1 Jun 2008 08:30
Arun cruising 2008 part 6 (XP)
Sat May 31st - 15 miles, 6 furlongs, 21 locks - Kilby to
Hope & Anchor Bridge, River Soar
Total cruising time 8 hours 45 minutes.
Started off from our overnight mooring above Wigston Top lock at 7.50am.
Stopped for 20 minutes for Thetfordry duty at Kilby Bridge before the
final run into Leicester. The padlocking of locks along this section is
a real pain, although I suppose it must be quicker than finding an empty
pound in front of you. Nothing much going over the weirs after we
joined the Soar, so it looks like we should be okay for that tomorrow.
Stopped in Leicester for a bit of retail therapy (Somerfields) before
heading out to the North of the city. Slightly alarming moment when
going down in Limekiln lock. There are one or two bosses standing proud
of the lock wall, and the base plate must have caught on one of those
because the boat started heeling over alarmingly before freeing itself
and assuming the traditional upright stance. No damage done to the boat
and no breakages inside. Incident free run after that to Hope & Anchor
bridge where we have moored for the night just before the bridge.
Unfortunately I didn't spot that this is a "Hungry Horse" pub which
proudly displays its Greene King sign. We did venture in for a pint
later on in the evening, but left after one as the place was no better
than expected
Terry Streeter
NB Arun - Hope & Anchor Bridge, River Soar
------------------------------------
Tuesday 20th May
Northolt to Bulls Bridge
4 miles, 0 locks
After doing a 12 hour shift at work, I started to get the boat ready.
Dad was driving down from Hull, and was due to arrive at around 8pm. I
asked him to call me when he reached the McDonald's on Target
roundabout (where he stopped for tea), but he called once he'd
finished rather than when he was waiting for his order so I had to
rush to get the boat to the wharf to load up!
We reached Bull Bridge at 21:47, and after a shop at Tesco's got back
to the boat at 22:30.
Wednesday 21th May
Bulls Bridge to Bushes Lock
27 miles, 40 locks
We left Bulls Bridge at 07:10 and I made best speed North (well sort
of West-North-West to start with) along the canal. Dad was still in
bed, but he did get up before the lock at Cowley. The first bit to
Rickmansworth always seems to take some time, but we finally passed at
12:30 doing the lock in 4 minutes. We hadn't shared a lock all the way
up, and were only delayed by boats coming down.
Dad wanted to watch Apprentice, but I wasn't bothered so single handed
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