Foxton Staircase - Saturday 11th June

This morning Wendy and Mark joined us for the trip up the Foxton Staircase Locks so when they arrived I went up and found the Lock Keeper to book us in. There were only our two boats going up and one to come down so Autumn Years went first and we followed with the boat coming down having to wait for us in the middle where there is a small pound.

Here at the bottom of the locks, to the left is the Market Harborough Arm and next to it the entrance to where the Inclined Plane would have operated in days gone by. The entrance to the first lock has a pub on either side but hopefully nobody will be drunk when they go up.

Autumn Years can just be seen through the lock gate going up in the lock in front of us. In a  Staircase flight the bottom gate of the one lock is the top gate of the one below.

June, Wendy and Mark are operating the locks remembering the import nmuemonic “Red before White and you are all right” and “White before Red and your Dead” being the order to open the paddles otherwise the water will not be used correctly from the side pounds.

We moored up at the top lock and went for a cooked breakfast at the café which was enjoyed by us all.

Opposite our mooring this signet was cuddling up to its mom on the nest. It was very small so must have been only a few days old. No this is not our horse power but a model of the horse which would have been used in days gone by.

After our breakfast we motored 5 miles to Husbands Bosworth Tunnel where Mark and Wendy left us to walk back to their car at Foxton. We continued on to Welford Junction where we moored up for the day and watched this plane towing up the gliders throughout the afternoon.  The Marina at North Kilworth at last looks as though some progress is being made with shuttering going in around the edges.

After lunch I walked down the arm to Welford where the towpath is diverted around the back of the marina to allow them to gain access to the canal.

At the end of the arm I found the Micron Theatre Boat moored next to the Cheese Boat. I am not sure where they were performing today.

I then went up to the Welford Reservoir which feeds the arm and took a short stroll around it. There were some nice views of the village and the surrounding countryside from the dam.