Sometimes this blog “just doesn’t come easy”… Either I have little time, really I hear you say as we are cruising at 3 miles an hour, but mostly it is because of poor internet. If you are reading this at all then I am catching up!
The Leicester line off the Grand Union Canal is 41.2 miles from the junction with the Grand Union. At Leicester it joins the River Soar which links to the Trent and Mersy Canal. We, however, we are heading south so are working backwards through our guide book.
If you are interested in the whole history of the canal you can find it here…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Union_Canal_(old)
After Foxton we immediately came to our first tunnel at Husband Bosworth! Opened in 1813 the tunnel is 1166 yards long with no ventilation shafts. A headlamp at the bow (front) of the boat and the internal cabin lights help Paul to see where he is going. It is possible for two boats to pass in the tunnel but only just!
We took a detour off the Leicester line to the left and up the Welford Arm, though the guidebook describes it as more a finger than an arm! The arm was built to bring water from nearby reservoirs to the main line. Pretty, narrow in places and surprisingly busy with a cute lock little lock, only 3ft 6″, almost at the end.
We turned, ok Paul turned the boat around and we moored up at the entrance to Welford Marina before taking a dander in to the village. It was pretty with lovely red brick houses and a nice Church but very quiet, reminded us of villages in France we drove through two years ago, mostly deserted! As I had forgotten my mask we gave the pub a miss!
Retracing our route the next day we turned left at Welford junction back on to the mainline and continued on to Yelvertoft. We were interested in this village as it was sold as being very pleasant with a nice pub and great butcher but a lovely lady told us both were closed due to Covid and Crick would be a better option! As it was a pleasant afternoon , and Crick is a popular spot on the canal, with a big marina and several hire companies, we decided just to walk across the bridle way to the village.
It had been a busy day on the cut! We passed 18 boats and two canoes passed us!
Our long-lasting memory of Crick will be the canal side pub that closed at 5pm!
Moving on from Yelverton and past Crick we had the Crick tunnel to negotiate… at almost a mile long it took us 25 minutes to go through it! I will save you from the video!
Out the other side we headed towards Watford. As the canal bimbled under the M1 motorway to another set of staircase locks the heavens opened on us. These locks are also attended by volunteers. Having checked in we were advised to continue on down…. the only drawback was that the boat in front was single handed and the volunteers elected to help him! That’s ok…. I know the drill… red before white and you will be alright!
The locks are formed of two single locks, a staircase of four, and a final single lock. They lift the canal 16 m (52 ft 6 in) to the “Leicester Summit”. Though don’t forget we are going the other way! The system was opened in 1814. With a bit of ingenuity one can access the M1 Watford Gap services on foot from here!
Continuing on our destination was Norton Junction – the point where the Leicester section of the Grand Union canal meets the London-Birmingham line. The picturesque little toll house which overlooks the junction was, for many years, the base for the late Commander Fielding of the Salvation Army. In the fifties he and his wife ran mission boats around the canal system, ministering to the needs of the working boat families.
We moored up at the junction, disposed of rubbish, took on water and enjoyed a socially distanced early dinner…..
Coming up next…. onwards to Braunston and Wigram’s Turn!
H&P Adventures 