With yet another sizzler in the forecast we made and early start and were away by 7.30. Not yet too hot but a completely clear sky left no doubt about what was in store later.
Zouch Cut is quite short and is largely part of a complex flood control system to defend the houses lining the waterway. Under the main road (currently closed whilst repairs are made to a bridge over the unnavigable part of the river) are flood gates, These will be closed and padlocked in the event of a flood.
The bypass weir - that comes out just below Zouch Lock -has a slightly unusual radial gate that is raised or lowered as needed.
This group of cattle seemed to be huddling together, not for warm, but shade! Some are luckier than others.
When the flood gates are in operation, no boats can pass downstream (why might they want to?) and a safety dolphin mooring is in place a short way upstream. It is to be hoped that reading the 'instructions' is not that important as the tiny print is still all but unreadable up close!
The garden pod looks like a deep sea diving bell readying itself for a drop to the tremendous depth of 2 or 4 metres into the Soar!
About mid-point is Normanton with its distinctive church spire. We thought that we might not be lucky with a photo as the sun was almost behind it but the river changed direction just as needed.
The river is now very serene (at least when not in flood, for which it is notorious) and appears to be remarkably visitor friendly.
We eventually arrived at Bishops Meadow Lock - both top and bottom gates proved a bit stubborn to make a level but Mike was ably helped by a passing dog walked, keen to lend a hand. Above the lock we stopped to fill with water as the tap at Loughborough Basin is a bit awkward to access.
The bridge still gives rise to confusion as it remains named 'Swing Bridge Bridge' on the basis that once it was a swing bridge and the narrow road over the top is called 'Swingbridge Road'. It looks as if a vehicle was not too careful in crossing - there is a sharp bend on the right hand side.
At Loughborough Lock a lady spoke to Mike and asked about how it worked, saying that she has never had a chance to work one. Mike never needs a second chance when given such an offer and she did almost all of the work for him. At the end, as she left she told Christine that she had really enjoyed herself.
As the boat was coming up, Christine reported that there was a strange sound when she put the engine into gear. Initially we suspected something around the prop so as soon as the lock was full and the boat steady, Mike set about accessing the weed hatch. As he did so he eliminated another option - that the hatch plate had worked loose - it sometimes does if not tightened enough. But a probe around the prop with the trusty patio knife brought up nothing.
At this point Mike spotted in the bilges under the engine that the air filter had come undone and was lying on the floor together with its plastic cover plate. Two years ago in Macclesfield and engineer looking at our batteries noticed it loose and suggested holding it in place with some strong gaffer tape. T his has worked well ever since but it may be that when the boat was serviced over the winter, that engineer did not realise the significance of the tape and left it unattached. The best we could find on board was some parcel tape but that will not last long so something stronger will have to be sourced quite soon.
We continued then the short distance into Loughborough Basin where all the moorings were free and we tied up so that we could go across the road to Sainsbury for a store's top-up. We also hoped to use the elsan disposal point that we used on the way up last month but found it now inaccessible. What is going on?
As we were only across the road, our minimum shopping list was somewhat extended to include a few heavier items (eg box of cans of diet coke!)
Back at the boat we soon decided to move a short way around the corner to moor very close to a large B&Q. It was so close and so large that it took about the same time to get to the entrance as then to walk around the store, Fortunately sticky tape was close to the entrance (but not so close to the exit!)
It was not a bad mooring, if needing pins, and certainly better than the basin (which is looking ever more unloved by the day, not helped by a very noisy construction site along one side)
This gave us plenty of time to decide whether to complete our target for the day or to stay put. Mike also prepared the Cottage Pie for tonight's meal. In the end, just after 5 we upped pins and set off again - still quite hot but less oppressive, especially with a little breeze over the water.
We passed TS Venemous, a branch of the Sea Cadets - no action this evening.
No real photo opportunities as by now the sun was in entirely the wrong direction - as this photo of the last bridge shows.
Our final mooring was just before Pillings Lock - the unusual Armco is not designed for mooring but the ground readily accepted pins.
3.9 Miles - 2 Locks
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