Saturday 16th December
We decided to set off about 9am. There were a few boats moored around us, all facing the opposite direction as they were waiting to go through Kings lock which was opening for a few hours today. The next time it is opening will be 22nd January and we are now planning to go back through and down to Braunston. We don't want to carry on the river Soar as it's prone to flooding and then it joins the Trent and Mersey which can be really problematic in Winter. We are headed for Leicester Marina today, where we plan to leave Prairie in safe hands until 18th January. We also hope to get the toilet fixed!
There had been a heavy frost overnight and the towpath was quite treacherous in places and parts of the canal were iced over. John is steering today and I am operating the locks with Dex.
I was struggling to keep up with John as it was so icy in places.
Dex soon made friends with any dogs he met along the way.
There were some nice canalside properties along the way.
At Aylestone Mill lock we saw this great artwork by the towpath. It is called Aylestone Globe MM and is by Richard Janes.
The lock gates were icy so we just opened one gate and operated one paddle so I didn't have to cross over the gates. It takes longer but is safer. You can see the flood safety marker shows amber which means proceed with caution.
We were breaking ice along this stretch.
You could tell we were approaching the centre of Leicester as the landscape became much more industrial.
The sight of this tent made me sad, they must be really struggling to survive in this cold.
We reached St Mary's Mill lock without any problems.
Soon after we reached Freeman's Meadow lock.
This is right next to Leicester city football ground.
We were now in the centre of Leicester.
There were quite a few weirs along this stretch of canal and no warning signs and it was quite tricky to work out which route to take. From a distance it looked like a bridge and it was only as we approached that we could see the water surging over the top. We had to turn sharp right to continue along the canal.
As we approached North lock this work boat was moored at the lock tie up point. Luckily the lock gate was open so we went straight in and I got off in the lock.
There was some great artwork and graffiti here.
Also a lot of rubbish in the lock.
John had to moor up and clear the prop soon after this lock as we had picked up a plastic bag.
At Limekiln lock there was a man feeding the birds and it was mobbed!
There was also a heron!
And more rubbish!
On through more industrial landscape.
Some of the old warehouses had been renovated and looked quite smart.
We saw the Wolsey tower
http://www.crosbyheritage.co.uk/location/leicester/wolsey-tower/
This Weir was just before the next lock, Belgrave lock.
We could see the National Space Centre nearby.
John asked me to check the flood warning marker.
It was in the red which meant "Do not proceed" Eek!
We just had this lock and one other to go through before reaching the Marina. John decided to phone Julie at the Marina as she knows the river well. She said that we could still pass but of course as the river was in flood, steering could be a bit tricky! But we didn't really have an option as we couldn't stay in the lock and with more rain forcasted, the river levels would only rise. So we carried on..
We could see that parts of the towpath were completely under water.
It was really difficult in places to work out where the canal edge had spilled over into fields. We tried to stick to the middle but the current was trying to push us to the side. It was a real trial for John to keep control of the boat.
I spotted another heron in flight.
We had reached the final lock of the day, Birstall lock.
The water level was really high, almost up to the sides of the lock.
No surprise to see the flood marker was red.
Not much further to go now..
We were so relieved to see the sign welcoming us into the Marina.
We called into the office to find out where we had to go. We also filled up with water here.
We needed to reverse into the spot between the cream and blue boats. I was glad John was in charge!
It was quite tricky manoeuvring with the ice.
But John got into the space without any problems. Yippee we have arrived!
