Heading for Winter

It was one of those typical damp autumn days today. Gloomy, with the sky sitting on the tree-tops and drizzly most of the time. I even cracked today, starting off in shorts but changing into long pants as soon as we’d dropped down Mountsorrel Lock. I’m not packing them away just yet, though. Mild weather is forecast for the rest of the week….

Last Friday we moved down through Sileby Lock and picked up a replacement gas bottle at Sileby Mill Boatyard before heading off to moor at Mountsorrel.

Looking back at Sileby Lock and weir.

After the rain the river rose 4 or 5 inches, so the weir was running a bit faster, but the level was still in the green on the marker board at the lock.

We pulled in at Mountsorrel as it’s handy for the road, and there’s parking at The Waterside.

Every year Dad tries to get us all together, and this year’s “bit of a do” was at the Greyhound at Burton-in-the-Wolds on Saturday. We were collected and chauffeured there and back, hence the need to be accessible. It was a great afternoon, twenty of us all together. We’d travelled down for this, but sister Sue came furthest, from her home in New Zealand! Our trip took longer though…. It’s a shame that work commitments prevented her husband Trev from coming over as well.

After the meal we all went to Loughborough, to my other sister Kay’s and her partner Paul’s house for the evening, finishing off a great day. Thanks everyone.

Now we’ve got to move north back off the river onto the Trent and Mersey Canal. Shardlow Lock is due to close in a week as part of the winter maintenance programme, and we need to be past there so we can meet up with George and Carol on NB Rock’n’Roll, and Chas and Ann on NB Moore2Life. Sadly we’ll not see Vic and Sue, NB No Problem. The loss of Sue’s father kept them down on the Kennet and Avon, and they’re now stuck there on the wrong side of another stoppage. We’ll meet up in the New Year, I guess.

The water has returned to it’s pre-rain low level, so there’s very little flow on the river. We dropped down Mountsorrel Lock this morning, stopped at Barrow Mill for water and loo emptying then dropped down Barrow Deep Lock.

Having a good rub near Mountsorrel. The signpost won’t take much more, though.
A tree alongside the river was having some drastic pruning as we cruised past….

Tree surgeon at work












The tree was in a private garden else I'd have entered into negotiations for a bit of wood.

Approaching Barrow Deep Lock.
The green light indicates that the river below the lock is safe to navigate.

Pillings Flood Lock was not quite level at both ends, I had to lift a paddle to drop the level all of 2 inches, then we moved onto the artificial cut that runs through Loughborough to Bishop’s Meadow.

We pulled in on the moorings at Miller’s Bridge after a couple of hours on the move. We’ve a Tesco delivery due to meet us at Little Moor Bridge, about 15 minutes away, tomorrow morning. Then we’ll head through the town, with a brief stop at B&Q, as you do…

Locks 3 (well 2¼ really), miles 4