Loughborough Lock Open Day

Yesterday C&RT held an Open Day at Loughborough Lock to show members of the public how a lock works and also to show boaters exactly what works have been done while the lock has been closed for the past 3 weeks. It re-opens tomorrow, Monday 27th. I was surprised at how many people had turned up and when we we arrived at 1.00pm there was quite a long queue for the tour.

The large rubble bags on the opposite bank contain all the debris they had removed from the bottom of the lock. They had been stacked up to drain most of the water out of them before they were sent to the tip as C&RT have to pay by weight rather than volume.

Unusually, they had also removed all the mud and silt and found that the bottom was lined in timber. Our tour guide was Darren who is the C&RT engineer in charge of this area and he told us he has never come across a timber bottomed lock before.

The total cost for the works was just under £30,000 with scaffolding being a major part of the cost. Before H&S went crazy these types of works used to be done from a ladder but now they have to erect full scaffold and stairways to access the bottom of the lock.

They were still finishing off some pointing work.

This is the planking dam they use at either end of the lock. They used ash and clinker from the local steam railway to infill between the planks to make them water tight.

This is the dam above the top gates.

The concrete plinth below the sand bags is a kind of speed bump which heavily laden working boats would rub up against to slow them down before they rammed into the main cill which is timber framed and could be easily damaged. That damage would be difficult to easily repair and would result in the gates not sealing properly.

You can see the repairs they've made to the edges of the lock gates to make them seal better. These gates were replaced about 8 years ago and usually last around 25 years so by patching them up like this they should get another 10 - 15 years out of them.

They've also done some brickwork repairs to seal the lock gates better where they hinge.

This shows the timber edging on the top cill a bit clearer.

The lock was drained by 3 huge pumps, one of which was running constantly to cope with any leakage.

You can see just how deep the lock is under the water level. The end wall is the top cill and the hole in the wall is where water rushes in from the ground paddles.

It was well worth the visit and Darren was an excellent guide. He was really good at explaining the lock to the little children in our group as well as giving much more detailed technical explanations to us boaters. He was also prepared to answer general boating questions as were Richard Parry and Simon Salem who were in attendance. I'll say one thing for C&RT, since they took over they have certainly been far more approachable and willing to listen to boater's opinions about how they should run the system than the old BW were. Whether they act on any of our ideas/problems will have to be seen but I definitely can't knock them for trying.

Barrow-on-Soar

It was an absolutely beautiful morning and time to be on the move again. We dropped down Zouch Lock, turned round and came back up again and set off towards Loughborough where we moored back in the basin and went shopping - again.

view from the boat this morning

Loughborough is a really nice town. There are plenty of shops and the people are all friendly. We carried on after filling up with water and this time I'd found the rubbish disposal point. It’s behind the sanitary block, behind a black unmarked door. I only found it because I spotted another boater taking his rubbish there. You need a BW key, but honestly, can’t BW afford a sign?

I treated myself to this gorgeous potted sunflower from the florists in town. It’s one of the best florists I have ever come across and even had 4 different colours of English Peony on sale.

When we got to the new Pillings Lock Marina we sailed in and had a quick look round. We’re still looking for a marina for the winter but it won’t be here. The boats were crowded in and the pontoons were VERY short with the stern of the boats being fastened to poles.

We re now moored at Barrow-on-Soar just under the bridge, opposite the caravan park and before the lock moorings.  Just before the bridge we passed a guy standing on his boat roof trying to cut the branches off an overhanging tree. He was definitely struggling as every movement rocked his boat but he persevered and a large branch crashed down onto his boat. I don’t think that was quite what he had in mind though.

Loughborough Basin

Those of you who know us personally know that Roger doesn’t cook. It’s not that he can’t cook just that he prefers not too. Last night was the exception to the rule and I was treated to one of Jamie Oliver’s recipes  'crunchy garlic chicken'  It looked just like the photo in the book and tasted amazing!

This morning we set off wearing full waterproofs as the sky was grey and rain was imminent. As usual though, the waterproofs kept the rain off and we over-heated, instead of rain we had sun.

The River Soar is especially beautiful when the sun shines and the wildlife was out in abundance. We saw several swan families, Canadian geese with their goslings and a solitary juvenile cormorant but no sign of its parents.

Just after Zouch Cut we came to the flood relief gates and the scary warning signs. Just round the bend were the emergency moorings (known as dolphins), in the main channel with no access to the shore. I wouldn’t like to get stranded on them for any length of time.

At the top of  Bishop Meadow Lock there are more warning signs and lights, just beside the sanitary station.

waiting for the lock to empty so we can go in

We arrived in the basin at the end of the arm just as the heavens opened. I know we need rain but does it always have to come down just at the wrong moment and so hard? Needless to say we’d taken the waterproofs off as well so we both got soaked to the skin!

Last time we came here there was just a rickety pontoon for 2 or 3 boats and you had to go through a builders yard to get to the shops. It's now been developed into a very modern canal basin, overlooked by student flats above an Asian Fusion restaurant and a posh buttie shop. There are good moorings on short pontoons for 5 boats and a sanitary station, but no rubbish disposal.

one of 3 elaborately carved stone balls
about 3 feet high just beside the moorings

Loughborough is a good town for stocking up the boat. There is a fantastic street market on a Thursday and I bought loads of fruit and veg at ridiculously cheap prices e.g. 20 plums for £1 which I might make into jam. The fish stall was also really good and the freezer is now full to bursting. There are Tesco & Sainsbury’s supermarkets within easy walking distance, Dunelm Mill, Wilkinson’s, several banks, dry cleaners, Timpson’s shoe repairs, most well known chain clothes shops and lots of charity shops.  You’ll be spoilt for choice for pubs and bars and there’s a good selection of Indian, Thai & Chinese restaurants & take-aways.