We cruised
the 5 ½ lock-free miles to Market Harborough on Thursday morning along the
Market Harborough arm of the Grand Union canal.
It was pleasant but as it was mainly through cuttings we couldn’t see
much of the countryside.
It always
strikes us as odd how some houses that back onto canals or rivers try and shut
them off – either they don’t want us looking into their gardens or they don’t
want to see us. This one was the
ultimate that we have seen so far.
This photo at the top is us arriving
at the basin in Market Harborough. The arm was opened
in 1809 and was originally intentioned to continue to Northampton but sufficient
funds could not be raised for the investment. We walked
into the town to find a supermarket; the
town had a nice feel about it
One thing did
put us off – this shop had Christmas decorations up – unbelievable!
Being brought up that decorations went up on
Christmas Eve then I found it abhorrent.
Mind you I would be quite happy to see Christmas
banned – especially for the unnecessary expense the poorer part of the population
endure.
We filled up
with water in the basin and then Stuart and Cheryl joined us for a cruise back
to Foxton. On the way back we saw
several kingfishers but none of us got a decent shot of them. This was the best Karen could get.
The mile
markers on the arm were a bit basic as you needed to know which direction they
were referring to.
The only
industry we passed was this glue factory which was exuding a rather nasty
smell.
We moored up
back at Foxton junction near the old arm that used to lead to the only inclined
boat plane in the country which sadly is no longer in use. We will visit tomorrow and have a good look
around.
We went for a drink with Stuart
and Cheryl in a good old boaters’ pub – Bridge 61. It was more like an old house with a four
foot wide bar like a serving hatch. We
sat overlooking Foxton basin and the flashy modernised Foxton Locks pub.
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