The Leicester Line

We’ve been pootling along the lower part of the Leicester section of the Grand Union Canal since New Year's Day. We passed this boat with an amazing life-size mermaid bow fender.

We spent a few days near Husband’s Bosworth, the village name has always fascinated me. The towpath along that stretch is very narrow & is eroding into the canal. Thank goodness the Bosworth tunnel isn’t in quite such a state. This tunnel is quite short and the light at the end can be quite clearly seen on its approach.

We strolled over the tunnel.

The disused L&NW railway appears to be being infilled.

I took the boat down Foxton Locks and John brought it back up the other day. There’s a great team of volunteers that help boats through.

I took my spinning to the top of the locks. There’s a stunning view over the Leicestershire countryside from up there.

We’ve had a sprinkling of snow & have been iced in for a few days now.

Happy 2023

New Year's Day we were the first boat of the year on Watford locks (Northamptonshire). It was a lovely quiet day to cruise with only a couple of other boats passed.

Today we went through Crick Tunnel. I’m taking lots of photos with my advent spinning in.

We had a Tesco delivery right to the boat on New Year's Eve, as our cupboards were bare after our trip to Chorley for Christmas.

We had a fantastic week staying with Heather & the grandchildren in Chorley. We were very fortunate to have a smooth train journey both ways, considering all the possible delays. I got some spinning done on Preston platform.

Nikita wanted a ukulele for Christmas, so we got her one. So her & uncle Ed were playing duets.

There were 13 of us at Heather’s from 06.00 on Christmas day. It all started in a much more civilised fashion than usual, we all had tea/coffee/juice before launching into the opening ceremony. Dinner went really smoothly & was on the table at our estimated time.

Boxing day we had a mass family stroll, which took us down a VERY muddy path!!! Such fun though, just like being on the towpath.

Saying goodbye to uncle Ed.

This evening’s Northamptonshire sunset.