Law of nature

0 Locks, 6 Miles, and now moored at bridge 14 Mkt Harborough
Total of 195 locks and 189¹/₂ miles and 5 Tunnels since 5th Nov 2006


After 2 nights at a very pleasant mooring just north of bridge 70 it was time to move on. On the way we called in to Debdale wharf for diesel at 46p per litre.
On our journey north last week we had seen 4 Canadian geese in a farm field however today on passing the same spot we noticed only 3 geese. It wasn’t until we had travelled another 100 yards or so when we spotted grey feathers in several places followed by the grim discovery of the mutilated carcass of goose number 4. It must have fallen prey to a fox or a mink because the carcass had been well and truly stripped clean.
As we were cruising along very slowly we were not stirring up the mud which meant occasionally we saw fish in amongst the reeds including a jack pike looking for his lunch. Even our presence did not seem to worry him.
We stopped at the water point near the Foxton flight before carrying on to our present mooring. We will see what moorings are available nearer the basin in the morning and decide on staying put or moving.
The following two photos were taken alongside the canal between the Foxton Lock flight and Union Wharf at Market Harborough.

Gypsy horses and foals

Beef on the hoof.

What happened to Spring.

5 Locks, 3 Miles, and 1 Tunnel now moored back at bridge 70
Total of 195 locks and 183¹/₂ miles and 5 Tunnels since 5th Nov 2006

Cranes lock is not a good overnight mooring due to the noise of the trains only a couple of hundred yards away so we decided to return to bridge 70. The morning started out wet with occasional showers so as we were in no hurry we decided to wait for another boat to come through in either direction to making locking easier. About mid morning a Tillerman hire boat came through heading north so as they left the lock in our favour we moved off. Luckily the rain stopped but it was very cold. At Pyrwell lock we were surprised that the lock was against us even though a boat had not long passed through which should have left it in our favour but both Cranes lock and Pyrwell lock have serious leaks in the top gates and self fill in a very short time. Two locks up at Kibworth second lock we came across 2 BW workmen repairing the side paddle post so we told them about the leaks but they appeared to know about them. Ah well we did try and do our bit for the cause.
We decided to stop for lunch near bridge 74 and try and thaw out for a while. After this we passed through the Saddington tunnel again before finally mooring back where we stayed 2 nights ago.
The Saddington tunnel is dead straight so you can see right through it but as you travel through you can see that the walls are far from straight being curved in numerous places all the way along. Apparently when it was built they had lots of trouble with the unstable shale hence the tunnel varying in width in places.

We have been amazed at the fertility of the local sheep around here as we have never seen so many ewes with triplet lambs. We know they are triplets as the farmers paint numbers on the ewe and lambs so they know which ewe had which lambs. They must be very profitable for the farmers.

Mink. Oh for a rifle.

5 Locks, 3 Miles, and 1 Tunnel now moored at bottom of Crane’s Lock
Total of 190 locks and 180¹/₂ miles and 4 Tunnels since 5th Nov 2006

Today has been a good day for cruising as it has been beautifully sunny and warm. The occasional wind has caused a few problems at the locks but all in a days work as they say.
After passing through the Saddington tunnel (880 yds) we moored up by bridge 73 and took the bridle path across a paddock into Fleckney for a look see around the village. Going by the dates on some of the older houses the village dates back to at least 1890 probably earlier. After lunch we pulled the pins and moved further north to the nearest winding hole. We don’t want to venture too far north as we are meeting Tracey in Market Harborough for Easter.
Not long after we moored up above Cranes lock and surveying the scenery when I spotted a large black mink swimming around the reeds in the winding hole opposite us. When he climbed out onto the back we could see just how big he was and had I been in possession of a rifle he would have been a goner. Perhaps that’s why there are no ducks or other water fowl around here.
Unfortunately we are moored close to the GNER mainline north from St Pancras station; however the trains are not as frequent as the Virgin trains on the mainline out of Euston. I have been intrigued by what I thought was a new line of HST trains in new livery and tinted windows. A quick search on Google gave me the answer which was that the GNER have been refurbishing their old HST 125’s in Doncaster because they have been in service since1976. A new HST is on the drawing boards but won’t be bought into service until 2012. I must admit they do look quite smart compared to the old blue and yellow colour scheme.

The loco is in the old colour scheme and the carriages in the new colour scheme.

Hoorah – We’re back

0 Locks 6 ¹ /₂ Miles. Moored north of bridge 70 Leicester line.
Total of 185 locks and 184 miles and 3 Tunnels since 5th Nov 2006

Yes we have finally got a replacement data card from ‘T’ Mobile and are back online again. One thing that has come out of all this is that ‘T’ Mobile’s data card has a conflict with Blue tooth on Toshiba laptops and we have now downloaded an up date. The computer is still showing the conflict but it does now work so we will see what happens over the next few days.
As we had no reason to stay in Market Harborough we decided to cast off and cruise towards Leicester. It was a beautiful day and we also needed to do some washing.
Not long after we set off we saw a narrowboat moored which as we drew closer we saw the name Balmaha. Unsure as to whether this was the same boat that we have followed on Blogger we moored up and went and spoke to Mo and Vanessa and yes it was the same boat. We then spent the next hour or so chatting about things in general over coffee.
After this unexpected and very pleasant chance meeting we carried on to the bottom of the Foxton flight where we took on water before carrying on to our present mooring.

Overnight mooring in the country.

While catching up with everything on the computer that has taken place over the last few weeks we saw on n/b Balmaha’s blog about an incident with a Canaltime or Tillerman boats as they are now known. This would have taken place about 15 minutes after we had a similar experience with the same boat. The Mucky Duck passed us moored by bridge 14 as if he was a naval vessel on its way to a war zone. Speed, flat out and the all male crew were already well under way with the alcohol only 10 minutes after leaving Union Wharf. If I could have found Canaltimes/Tillermans phone number they would have received a very terse phone call but they don’t appear in any of the canal magazines. I thought these hire boat companies gave the hirer a run down on what’s what before they left. Another disaster just waiting to happen. I just hope we don’t meet them on the return journey to Market Harborough later in the week.

Another glorious sunset tonight.

Sue on N/b No Problem complains today about the Post Office and Post Restante service. We had our replacement data card sent this way from Tracey in London to Market Harborough with no trouble, but perhaps the post office staff need to be reminded it is an advertised service and is part of their job so just get on with it. After all that is what they are paid for isn’t it?

Historic connection

0 locks, and 5 miles now moored at Market Harborough.
Total of 185 locks and 177 ¹/₂ miles and 3 Tunnels since 5th Nov 2006

On Friday 30th we finally got to visit the museum which is housed in an old factory building including the current council offices and library. The museum may be small by some standards but it certainly has a good coverage of the town’s history.
The factory was that of James Symington who with the help of his wife, Sarah who was a stay maker, developed corsetry and the Liberty Bodice (1908). The historic connection is that Symington’s set up factories in Melbourne, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand. During the 1930’s the liberty bodice became so popular that they produced 3.5 million garments a year. Production of this garment continued until 1974.
Symington’s were also instrumental in mass production using the newly developed Singer sewing machine. By 1899 the factory employed 1600 people, mostly women and girls. The only men employed worked in the storeroom and the cutting room which was all heavy work. Working conditions were reported as being the very best at the time.
Market Harborough’s industrial heritage also owes its existence to William Symington, James’s older brother who arrived in Market Harborough in 1827 from Scotland. He developed dried soup, pea flour and coffee roasting, the first two were used to feed the troops in the trenches during the Crimean war (1853-1856) and WW1. The business remained in the family for 100 years until taken over by J Lyons.
Captain Scott also took Symington’s Pea soup to the Antarctic on his expedition of 1912.
Other industries in the district was a tannery which ran from the early 1800’s until 1913 and a foundry making type for the printing industry (1898-1925) and when this work declined they changed over to producing lead acid batteries until the factory closed in 2003. At its peak the factory employed 1500 people.
Another family business (Briggs) which started in 1849 making leather boots and shoes later in 1894 diversified into rubber production. Later, synthetic rubber was also produced due to the shortage of raw materials. This company still operates to this day.
Falkner’s was another family run boot and shoe maker in High St which ran from 1831 – 1986 and when the last family member retired the contents of the back room workshop was offered to the museum where it is faithfully reproduced as it was on the last day of production.
The museum also has a mini theatrette which was showing the history of pubs, inns and hotels of the district over 300 years and there have been no less than 80 recorded. Some have been demolished or are now used as private dwellings or commercial premises leaving only half a dozen still in existence.

A street organ was playing in Market Harborough town square

Sight seeing

0 locks, and 5 miles now moored at Market Harborough.
Total of 185 locks and 177¹/₂ miles and 3 Tunnels since 5th Nov 2006

Thursday 29th we spent the day in town sight seeing and doing some retail therapy for bits and pieces that we have found hard to acquire elsewhere. We also tried out our GPS Satellite Navigation System to find supermarkets and anything else of interest and it worked a treat. As we still haven’t got internet services this is the next best thing to Google.
Market Harborough was established as a rural market town in1203 and still has a covered market place to this day. The town centre is still old fashioned in appearance without modern architecture spoiling it. The new buildings tend to be tucked in behind the old ones which leaves it much as it was in Georgian days. The original cattle market is now the sight of the Sainsbury supermarket. There is one building in the centre of town which was a 17^th century grammar school. It is very unusual in the fact that it is built on ornate wooden pillars and the building itself is a half timber construction. In the early days the market was held under the building to protect traders from the elements.

Crows V Hawk.

0 locks, and 5 miles now moored at Market Harborough.
Total of 185 locks and 177¹/₂ miles and 3 Tunnels since 5th Nov 2006

As Dot needed to post a parcel to Tracey in London ASAP she walked into the village of Foxton as the Nicholson book showed there was a Post Office. However WAS, was the operative word as it doesn’t exist any more, typical.
So a quick change of plans saw us head off for Market Harborough several days ahead of our planned movements in search of a P.O there.

On the way we passed the usual ploughed fields and could see where sludge from the recent canal dredging had been deposited on the fields as compost and ploughed in. On one particular field there was a real shindig going on with what appeared to be four crows on the ground fighting and about 20 circling overhead. However it turned out to be a hawk that had come too close to the crows nesting area and 3 crows had the hawk on the ground and attacking the hell out of it. Eventually the hawk escaped and we were treated to a magnificent aerobatic display as the hawk tried to out manouvre all the crows in the air before finally making a safe getaway.
We also passed a factory with a very old looking brick chimney which was still in use but a lot of the plant was far from old being stainless steel. There was a pungent sort of smell in the air that neither of us good identify but we thought that it might be a fertilizer works.

Arriving at the canal basin we found it to be full with just one 48 hour towpath mooring available that we might just squeeze into.
As luck would have it the boat at the front of the mooring was just about to leave giving us plenty of room. This area must be a popular destination or somebody is out to make money because overstaying the 48 hours will cost you ₤10 a day. We haven’t enquired about the moorings in the actual basin which is full of Canaltime or Tillerman hire boats as they are now known but I bet they don’t come cheap.

So we will have to make the most of the 48 hour mooring and then move out of town a wee way for the rest of our stay here.

Union Wharf, Market Harborough basin