We had an important aim today that significantly affected our schedule - we were running perilously low on water. On addition we were almost at the point of needing to start using our third elsan cassette. This one is rarely used and bringing it out is an admission that we need to plan carefully!
There were two options we thought we knew about from last year but neither are on any maps, including the CaRT website. If they did not pan out then the nearest we could be sure about was right down at Barrow but even here our confidence level was not 100% because there had been reports a couple of weeks ago of problems here but nothing to say that they had been fixed.
And so we set off with every confidence that we would fix it all! But would it be misplaced confidence?
Our first option that would at least fulfil our most urgent need was the Visitor Mooring pontoons at Friars Mill, just a short distance from our overnight mooring. The problem here is that there is no designated Water Point, but taps on each of the service bollards.(It was planned that these would also supply an electric hook-up but They have never been activated for some reason. Perhaps they became available just as CaRT was beginning to review what services it should provide and what could be closed. Hence almost all of the showers, laundry and toilet facilities have been closed) Because there is no dedicated Water Point, we were dependent on not only our memory from last year but also that there would be room to tie up. As luck would have it, when we came around the corner we could see plenty of space and when we landed the first thing was to turn on a tap to check before tying up properly!
So that was the larger worry out of the way and we continued. The next part of the city which perhaps ten years ago was very run down and, to be honest, an eyesore. It has now been redeveloped - nearing its completion - and even the developers on the website for the remaining properties admits that. On both sides the properties are three storey and quite densely packed. Nevertheless, they are not cheap - £400K for three bedrooms and £500K for four.
At today's first lock - North Lock - we were again lucky as a CaRT work boat was just leaving the lock after having to run water down up the next pound which had seriously emptied overnight with the bottom gates at Lime Kiln being left open. The crew kindly worked us through. This was especially welcome as the towpath and lock landing is unusually high above the normal water level, making it quite tricky to get on and off from the boat. Strangely, the only feature we managed to photo was anew mural on the side of an old industrial building. Something much less striking was there last year.
We did manage a picture to show just how low the water level was - we were advised to keep to the middle - and this was after extra water had been run down.
And so to Memory Lane. We stopped overnight here last year, even though Adam subsequently let us know that these are supposed, in time, to become residential moorings. The work seems nearer completion than last year and the end patch nearest the main line of navigation has been worked on to provide Boaters Facilities (the sign is clear but the facility has yet to appear on CaRT's online map) Unfortunately the small compound that has recently been built appeared only to contained rubbish disposal bins and was labelled Customer Waste, So where was the elsan? We knew that there was one accessible from the pontoons so we went there. As we were leaving the workboat arrived back and the crew told us that the Customer Waste does include an elsan disposal option but it was not easy to see without very close inspection, hidden behind the bins! Still, it is great that there is the full range of the Boater Facilities that CaRT now consider their responsibility. Leicester has long suffered from a lack, deterring any effort to restore confidence in boaters to stop over here.
And we did eventually spot a very small notice that said Residential Moorings Coming Soon - but it was rather faded!
A boat as coming up Lime Kiln Lock - we think we had seen them earlier on this trip. They bought the boat last year during the drought and moved aboard but this is the first time that they have really ventured to cruise any distance. They seemed very pleased with their choice!
Below the lock, suddenly our engine started to struggle and we lost any forward momentum. This was not the first time we have picked up rubbish here. For some reason this is now almost the only stretch of the canal through the city where the water and the surroundings still need some serious attention. Opening the weed hatch - first time this year - it was apparent that we had picked up some sort of insulated jacket, the innards filled with kapok stuffing. This can be one of the worst things, other than a spool of barned wire, to clear as by the time you stop it is firmly wrapped around. We do now keep a particular type of patio knife with a long handle and can use that to pull the offending mass apart, but by bit. It took around 45 minutes, par for the course for this type of item.
We stopped on the mooring rings just above Belgrave Lock to have lunch. We did not linger as we knew that we had to make some distance to find an overnight mooring. Birstall is next and in the past we have found that particularly popular. Just before we were ready to leave one of the boats that was moored at Castle Gardens last night came by, a single hander. As we approached the lock he was only just preparing to descend but kindly spotted us and re-opened a top gate.
We were now on the River Soar proper which will last until we join the River Trent, except for the Loughborough Cut.
Thurcaston Road Bridge dates from the 15C and now only buses and taxis are allowed to use it. It has several arches, each a different size and only one is navigable. Two arches are clearly labelled No Entry - let's hope that no-one thinks that they can try to squeeze through the two smallest ones!
The Leicester Outdoor Activity Centre looks splendid but alas nothing was happening today. Through the trees we could just see some enormous timber frames. Far too high for Mike's sanity even to contemplate using them!
The river was very bendy and all too often encroaching vegetation meant constant attention to weave the boat around and avoid knocking anything, including the steerer, into the water. Eventually the long overflow weir, prosaically labelled as structure 14A, heralded our arrival at Birstall Lock, just behind the boat from Belgrave. Although he lives in Leicester Marina, a short distance further down, he was planning on mooring just below, as also were we. he assured us that there would be plenty of room - and he was right, even though there was not much left after we had both tied up!
3.9 Miles - 4 Locks
No comments:
Post a Comment