hot sunny weather. So we thought we’d leave them to it and stay where we were.

Ratcliffe Power Station by moonlight.
The bright spot above the cooling towers is Jupiter

This morning the weather took a downhill plunge after a gorgeous weekend. Got up to rain, but this cleared to leave us with drizzly showers on and off through the day.

We left about 11, reversing to the junction, turning around then heading across the huge Plumpton Weir and upstream onto the Soar.

MV Actief and NB Gainsborough at Redhill.
We caught up with a couple on NB Fresh Start at Ratcliffe Lock, and shared this and Kegworth Deep with them. They left us behind when we pulled in about half a mile above Kegworth.

Moored near Kegworth

It’s OK here, with a nice wide grassy towpath, not much “passing trade”, and a wide reach of the river meaning that we’re completely unaffected by wash from passing boats.

The only annoyance is the aircraft heading in to land at East Midlands Airport. They’re passing directly overhead.

How was the holiday?
Locks 3, miles 4½

Floating Carpentry on the way to Sawley.

Sorry I’ve not posted for a few days, my laptop has been buried and I’ve been busy sorting out the mess left by the leaking water pump.

First off, apologies to Wil, Ginny and Gunner the dog for mis-spelling their boat’s name. It should, of course, have been WILVIR.

We made our goodbyes at Millers Bridge on a damp, drizzly Tuesday morning. We only had a short way to go to Loughborough Wharf, so it wasn’t too bad. A quick stop just before the junction to visit B&Q, then we turned left for a change at the T junction, down to the wharf. The moorings here have been open about 12 months, and are quite pleasant, though restricted to about half a dozen boats.

Loughborough Wharf, overlooked by student accomodation.

This is the terminus of the Loughborough Navigation, built in 1778 and the first section of what was to become the Leicester Section to be constructed. The Leicester Canal itself, from Loughborough to Leicester, was completed in 1794. A branch of The Grand Junction Canal was built heading north from Norton Junction to Leicester, up Watford and down Foxton, effectively forming a link from London to the Trent.

Kay came and collected us, and we spent a very enjoyable afternoon and evening (and had a great curry courtesy of Paul) with the family. We took advantage of her offer to chauffeur us, so went shopping as well!
It was gone 9 by the time we got back to the boat, so the original idea of moving out of the town for the night went out of the window.
Surprisingly, it was reasonably quiet overnight, considering the wharf is smack in the middle of the town. Although that may not be the case during the university semesters….

Even though there are “facilities” at Bishop’s Meadow, just a mile away, BW have installed an amenity block at the wharf. You just have to be a little athletic to get your loo cassette up the ladder.

Wednesday morning was a bit grim as well, rain overnight persisted well into the morning. But it had cleared up a bit by the time we’d got to Zouch, where we pulled over for the night.

Action against Floating Pennywort
River levels OK at Bishop’s Meadow.

Picturesque Normanton Upon Soar Church.
Thursday morning saw us heading off downriver towards the Trent in beautiful, warm sunshine.

Zouch Lock and gongoozlers.
It was here, almost to the day 2 years ago, that I dropped my phone in the lock. No, I didn’t find it again!

The Soar is very pretty along this stretch, woods on the left bank and cattle grazing on the watermeadows on the right.

A fine looking river
A pity you can’t do anything about the electricity pylons…

Oh yes you can….The delights of Photoshop...

There were a few boats about, mainly going upstream which made it easier for us; we had every lock in our favour, which makes a change.

Near Devil’s Elbow.

Redhill Marina is gearing up for the IWA National on August Bank Holiday Weekend. It’ll certainly be busy, weather permitting.

Redhill
Knocking up floating pontoons for visiting boats.

Through the open flood lock and down to the Trent junction.

Out onto the Trent
From going downstream we’re now pushing against the current, and the speed over the ground is noticeably reduced. Wind the old girl up to 1200 revs, and we’re up to speed again.

Approaching Sawley railway bridge and locks.
The left hand (south) lock was empty, with gates standing open. I couldn’t resist the temptation so snuck in and closed them behind us. No lockie on duty, so it was self operation on the control consol, but we were out and moored up opposite the marina shortly afterwards.

Sent Carol a text to tell her we’d arrived, and she came over from Shardlow to see us. Sealey and Meg renewed their acquaintance, Sealey wanting to play ball but Meg hiding them all in her bed then lying on them. She doesn’t bother another dog coming on board, getting fussed and even eating her biscuits. But go near her toys….
Sonja came straight from work, so we had a makeshift tea together before they went off home.
She did a parachute jump for charity last weekend and showed her bruises. I’d heard she was doing this and assumed it would be a tandem jump or on a static line. Oh no. A self release from 15,000 feet. Wow. 6,000 feet of free fall before pulling the handle and crossing your fingers. You’ve got to admire her for that.

Carol’s working over at the marina, preparing Canaltime boats for hirers, so she came across for lunch today, then we were ready to set off, back down to the junction and on to the Soar again. Plan was to get to Devil’s Elbow and stay there for the weekend.

We turned around and headed back to the lock, only to be told that The Soar was in flood and hence closed to boats. The Trent was OK, but that’s the wrong direction. Oh well, it had rained pretty well non-stop all afternoon and night.

So we turned around again and moored a bit nearer the lock this time, on the 48 hour moorings. It’s got busy this afternoon, no spaces left now. I’ll have a chat with the lockie in the morning. With no more rain forecast, the river should be going back down again. But for now we’re stuck at Sawley. Not the first time, and I doubt it’ll be the last….

I’ve got a lot of the woodwork put back together again at the front of the boat, but now need somewhere quiet, and with a bit of room, to get out the circular saw to make the panels I need to replace. Can’t really do it here, the path is much to busy with walkers and cyclists. And Mags won't let me do it inside...

Locks since Monday - 6
Miles - 11½

Oh 'eck, that water should be IN the tank...

We had a chillin’ day on Saturday, just relaxing and doing nothing in particular. Yesterday, after my morning run and Meg’s walk I was sat with a cup of coffee when I noticed a damp patch on the floor near the front step.
The floor under the step was wet with water leaking from the pump or associated pipework. We pulled pins and set off for Sileby Lock, so I could get to Sileby Mill Boatyard for any bits needed. Dad and Ann were coming to see us with a package of mail as well, and here would be as good as anywhere.

The water had soaked into the bottom edges of the cabinet work either side of the step, so I stripped out as much as was practical. The leak was actually from the pump body itself, on the inlet side so at least it wasn’t under pressure. There would have been a lot more water around if it had been!

Oh dear!

I sat the pump in a tray to catch drips, while tidying up as much as possible. But we’ve got books and jigsaws, DVDs and videos scattered all over the boat, the contents of the front cupboards. Luckily they were built with false floors, so nothing was water damaged.

After Dad and Ann had gone (new licenses now displayed, and a new phone to play with), I went across to the boatyard and managed to get a like for like replacement for the pump. I thought I’d have to order one, or modify the pipework to suit a different design. The price wasn’t bad, either.
So it was old one out and new one in, without any problems.
It was a warm sunny day, which meant I could get the damp panels out on the roof to start drying off, and with the doors open at either end of the boat the floor started to dry as well.

This morning I decided to repipe the pump, using a length of flexible hose either side as it should have been done in the first place. I also fitted a screw terminal block for the wiring connections, so it’ll be easier to swap next time! It’s actually a lot quieter now as well, the hose absorbing vibration from the pump far better than the Hep20 pipe. Finally the boatyard were able to supply a reseal kit for the old pump, so I can fix it up and keep it as a spare.

I’m also going to take the opportunity to modify the front steps to give more storage space and access to the unused space above the water tank.

We moved off from Sileby at around 11:00, taking advantage of the lock left with gates open (and paddles up!) by a day boat. Through Mountsorrel Lock where the crew of one of the Peter Le Marchant boats emptied the lock for us, and down to Barrow Boating to fill with water, empty the loos and get rid of the rubbish.

Out of Mountsorrel, Symphony waiting to go up.
Someone likes gardening....

Hydrobikes from Barrow Boating

The river levels have been dropping steadily over the last 48 hours. Leaving Sileby the water was on amber, at Pillings Flood Lock it was on green, but the lock was still in use with a fall of 3 or 4 inches. At normal water levels the lock is open at both ends, it’s closed to protect the 4 mile long artificial cut around Loughborough.

Pillings Flood Lock, protecting against high river levels.
We pulled over just past Millers Bridge, on the good moorings there, around 2 o’clock. Another sunny day has meant that I’ve been able to have the woodwork on the roof again. It’s just about dried out now.

Millers Bridge Moorings
I wanted to make sure that none of the leaked water has finished up in the bilge, so moved a bookcase, lifted the laminate and cut an access hatch through the marine ply floor. I had to remove a few engineering bricks (ballast) to get to the baseplate, but was relieved to see that it is completely dry. So it looks like the leak was confined to the woodwork and floor. Could have been a lot worse….

Just down the towpath is NB Wilvar. We met a couple of years ago on the Llangollen, and haven’t seen each other since. So I went and had a natter. They’ve been up on the Lacaster Canal and really enjoyed it. A canal we’ve got to get to at some point.

We’re meeting sister Kay in town tomorrow, at the new moorings in the basin.

Since Friday – Locks 6, miles 7