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A Revisit of the Soar


Naughty Cal

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It has been 11 years since we first visited the River Soar by boat so we have decided that we will give it another try in September when the kids have gone back to school and hopefully the pubs will have reopened.

 

Last time we only had a week off and managed to get to Loughborough and back to Lincoln again. This time we are planning to do the trip over a couple of weeks so will hopefully manage to get a little bit further, although we would like to make it a reasonably leisurely trip so that we have time to explore places by foot as well as on the water.

 

We would welcome your recommendations for places to moor, visit, shop, good dog friendly pubs etc.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

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Naughty Cal's for sale - not for sale - oh yes she is - oh no she isn't saga is enough to make us dizzy! I gather you're in an "Oh no she isn't" phase at the moment.

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3 minutes ago, Athy said:

Naughty Cal's for sale - not for sale - oh yes she is - oh no she isn't saga is enough to make us dizzy! I gather you're in an "Oh no she isn't" phase at the moment.

We removed her from sale after the sale fell through in March.

 

We don't feel that we would get the price we would like during the current economic climate. So we may as well use her rather then leave her mothballed ashore. We still do plan to get a motorhome in the not too distant future but don't feel that taking on finance for that is a wise idea at the moment. We may as well make some use of what we have got for two or three years until things sort themselves out again.

 

So it's time to start looking towards what we want to do with the boat while we have it. It was Liam who suggested another run up the Soar which surprised me because he isn't a great fan of locks but I'm happy to go along with the idea as it was really very pretty in parts.

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We’re interested in this too. Heading off next week (all going well!!??) up the Leicester Arm so not hitting the Soar for a few weeks, depending....(we don’t live on board). All going well, we’ll time it perfectly for a tour round the reopened Space Museum and welcoming hostelries of this fine City, home in different ways to Richard III,  Vichai Shriva...., Gary Lineker etc etc and then take on the Soar with our underpowered heavy bottomed nb Mollie.

 

So can we expect an easy ride, as long as there’s not too much or too little rain?

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17 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

We removed her from sale after the sale fell through in March.

 

We don't feel that we would get the price we would like during the current economic climate. So we may as well use her rather then leave her mothballed ashore. We still do plan to get a motorhome in the not too distant future but don't feel that taking on finance for that is a wise idea at the moment. We may as well make some use of what we have got for two or three years until things sort themselves out again.

 

So it's time to start looking towards what we want to do with the boat while we have it. It was Liam who suggested another run up the Soar which surprised me because he isn't a great fan of locks but I'm happy to go along with the idea as it was really very pretty in parts.

It appears that boats ( sewer tubes anyway ) are selling very quickly still so maybe yours will??

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26 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

It appears that boats ( sewer tubes anyway ) are selling very quickly still so maybe yours will??

With all the extra work we are now doing too it we are keeping it for a little while, a couple of years at least maybe three we will see how we get on.

 

May as well get some moneys worth out of the expenditure!!

 

It is all spend and graft at the moment but I'm sure it will all be forgiven when we are back in the water again :rolleyes:

 

Now any suggestions for the Soar?

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11 minutes ago, Rickent said:

Barrow upon soar is good, very good dog walks, the Navvy should be open by then, good dog friendly pub. Shops and takeaways in the village and more pubs.

Seconded.

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13 minutes ago, Rickent said:

Barrow upon soar is good, very good dog walks, the Navvy should be open by then, good dog friendly pub. Shops and takeaways in the village and more pubs.

Agreed. I luurrvvvv the soar but havnt been for a while. I like Leicester also, had a fab mooring there in 92/3

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57 minutes ago, Rickent said:

Barrow upon soar is good, very good dog walks, the Navvy should be open by then, good dog friendly pub. Shops and takeaways in the village and more pubs.

No its NOT, it's horrible, awful, and still flooded.

Gang warfare everywhere and multiple stabbings and deaths at the locks every day......

The Navvy has burnt down and the Soar Bridge inn is now an hostel for drug addicts.

 

Hope this helps.?

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3 hours ago, matty40s said:

No its NOT, it's horrible, awful, and still flooded.

Gang warfare everywhere and multiple stabbings and deaths at the locks every day......

The Navvy has burnt down and the Soar Bridge inn is now an hostel for drug addicts.

 

Hope this helps.?

Strangers are not welcome here,  Stranger!!

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I found a nice mooring a couple of hundred metres above Kegworth Deep lock. In the morning I discovered (at 0300) I was under the flight path for East Mids airport. I should have stopped a bit further south near Devil's elbow. I did all the way from Leicester to there in a single day, so can't say a lot about moorings, but there did seem to be quite a few  pleasant places to stop.  

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On 27/05/2020 at 20:22, Scholar Gypsy said:

I found a nice mooring a couple of hundred metres above Kegworth Deep lock. In the morning I discovered (at 0300) I was under the flight path for East Mids airport. I should have stopped a bit further south near Devil's elbow. I did all the way from Leicester to there in a single day, so can't say a lot about moorings, but there did seem to be quite a few  pleasant places to stop.  

Thanks for that. Was it a long day from Leicester to Kegworth?

 

Seems we might be able to get further than we had thought in a couple of weeks weather and river conditions allowing.

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4 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Thanks for that. Was it a long day from Leicester to Kegworth?

 

Seems we might be able to get further than we had thought in a couple of weeks weather and river conditions allowing.

I was single-handed, going downhill, and on a sewer tube of course.

 

Depart Leicester 0515

Pause for Breakfast 0750 at Thurmaston Lock (and to buy some gas from a passing fuel boat)

Set off again 0900

Stop for lunch Loughborough basin 1320

Set off again 1435

Arrive Kegworth 1645.

 

I rather overdid it the following day, starting 0430 (I did warn you about the planes) and then getting to the top of the Erewash at 1700 the same day. That was hard work - but with decent stops for breakfast and lunch.

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  • 1 month later...

We have decided that any further lock downs permitting we will be taking two weeks in September when the kids have gone back to school to do this trip. It should make a leisurely two week break with what look to be plenty of places to stop off along the way.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have unfortunately not been able to take the weeks off that we wanted too to do this holiday due to other holidays taken by colleagues. We have ended up with the first two weeks in October instead. We will have to cross all fingers and toes that the weather is vaguely good as once we are off the Trent and onto the Nottingham Canal and the Soar we need to have the hoods off and the arch folded down to get under the bridges :rolleyes:

 

Here's hoping for a dry and warm Autumn....................................................

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11 hours ago, Kendorr said:

If you can arrange me some good weather for my Lincoln trip over the next 2 weeks, then I'll put a good word in for the first 2 weeks in October for you ?

I will see what I can do for you.

11 hours ago, john6767 said:

I would settle for some decent wether right now, been freezing today, and passed with a few boat with the stove lit  at the end of July, mad.

It's saving itself for October ;)

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8 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

I will see what I can do for you.

It's saving itself for October ;)

 

When we had shareboats I used to welcome any rain and bad weather prior to our scheduled holiday time. I figured there is usually only so much bad weather in any one year, so the more that happens before your holiday, the less likely bad weather will happen during the holiday.

Edited by cuthound
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45 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

When we had shareboats I used to welcome any rain and bad weather prior to our scheduled holiday time. I figured there is usually only so much bad weather in any one year, so the more that happens before your holiday, the less likely bad weather will happen during the holiday.

I used to umpire cricket and referee soccer at my various schools. We could just about guarantee, that during part of the Trinity term we'd have sweater-swathed boys trying tom play cricket in weather which was much more suitable for football, whereas from the start of the Michaelmas term (mid-September) until about mid-October we had perspiring pupil;s playing soccer in what would have been lovely cricket weather.

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I would be releuctant to go beyond Birstall with your boat. The pound below Lime Kiln lock can get very silted and i would have concerns for your outdrive its OK in a narrowboat. You can always catch a bus into the city from Birstall.

Beware of the shoal on the off side about 200m above Ratcliffe lock. - its quite extensive and can catch you out on a windy day as @Rickent found out!!

We hope the weather is good in early October as we intend to be boating then.

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Anyone know the best place to buy diesel on the Soar and what prices are currently like please?

 

We are trying to weigh up if we will refill the boat before we leave Burton Waters or while up on the Soar. We know that Burton Waters is cheaper than Kings, Newark and Farndon Marinas at the moment.

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