Sunday 10/5 Market Harborough to Welford Junction

After showering and a last water fill we left Union Wharf at 9.30am. We did ask about a pump out (that's a loo waste pump out for the uninitiated) however we were too late. Pump outs have to be done very early at Union Wharf otherwise disastrous effects are felt at the wharf restaurant - the mind boggles! Heading out of the wharf

And past the visitor moorings

We trundled up the canal. Our first obstacle being them road swing bridge. Pic of it closing behind Aqualife.

We made our way to the bottom of Foxton Locks, where we had to moor so I could walk up the locks to find the lock keeper to let him know we would like to ascend the locks. He wrote the name of our boat on his pad and said we would be no.5 A bit of chaos followed as we moved across the junction to get into position behind nos 2,3 +4 who were moored 3 abreast. To do this Aqualife had to be spun round and backed up the entrance to the third branch of the junction; halfway through the manoeuvre a boat came down the junction. My hero kept his head and by the time we moored up one of the three boats moored abreast of us had entered the bottom lock.

This is what our Pearsons Canal Guide says about Foxton locks:

"Leicestershire folk appear to regard Foxton Locks as their own personal street-theatre. They descend on the flight in droves. The mill about, giving scant rein to their children's excitement, much to the chagrin of the lock-keepers who live in perpetual fear of tragedy. The inland navigator plays a walk-on part in Foxton's soap opera, and is expected to respond cheerfully to bizarre questions and fatuous remarks with amused tolerance." He neglected to mention that the lock keepers also have to keep an eye on the boats and their lockers (I.e. Me) to make sure they don't stuff up or inadvertently or in the case with some particularly poisonous children, advertently, push them into a lock. The locks consist of two staircases of 5 chambers each. A staircase is a set of locks where to top gate of one lock is the bottom gate of another and so on. Aqualife in the bottom lock

At the top of the first staircase

Looking back down the flight from the top lock

That is the friendly and helpful volunteer lock keeper that helped me get Aqualife up the second staircase and made sure I didn't shove anyone into a lock. There was one group with numerous kiddies that rushed from lock to lock as we came up the second staircase and one of the dads insisted the children get in between the gate beam and the edge of the lock for a photo op every time Lawrence brought the boat through a gate. One little push on the beam from me and it would have been goodnight children :).  and the lock keeper told me it was a quiet day, if you want to see mad, he said, come back in July.

A nice sculpture of a barge horse and boy just past the top of the flight.

300 metres past the top of Foxton Locks we were back into solitude and tranquility

My hero

Fellow boaters,enjoying their lunch, with a lovely backdrop

The next lock after the top of Foxton Locks is 20 miles away as the canal clings to the 412' contour. But in between we have a couple of tunnels. Today we went through Husbands Bosworth Tunnel, 1170yds long. Approaching the tunnel

An oncoming boat - it was a tight squeeze

And out we came, unscathed, at the other end

We moored up about half an hour after exiting Husbands Bosworth Tunnel on an aqueduct that takes the canal over the upper reaches of the River Avon. We are now in Northamptonshire.

Today 13 miles, 10 locks, 2 swing bridges in 6hrs.