Morning. It's another fantastic day today. Nice and cool at the moment because it's
quite early but my main objective today is to head down to the bottom of Foxton
Lock's, turn left, go through a couple of swing bridges, one of them supposed to be
quite difficult and head towards Market Harborough.
In the town there I will fill up with water, I'll empty my bins I'll empty my elsan
and then I'll turn around and head back to Foxton to go up the flight.
Fingers crossed that there's not a queue.
Even though I said I would fill it with water in the wharf, within Market Harborough,
this water point was empty and I remember from nearly a year ago, that the
water pressure is quite good here. Whenever I fill up with water, I always
put a water purifying tablet in. There's lots and lots of different makes but
because I fill quite big tanks up at a time and then they last me for three
to four weeks. I put the larger purifying tablets in, but it'll take me about half
an hour, three quarters of an hour to fill up this morning but it's still nice and
cool and then I'll head on up to Market Harborough. I traveled through the basin at
the bottom of Foxton Locks, keeping to the left. I was expecting a small swing
bridge here to be closed, but was pleasantly surprised to see it wide open.
I was looking forward to a nice easy journey today as there were no locks on
my route.
This is the Market Harborough Arm of the Grand Union Canal and at just five and a
half miles in length, it winds its way along the side of the hills which
dominate the landscape here. The original plan was to continue the canal to
Northampton but due to the lack of funds, it was abandoned.
Instead it terminates at Union Wharf which lies slightly north west of the
town centre.
Foxton Swing Bridge is a much larger bridge that is very heavy. Luckily there
was another boat coming in the opposite direction
but the bridge was too heavy for one of them to open. After the second boat had
joined him they were just about able to swing the bridge open after a slight
bump... {Metal clang}
...because I let my boat drift too close to the bridge, it was fully opened and I
could pass through. I then asked if one of them wanted to cross my stern to get
back onto their boat.
This canal arm is very pretty and I had no problems with water depth or things
floating in the water. Places too moor up tended to be nearer
the village of Foxton, a nice stretch between bridges eight and nine and then
closer to the main town of Market Harborough.
Market Harborough was founded by the Saxons between 1410 and 1066. It was a small
village and was believed to have the meaning of 'oat hill'. It's a busy modern
town now with a range of restaurants, supermarkets and shops. In the town
centre there's the former grammar school. Built in 1614 the schoolroom was built
on wooden stilts, to allow a butter market to be held on the ground floor.
Latin, Greek and Hebrew were taught here and many boys continued on to Oxford and
Cambridge Universities. Some became distinguished bishops and even Nobel
Prize winners. Union Wharf is a short walk from the town centre. There are a
number of paid overnight mooring spots here that include water and electricity.
There's also a full set of facilities including bins, water, elsan and toilets
and showers. Once I'd visited the town to restock with groceries, I just about had
enough time to get back to Foxton and climb the ten locks before it closed.
Back in episode 48 as I entered Loughborough, I met Tom Calton in the
lock there. He has since become a top-level Patreon member and has also
purchased a Journey with Jono t-shirt and a number of mugs. Thanks Tom and I
know you've just had an operation, so get well soon. If you liked this episode,
please do give it a thumbs up. If you've not already subscribed hit that
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Until next time, see you later.