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The Leicester Line - Grand
Union Canal -
Leicester Branch - Navigable River Soar
From the junction at Soar Mouth on the River Trent to
Norton Juction on the
GUC Main Line.
We cruised the Leicester Line north to south from Soar Mouth on the River
Trent to Norton Junction in the spring of 2008 as part of our summer cruise.
The River Soar Navigation is controlled by a number of flood locks and weirs
south on the way 'up' through Loughborough to Leicester and navigation is suitable
for widebeam craft up to 14feet wide as far as Foxton Locks. The wide locks are
hard work even when you pace yourself. Some had paddles that were broken or missing
making lock operation very time consuming. The amount of rubbish in the navigation,
particularly around weirs was horrible to see but it was early in the cruising
season so maybe British Waterways or The Environment Agency hadn't got started
on their clean-up.
We were hoping to visit the museum in Kegworth, about 1km from Kegworth Flood
Lock, but when we phoned ahead we just got their answer-machine, so we moved
on towards our next port of call, Loughborough.
After two nights in Loughborough
Basin we cruised down to Leicester over the
next two days, pumping out and taking on diesel at Raynsway Marina, where we
were made to feel welcome.
The first views of Leicester gave us a sighting of the National Space Centre,
looming up in the east like a big silver chrysalis. Then passing through run-down
industrial areas with silted up shallow sections of canalised River Soar Navigation.
Coming into the centre of the city things cheered up a bit as we passed under
the ornate west bridge and started looking in earnest for our moorings.
Our first night in Leicester we moored downstream of the westbridge foot bridge
on the mooring rings, almost opposite the BW Castle Gardens Visitor Moorings, which
were fully occupied, but when morning came one of the craft had left so we moved
accross to the floating pontoons, had breakfast and headed off into Leicester
to see the sights.
Leicester has a few free
to enter museums and we enjoyed our 48 hours (max) on
the BW Castle Gardens Moorings.
Moving on we passed through the next 24 wide locks and the 875m of the Saddingworth
Tunnel. Passing through this part of central south Leicestershire took us three
days as we were not in a hurry, and the weather wasn't too kind either, but things
brigtened up for the lock free cruise into Market Harborough on the Harborough
Arm (Canal) where we stayed for 48 hours just outside the basin, visiting the
free Harborough Museum - well worth the visit.
Next came our cruise back to Foxton
Locks and our supprisingly speedy passage
through the ten locks in two staicases of five each and a pleasant lock free day's
cruising down through Husbands Bosworth Tunnel at over a kilometer long to the
Welford
Arm with its solitary lock just before the quaint village and welcoming
BW
Welford Wharf and another 48 hour stop, enabling us to take a walk or two
and chill out.
Next we then cruised down to Crick a full week before the BW Crick Boat Show,
which we intended to miss, as we have to be in London some time this summer.
We moored up almost within sight of the Crick Tunnel, just beyond the Crick Wharf
BW Services. Besides visiting the local Post Office and the Late Shop, we climed
Cracks
Hill.
After passing through the very wet Crick Tunnel, just over 1500m, we cruised
on to the last locks on the Leicester Line at Watford Lock Flight; seven locks
that droped us 16m, taking us about 45 minutes and about 2 miles further to Norton
Junction joining the Grand Union Main Line, heading south.
