Loughborough to Leicester, and the problem with rivers

I think we're unlikely to tie up in Loughborough Basin again. The pontoons are too short to be able to tie both ends of a 58' boat to, so we tied up along the concrete basin edge. Here, though, the bollards are hardly any better spaced. The wind during the night caused the boat to bash against the side, waking us with every crash.

In the morning we watered up and arranged for daughter Ally to join us at Barrow-on-Soar. She would get the train back from Leicester to retieve her car and drive home in the evening. This plan worked well: we'd only just tied up above Barrow Lock when Ally phoned to say she was walking from the station.

As we approached Leicester the amount of visible rubbish increased, most noticeably hanging from low branches of trees swept by recent flood waters. In one place this was above the top of the boat - scary!

Jan's dislike of rivers was strengthened when, on leaving Birstall Lock, the wind caught Shadow and she was unable to pick me up after I closed the gate. She had to steer, avoiding weirs, shallows and overhanging trees while I walked on looking for a suitable pick-up place. About a mile later I was able to rejoin the boat, to Jan's relief.

When we got to the Castle Park moorings where we had hoped to tie up for the night we found that they were full. Jan on the bank, though, had negotiated with one of the boats there to let us tie up alongside. I think they will be off at 0900 tomorrow, so we'd better be up and ready to go by then.

The weather today has been possibly slightly warmer than recently, but still with a strongish cold wind. A rise in temperature is forecast for tomorrow, but with some rain in the evening. We'll see.

And tomorrow's destination is Kilby Bridge. The last time we were here the pub did puddings for 50p. Let's hope for the same again!