Zouch

Today's Navigations : Loughborough Cut, River Soar, Zouch Cut

Having decided not to pursue our original plan of attending Normanton Church that sits right beside the river, we opted for All Saints, Loughborough Parish Church, a shortish walk from the basin. As the service did not start until 10:45. we had a chance to get up slowly!

As we wa;ked to the church we could hear the bells being rung but only had any view of it from close up. The building dates back to the 14th century and is one of the largest in the county. 

Inside the church has been adapted for present day needs and has a substantial seating capacity. (New seat cushions were in use today for the first time!) The height of the nave is impressive - if perhaps making heating a tad expensive!

The service was quite conventional - the music was 'proper' but could do with a little bit more liveliness about it. All the hymns were already around (and dated) in our youth. It was all conducted in an efficient and relaxed manner.

The parish has made a particular bid to meet needs of the very diverse communities that have come to occupy the town, mostly since we were here. The variety of native mother tongues amongst the congregation and the wider community was recognised. An app is provided with 'simultaneous' translation of the liturgy into quite a number of different languages.

As we walked back we made a brief detour into the former churchyard where an early Rectory remains (now a museum). Parts date back to 13C and the manor house of which it was part was home to the rector until mid 20C.

There was also a wicker bell, installed after a large event in 2023 to celebrate the town's long association the bells and the bell foundry, and was made by a local artist to represent Great Paul, a nearly 17 ton bell cast at Taylors for St Paul's Cathedral in London and remains the largest  bell in current use in the UK.

We returned to the boat just after 12:30 but in the heat neither of us felt like having lunch just yet. We quickly changed into 'boat' clothes and cast off from the mooring pontoon. However, the boat that had been moored on the other side of the pontoon had moved temporarily to the water point. This reduced the amount of room for us to manoeuvre and turn towards the exit from the basin. Mike opted at one point in the process to back into the vacant space to gain a better turning circle.

Alas as he did so there was a sudden change in the engine sound and the prop only shot water sideways and not backwards. We managed to come alongside the non-mooring side of the basin in order to investigate the weed hatch. Turned out to be a mixed bag of plastic in many different forms but it did come away much more easily than that at Lime Kiln.

By the time we ready to try again the boat on the waterpoint had moved back to its pontoon but also another boat had arrived and occupied the space we had earlier vacated. It was still tricky to make the turn but in the end we managed without running into another boat!

As we passed the bridge across Loughborough Junction (underneath goes back towards Leicester) a small boat emerged. Its size and shape brought back fond memories of Fiona that we had in the late Sixties but sold in 1971 as we had by then moved to the North East - not a lot of connected canals! Of course this one will have been made from sterner material than ours (marine plywood)

At the first Lock, Loughborough Lock, it was already being filled by the crew from one of the Le Marchant charity boats out on a trip form its base just to the south of the town.

A notable former lock cottage stands alongside having long since passed into private ownership and now has no connection with the lock.

Just above Bishop Meadow Lock we paused to fill our water tank. As it was quite empty we also had time for lunch. Christine also chatted to a member of CaRT staff in the adjacent compound area. It seems that the facilities we saw part constructed last year are now designated for use only by moorers living on the nearby long term moorings. This is despite the fact that waste disposal is still listed here on the CaRT website. The conversation revealed that a growing number of boaters are perceiving difficulties with the way in which the new facilities policy is being implemented. There was also a suggestion that those at Trent Lock at the start of the Erewash have either been or about to be removed, despite the advice posted at Barrow Mill. Like the one at the previous lock, the Cottage here has long been privately owned.

Once the tank was filled we made our way to the lock which remained full from the trip boat. A boat arrived below and the crew asked whether we were going down before they emptied it. Made life a bit easier for us.

We next passed Normanton where at one stage we thought about going to the church this morning, but the lack of access rom the river made it not possible. The village is basically a short ribbon development with most properties between the Main Street and the river bank. The first part are largely single storey properties, close to the water, with some measure of flood protection ie built on short pillars. We do not know whether they have planning consent for year-round occupation or are more holiday and leisure use.

The middle section, including the church, contains much larger properties with frontages to moor narrowboats or larger river cruisers.

We did not get the best pictures of these properties because we were really on the lookout for the best view of the church. The vegetation has grown significantly since most well-used publicity photos were taken and good open views are rare. This is about the best we caught this time.

The third section returns to the small wooden structures but in between there is a boat club and a pub - lots of small unpowered craft in action. we had to be super careful as a line of stand up paddle boards was strung out across the full width of the river and none of the riders took one glance behind them. Their shocked surprise when we almost caught up with them  betrayed a worrying lack of awareness and, indeed, water safety.

Next came Zouch Cut, a short canal section that starts with a large radial sluice used to control water flows. Just after 15:30, the heat overwhelmed us and we took a mooring shortly before the lock at the end of the cut. These are good moorings that we have used several times before.

3.8 Miles - 2 Locks