Well, we all said that we needed rain and so today was wet! At first the weather was just very grey but before long the promised rain arrived and stayed with us until well after we had moored and were no longer interested in what was outside.
After Mike's excursion to Congerstone Church yesterday we knew that we could have a slow start as the service was not until 11.30. Whilst it was by then raining it was not heavy enough to make the walk a silly option but we did need to don waterproofs and Christine used her umbrella.
When we arrived at the church there were three people there - a number that doubled by the time worship began.
The church inside is fairly plan. When the west end was added to the church, no concern seems to have been made for how it looks from the nave and sightlines from many of the pews are quite restricted. It looks as if the main purpose was for the family box pews on the north wall as well as stalls for a choir that must have long since ceased to sing here.
In 2015 the lead from the roof was stolen and rain subsequently causes considerable damage. In 2017 the local paper reported that the church was now on the Historic England at risk register. Although a grant has now allowed the roof to be repaired there is still plenty yet to be done.
The church in Market Bosworth is the hub for a group of seven churches and is reasonably thriving. However, it will take some effort to establish a ling term plan to ensure the viability of the church in the other.
Back at the boat it was time for lunch after which we were somewhat tempted to keep the doors closed and the rain at bay. However, as there are no locks to contend with, Mike opted to wrap up well and complete the final five miles to the end of the canal.
We continued to pass signs that indicate where spaces are reserved for the Shackerstone Festival next weekend and we also saw some if the fields where work has started in putting up marquees fopr some of the events.
Towards the end of the canal we passed through Snarestone Tunnel. Although it was built as wide as, say, Braunston or Newbold Tunnels, this one has a slight kink in the middle and so it is restricted to one way working - just in case boats meet at the critical point and become stuck. At least today there was no-one coming from the other direction - but it is not easy for a steerer to see through until the boat is already on its way into the tunnel portal.
The canal never made it to Ashby or the River Trent, which were parts of the original business plan, but it did end a little further on at Moira, in the heart of the Leicestershire Coal Field. The main traffic on the canal was indeed coal which headed to other industrial centres especially Birmingham and London. The deep mining led to significant subsidence and the canal company eventually gave up trying to sustain traffic from Moira to Snarestone and in the 1950's that part was abandoned.
Restoration is an active goal and, thanks to funding from the Coal Board ten years ago, that compensated for the impact of mining on an area, the northern part near Moira was fully restored but only as far as just north of Measham, leaving a gap of a few miles. With the long term commitment of Leicestershire County Council, restoration work is being undertaken, albeit very slowly. When we last visited here in 2013, only a few metres beyond the main basin at Snarestone had been completed although we could see where the line of the canal ran beyond that. The next main obstacle is to replace a short aqueduct of the Gilwiskaw Brook. Again, this is a new build so cannot be funded from the same Heritage funds that support the restoration of the main canal bed. Beyond that, a new route will have to be adopted where the original line has now been used for other purposes.
In 2016, a two or three hundred metre section was completed, including a farm accommodation bridge. As this was a new build, rather than the restoration of an original bridge, it had been built to modern standards allowing present day large farm equipment to be carried across. As a result, the old weight limit sign which was found and re-attached, does not describe the present limits! In any event we are not sure what 'ponderous carriages' might wish to cross over.
We moored on the visitor moorings just after bridge 61 rather than pass through the light foot swing bridge into the new section as where we chose was one of the few that could see the tv signal rather than large trees.
4.9 Miles - 0 Locks
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