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CanalCuttings Your free online-world British Inland Waterways, Narrowboat, River Cruiser, Canal Boat Magazine, Info Source and Britain's & Narrowoat Holiday Guide.
Information and features about canals and their usage - We're not just a Narrowboat Magazine. The website includes River and Inland Waterways information.
(Market) Harborough Arm of the Grand Union Canal (Leicester Line)
The Market Harborough Arm of the Grand Union Canal was the site for the very
first IWA National Rally in 1950 at its terminus Harborough Basin
We cruised the Market Harborough Arm in May 2008 and found it is lock free
for its entire length of just under 6 miles, from Foxton to Market Harborough.
A pretty canal that follows the contours along hillsides with great views (over
the hedges) across eastern areas of Leicestershire.
The old canal basin at Market Harborough has, over the first few years of
the 21st century, become a 'hub of artistic and cultural activity' as BW describes
it since it was renamed "Union Wharf". The old buildings reflect the
fact that the canal was once a hive of activity and now somehow retaining that
busy feel even though the old timber merchant's warehouses have been converted
into desirable residences, with a canal basin view.
Non-boating visitors can still watch the boats winding in the basin, mooring,
taking on water and moving off again. An ideal place to talk to boaters with
a variety of craft, from big wide-beam steel boats to small narrowboats and GRP
cruisers. To see how easy it is to get afloat just watch out for the Canaltime
hire craft leaving the Canaltime Hire Centre with crews that have just had a
few minutes 'briefing', nervously edging out into the Market Harborough Arm.
There is the Century Union Inn, a renovated and interesting 18th century building,
where you can sit back and absorb the modern Union Wharf's atmosphere or contemplate
the history of the working canal basin.
 Market Harborough town centre is about quarter of an hour's walk, down hill
from Union Wharf on Leicester Road. Just behind St Dionysius Church, near the
Old Grammar School Market building you will find the Council Offices, that house
the Tourist Information Office and an interesting, free entry, local history
museum.
At about half a mile, just off the Springfield Road, St Mary's Place there
is a nice little shopping area with both Sainsbury's and Wilkinsons stores.
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