We often receive feedback from our blog telling us how idylic our life and the landscape looks. Regular readers will note the slight change in tone in the last few posts. Our frustration with lack of communications and awful weather have put a slight damper on our usual enthusiasm. And our journey through Leicester shows that not all the scenery is lovely. We have shown scenes from Birmingham and from Atherstone which were not quite so nice, and have certainly not always seen beauty. We thought we would film much of the Leicester journey to give other views of what we see.
The journey began at 9:30, pulling away from Kilby Bridge into Kilby lock. After a gentle drop to the next pound, Bella was aground - IN the lock. The lower pound was so low, almost 2 feet below normal, that we were just stuck. Elizabeth was at the tiller, so Pete went to open the top gate paddles again while the lower gates were open to give a rush of water to get Bella afloat and out of the lock. This worked, yet Bella was again aground just out of the lock. The wind was fierce, so every time Pete tried to close the gates again to fill the lock again, they swung open. He finally got a rope from Bella, tied the gates closed, then filled the lock again to bring more water to the lower pound. We were joined by Lindisfarne, a single hander, who allowed the lock to be filled one more time to bring more water down. Finally both made their way to the next lock with great stuggle through the shallows. With both boats next to each other immediately at the top gates of the next lock, Pete and Mr Lindisfarne then filled the next lock so both boats could go in together. After that, all was well.
We moored up in the middle of Leicester around 3pm to do some essential food shopping to find that we were right next to a Sainsbury's Local. Not ideal, but food! Yet look at where we are moored. The middle of the day, still the boating season and not one other boat moored up. We use this an an indicator for choosing moorings. Are other boats there? If not, why not? Having earlier thought we might moor up in the middle of Leicester for the night, we noted the lack of moored boats, the lack of evidence of moored boats (no exhaust smoke on the mooring edges, unworn though dirty meaning long standing but unused painted bollards, unworn therefore unwalked on grass) and decided to keep going.
