Kilby Bridge to Foxton Top Lock (Gumley Road bridge)
Saturday 13th August
Tandem manoeuvres with nb Kiewa...
We had intended to come to the boat on Friday, then that changed to Saturday morning, but we were worn out and had stuff to do at home so we delayed our journey until Saturday afternoon. The moorings at Kilby Bridge were now jam-packed – even on the offside. I guess it’s a knock-on effect of the stoppages as boats are getting temporarily stranded by the early lock closures. We got the hounds on board – Ty joined us this weekend – much to his horror – I’m afraid it was valium all round – Ty for his nerves (only when boating) and Lou for relaxing her spasming muscles – she’s been in a lot of pain this week.
We’d got essential supplies on the way up – it’s very useful having decent food shops in motorway service stations! But we fancied a takeaway and, as we had the car, went off to South Wigston in search of a chinese – there’s quite a selection and we had a great cantonese meal on board.
Sunday 14th August
We had some targets today – the first was to get past Kibworth Top Lock (No. 18) – the last of the locks affected by the restrictions; the second was to get to the top of the Foxton locks by the end of the day.
We started out early with fine weather on our side. We soon picked up a locking partner – nb Kiewa. She seemed familiar and as we got talking to their genial crew we realised that she was an ex-boatshare boat – years ago she was moored next to Dragonfly (our own Boatshare boat) at the Heritage marina on the Macclesfield – small world!
It's a very efficient way of moving between locks along a short pound...
Nb Kiewa’s crew had had a difficult holiday – the lady of the boat had hurt her ankle badly (ligaments but not bones broken) at one of the locks and they’d had to call an ambulance to help her. Later they brested up to a narrowboat at the fully-occupied Castle moorings in Leicester so that the lady of the boat could come back from hospital (on crutches). Their narrowboat neighbour (who shall be nameless – it’s not our tale to tell) took exception to their being brested up and tried to cast them adrift when they weren’t looking. It was a despicable thing to do, especially on a river navigation where a boat adrift could end up over a weir.
Sharon and Steve proved to be very good locking partners and we had a convivial and efficient trip up to Kibworth. This stretch is very scenic so Lou and Lynx had multiple rummages and, where we had to wait for locks, it was quiet enough to tempt Ty off for a bobble (on lead) though he’d much rather cower inside!
Water levels were generally low, even this early in the cruising day – I guess it must be pretty bad later on after a few boat movements. The pound below Kibworth was so low that nb Kiewa grounded yards away from the side and Indigo Dream scraped along, barely missing the bottom, even mid-channel. It was a sobering experience – the lock-keeper had photos of the reservoirs that supply the canal – two are dry, two are in water – just. It’s a desperate situation and hard to take in when it’s been such a wet July/August – or maybe that’s just Surrey!
Note: we’ve just seen a stoppage notice dated 25th August advising boats over 2′ 4″ deep NOT to navigate this section – Indigo Dream is 2′ 3″! It seems likely that the whole section will be closed to navigation sometime in the next few weeks.
As we ascended Kibworth second lock we were joined by a dad and his four kids – they cheekily asked for a lift and were charming enough for us to agree. It was a real tonic after the riots – a family enjoying a simple walk along the canal – they cadged a lift down with one boat and came back up with us. The kids said they’d had a “brilliant day” – so there is hope for the future after all….
There is a long lock-free section past Kibworth top so we left nb Kiewa behind and headed for Foxton. This section is lovely with prominent ‘ridge and furrow’ fields – marks of centuries of cultivation.
Fabulous views (1)....
We passed Debdale marina – it has to be the most discreet marina on the network – screened by trees, the neat entrance belies the size of the basin beyond.
Foxton was a shocker – the canal was quiet and rural right up to bridge 62 then it opened out into a junction/basin occupied by thousands (no exaggeration) of miscellaneous people and their associated noise – the hooting of the trip boat’s horn, the dubious Johny Cash tribute band at the pub and the chatter of the crowds. Ty was horrified – I wasn’t too chuffed myself – I do like a quiet life! We slotted in behind a boat at the mooring bollards on the right beyond the bridge – there were boats moored all around the basin so it was difficult to see who was in the queue and who was just moored up for the night. Richard went off to ‘register’ with the lock-keeper and we were told that there would be around an hour’s wait and that we would be second in the queue.
Foxton is unique in so many ways – there’s obviously the engineering wonder of the staircases and, somewhere around here, the remnants of the inclined plane, then there are the crowds!
Richard took Ty off for a walk away from the basin while I took Lou and Lynx off to try and find the site of the inclined plane. We never got there – I was daunted by the thought of pushing through the hordes on the narrow lock bridge with two large hounds in tow. As it happens we never got as far as the locks (or the inclined plane!) – so many people wanted to talk to/admire/fuss the greyhounds that we never got further than 10 yards from the boat!
As the end of the hour drew near, the crew of nb Kiewa caught up with us (they’d moored up and were going through Foxton tomorrow) – they had a tour of our boat and were sensible enough to admire her extravagantly – top people! We had more visitors later – the crew of nb Panacea, who we’ve met many times on St Pancras Cruising Club convoys on the Thames. It was good to see them again – they were also dashing down to London to take part in September’s tideway adventure – Panacea is looking very smart, having been repainted last year.
The hordes at Foxton bottom....
So the hour passed quickly and we were off. The lock-keepers are very jolly – the bottom lock-keeper told me about polishing his brasses – I told him that life was too short for polishing brass – “sex and alcohol” he replied cryptically – hmmm, was that a request or an invitation I wondered 🙂 Neither as it turned out – merely a list of the things in life that are worth spending time on!
If you have never seen a staircase then it is simply a collection of locks where the back gate of one lock is the front gate on the one before, very efficient in speed terms and saves water whilst boats are all travelling in the same direction. The paddles are a little less straightforward than in single locks but there are usually clear directions at the lock. In this case, once you get into the first lock, always open the red paddle first, this starts water getting into the lock from the balancing side pound. Once the boat in front has cleared the lock above then you can open the white paddle to drain the lock above – that sends water into the side pound and tops up the lock you are in. Once levels equalise you open the gates, shut the paddles, shut the gates and do the same again. There are 2 staircases of 5 locks, so 10 locks in all but they’re so efficient that you can get up to the top in around 45 minutes. Rumour has it that the England Rugby team did in something silly like 26 minutes! If you have never seen a staircase then there is a virtual model of half of Foxton here: http://www.foxtonlocks.com/sections/kids/flashgame.php The aim is to get a score of over a 1000.
Waiting for the staircase locks is a pain, but once you’re in the ascent is smooth and quick – the side-pound operation meant that numerous boats could work through without leaving the preceeding boats stranded. The crowds and noise continued unabated – I’ve never seen so many gongoozlers – one boy offered his services as relief crew and worked hard on the paddles – we gave him and his family a lift up the last two locks as a ‘thank you’. Like most places on the canal network, people are friendly, interested and it is a great day out. There were charity buskers all along the flight – of variable quality – but it’s undoubtedly a good place to stand with a collecting tin!
The gap between the two staircases is very awkward – there was a boat in the short pound, waiting to go down. They’d secured the boat with a centre rope but their front drifted out, leaving me no room to exit the locks neatly – inevitably their back then came out as I passed and it was a choice of scraping them or the lock. As one passing through, I’d advise holding your boat front and back if you’re stuck in the short pound!
We soon got to the top – the view is spectacular. We moored up for water at one of the many points – the water pressure wasn’t very good, but that was in our favour as it gave Richard time to offload his bike as I scouted out the moorings. It was 5pm-ish and there were one or two spaces between top lock and the bridge, but there were many more spaces beyond the bridge (though these filled up later). There were a few ‘commercial’ boats selling their wares on the towpath, giving the place a bit of a “leave via the gift shop” feel. Many more boats arrived at the top of the flight as I filled with water – it was doubtful whether they would go down the flight today – judging from the comments I overheard I suspect that the water points would be used as overnight moorings.
Gaggle of gongoozlers...
Foxton is undoubtedly a marvel and a definite must-do, but I found it a bit overwhelming on such a busy day – I’d love to come back here on a quieter day and have more space/leisure to explore….
Richard headed off to get the car and I watched the water tank – it took a while! When it was full, I decided to move the boat to a mooring beyond the bridge. I judged that this would be better for Ty as the numerous passersby between the locks and the bridge were rubbing on his nerves. I had some difficulty in mooring – there’s a good stretch of armco but the canal was shallow. In the end I managed to poke Indigo Dream’s nose into the bank and left the back grounded about six inches out – within acceptable leaping distance for the arthritic Lou and clumsy Ty!
Boats continued to arrive and I had a chance to observe the whole spectrum of boating life as a ‘drunken sailor’, meandering all over the canal, was followed by a prissy shiny boat complaining mightily about his behaviour. I found that I had sympathy for both parties – we hate being behind erratic boaters, but the drunken helmsman was cheerfully charming (as many drunks are!). A boat moored a little way up had lost his cat – she had leapt for the bank as they were mooring, missed, ended up in the canal and subsequently disappeared – the distressed crew were searching both banks and water but they hadn’t found it by the time we left.
In the meantime, Richard was toiling back to Kilby Bridge along narrow and uneven towpaths, narrowly avoiding falling off his bike on several occasions. On the most notable occasion, the towpath was blocked by a middle-aged couple locked in a passionate embrace – Richard tells me he almost fell in the canal because they, and their dog, were obstructing the way………he wasn’t at all distracted by the sight of the very fine pair of breasts on display as the lady bent down to hold her dog 🙂
When he got back we decamped quickly – for future reference, there is a rubbish point at the BW car park!
We had the usual tedious trip through the M1 roadworks but we were buoyed by the fact that we are travelling ever southward and the commute will become easier as the weekends pass…..
Photoblog:
Fabulous views (2)....
Hitch-hikers! Oh, and the detail on nb Kiewa's prow - I like that design...
Isn't this beautiul?
"The canine carrying co" - that's should be written on the side of our boat!
The discreet entrance to Debdale marina...
Trip boat Vagabond plying its trade near Foxton...
nb Panacea looking very smart....
Deep staircases are so imposing...
Another view from the top...
Great views and see the flow into the side-pound below - very clever....
Now, how's this for an idea - if every visitor bought a 2l bottle of water with them and poured it in at the top then maybe these locks could stay open for longer this season...
