Northampton Guildhall gallery










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Leicester to Shardlow - river navigation!

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As I mentioned in my last post, in Leicester the canal joins the river Soar. The Soar then heads north and joins the Trent near Nottingham. I was advised not to stop anywhere after the city centre until I got to Birstall, a village to the north of Leicester.  It was another hot day and at the lock in Birstall, there was another - this time larger - group of kids playing in and around the lock. They were a little bit more unruly than the previous lot. It was like herding cats keeping them from climbing all over the lock gates, getting in my way and even jumping on the boat (one did manage it at the end). Onlookers on the bridge were amused by all this, but I was quite stressed.  Fortunately the visitor moorings just after the lock were very nice. They are located right where the river joins again after having gone over a weir.  Birstall - lock to the right, weir to the left Unfortunately, my time on the Soar coincided with quite a lot of rain and I got a taster of what the...
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Very mixed weather and lots of solo locking - Tring to Stoke Bruerne

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After Sabine left me, my single-handing started in earnest. First of all it started with a day off as it rained most of the day. In the afternoon as the rain cleared, I cycled up to the Ashridge Estate. A hill that was quite challenging for a flatlander from London. But I was rewarded with the most amazing bluebell carpets. Ashridge Estate. The canal is somewhere behind the white building centre-left. So the next day I pushed on. I was aiming to catch up with the Idle Women tour again in Stoke Bruerne on the weekend. The first feature of the day was the Marsworth locks, six in a row. I was lucky to be able to share the locks with a local boater, who also had a few tips for me. Mid-lock flight we were also joined by two lock volunteers, who did everything for us. Just sit back, relax and occasionally potter on to the next lock. Amazing! First time on this trip sharing a lock I did another 8 locks on the day and all of these sadly on my own. It was very pretty though ...
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River valley on the way to the potteries - Trent & Mersey Canal

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At Great Haywood Junction we joined the Trent & Mersey Canal. The Staffs & Worcs and the Trent & Mersey have quite different characters. The Staffs & Worcs is often framed by woods and runs in cool shady cuttings, which was very nice in this hot weather. The Trent & Mersey on the other hand runs through the Trent river valley in this area, which means wide views over the valley and its water meadows, a very peaceful scenery. River valley with wildlife White geese (or ducks?) for a change Water meadows Part of this journey was going through the little town of Stone with its eight locks. The locks were OK, but deep and they had very narrow bridges over them. My mild bridge anxiety was back. Unnecessarily as they were all high enough. And fortunately the width of narrowboats is standardised. Bridge at lock entrance Locking in Stone with an audience Stone lock with turnover bridge Canalside brewery in Stone We had a ...
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