Kilby Bridge

Here I am Rune

Distance 8.1 miles

Total 1479 Locks 72 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2110.7 miles 

Whilst I’m not generally a fan of Autumn since everything is dying off I have to say that when travelling in this sort of weather I can begin to see why people enthuse about it. Autumn to me means rain and wind but at the moment we seem to be having a proper ‘Indian Summer’ with some of the best weather we’ve had all year.

We achieved our goal of getting to Kilby Bridge today although it was 12 locks and 8 miles, so 20 ‘lock miles’, a bit more than our general ‘potter along’ sort of day. 

We were joined for some of the way by a couple of blokes who had hired their boat from Pilings Lock marina so we shared half a dozen or so locks but then they decided that they’d probably come far enough and turned around. Everything today seemed to go pretty well, not particular dramas and when we got to Kilby Bridge the 48 hour mooring area was empty. We decided to top up with water and empty the elsan before mooring and by that time two other boats had arrived.

I think we may possibly be here until about Friday.   

Leicester (2)

Here I am Rune

Distance 0 miles

Total 1467 Locks 72 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2102.6 miles

A day spent exploring around Leicester including the visit to Welford Road cemetery to try to locate some ancestors graves, not an entirely successful enterprise although we did find one group of family graves.

Tomb of Richard III

Later we wandered into Leicester City Centre who are clearly marketing their links with Richard III heavily. We went into the cathedral to view the tomb and also to appreciate the Cathedral itself and then a walk around the nearby streets which are now all pedestrianised, the crew remembers them as traffic choked so it’s a bit of an improvement.

Tomorrow probably on to Kilby Bridge.   

Leicester

Here I am Rune

Distance 9.1 miles

Total 1467 Locks 72 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2102.6 miles 

We achieved our plan of getting to Leicester City Centre and are currently moored on the visitor moorings at Castle Gardens. There was a measure of luck involved since when we arrived all of the available spaces were taken and it looked as though we may have to moor on the towpath side of the canal however the first boat we came across in the moored boats was ‘Milly M’ the boat used by Maffi who we had met previously in Birmingham at the end of last year (or beginning of this!). He had on display on the side of his boat a notice ‘Welcome to Moor Alongside’ so to take him at his word I asked if it was OK for us to do so, he agreed to it so rather than mooring on the towpath side we are now moored behind two locked on a mooring that should be reasonably secure.

Tomorrow the cunning plan will be to visit Welford Road Cemetery to see if we can locate some descendant’s graves with the move on to Kilby Bridge due to take place on Wednesday.   

Sileby Mill (2)

Here I am Rune

Distance 0 miles

Total 1459 Locks 72 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2093.5 miles 

A non-travelling day today, as expected, to enable the crew to make a visit to a local church, Christ Church at Mountsorrel where a couple of family baptisms had taken place. I have to say that for late September bordering on October the weather has been fantastic, in fact for the latter part of the afternoon we were back into shorts and sandals.

Tomorrow the plan is to head into Leicester city centre for a couple of nights mooring, it is however about 9 miles and 8 locks so we will have to see how we get on.

Sileby Mill

Here I am Rune

Distance 6.5 miles

Total 1459 Locks 72 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2093.5 miles 

Back on the move today and we have gone as far as Sileby Lock, although the original intention was to only go as far as Mountsorrel Lock but there was nowhere to moor there. The river/canal is getting quite busy, this was apparent before we set off since quite a few boats came past whilst we were moored in Loughborough. As we went through Barrow on Soar we stopped off for water and to empty the cassette. There are a lot of small boats around that area all being hired from Barrow boats. They seemed to all be having fun although I did have to push past a group on pedolos who were taking selfies at the top of a weir, with the best will in the world I don’t tend to want to mess around at the top of a weir!

Tomorrow we haven’t decided what the cunning plan is, whether to press on towards Leicester or to stay here and visit Mountsorrel where the crew wants to visit another churchyard, I suspect it will be the latter.

Loughborough (2)

Here I am Rune

Distance 0 miles

Total 1456 Locks 72 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2087 miles 

Today was just a day spent exploring around Loughborough with a trip to a local churchyard and a trip up the Loughborough Carillon. It is quite a modern construction having been built in 1923 and has 47 bells with the largest weighing over 4 tons! A trip up the tower gives a good overview of the town and from the top you can see the Ratcliffe Power Station that we passed a couple of days ago. It also contains a museum to the Leicestershire Yeomanry with a lot of information about their activities in World War 1.

Inside the carillon

Loughborough Carillon tower

Tomorrow we’ll move on, possibly down to Mountsorrel where the crew wants to visit another church connected to her family history work.