Grand Union Leicester Line

[smart99]

Hi

 

Has anyone recently boated on the Grand union Leicester line from foxton to Leicester?

 

Is there anything we should watch out for and does anyone have any recomendations for traveling through leicester and good pubs etc.

 

thanks

[sociable_hermit]

Hi

 

Has anyone recently boated on the Grand union Leicester line from foxton to Leicester?

 

Is there anything we should watch out for and does anyone have any recomendations for traveling through leicester and good pubs etc.

 

thanks

 

The pub at the bottom of Foxton flight is good - ok so it feels like a chain-owned "plastic pub" but the food is excellent and they were serving Black Sheep and also Thwaites beers when we went in. The Soar Bridge Inn at Barrow is very good, too, and a more genuine pub experience. Avoid the one across the road from it, though.

 

Best advice for Leicester is don't go through at the weekend! Lots of chavs...

[alan_fincher]

The pub at the bottom of Foxton flight is good - ok so it feels like a chain-owned "plastic pub" but the food is excellent and they were serving Black Sheep and also Thwaites beers when we went in.

Personally I'd recommend the small "Lock 61" pub attached to the Foxton Boat Services shop, rather than the rather horrible British Waterways offering. It's a bit unusual, being not particularly pub-like, but the beer was good.

 

My only comment on a recent trip on the Leicester, in the Leicester area, was that there was appreciably more floating flotsam in the cut than we experienced anywhere through Birmingham. I hadn't expected this. We didn't stop in Leicester itself, so I can't comment on that with any authority.

[sociable_hermit]

Yep I'm afraid to say that Leicester itself is a depressing experience and best done in one hit. The water is full of rubbish and because the level rises and falls significantly the debris gets stuck around the bushes and trees that overhang the cut. No-one seems to care for it really. There are supposed to be information leaflets about the Leicester section in boxes by the locks (BW key) - I tried every box and they were all empty.

 

We went through on a Sunday (because we had to) and we had stones thrown at us and kids trying to get on the boat. Oh and a group of kids running away from a factory fire which it would appear they'd started. Boaters generally stack up either side of Leicester at the weekends and then set sail en masse early on Monday morning. This is hard work until you meet the other crowd coming the other way and then you can all alternate through the locks - super!

 

Make sure you have a good route book. Some of the weirs are pretty big and they aren't signed or protected very well (nothing like the LANT and UANT stewardship I'd been used to), and because of the debris in the water it isn't always easy to see which way the navigable channel runs. Again, it feels like nobody really cares....

 

Leicester is one of the main reasons why I firmly believe that local authorities should be at least partly responsible for the waterways that go through their areas. There's very little evidence to suggest that anyone has thought of integrating the canal into the wider social scene, with moorings, footpath maps, information boards, litter bins, lighting etc., let alone pubs or shops or a tourist centre! For some reason Leicester seems to have turned its back on the waterway, and the natives are busy trying to fill it up with rubbish. It's very sad, especially as the rest of the route is really nice.

 

Travel mid-week, stay in the middle of the cut at fairly low revs to avoid the shopping trolleys, and then enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Ally]

We too were warned of the joys of Leicester, prior to a trip through at the begiing of the month. We went out towards Foxton on a Sunday, did it all in one go, finally stopping at Kilby bridge, where you will also find a hospitable pub! We had no problems at all, except it was a very long day, the only iffy bit being a fisherman who set up on a lock approach and was extremely balshy!

On the return, a weekday, again no problems, except we got stuck in floods at belgrave Lock. If the weather turns again, be careful there, heading for Birstall, there is a big weir, the previous lock was green, but that one was on full red, and we were stuck for 5 days. Eventually word got round and it became uncomfortable there, so we turned and headed to Castle Gardens secure moorings in leicester, which we found perfectly fine, and are protected from the city with large gates on a BW lock. I think this is an ok place to stop if you need it.

As others have said, there is a substantial amount of rubbish in parts, we had to clear a large amount of it from our prop.

Should you go from Belgrave lock towards Birstall Lock in highish water, beware of Thurcaston bridge, a current can take you hard there, and with high water, it's a low bridge, especially when trying to avoid a flooded towpath!!!

All in all though, I can't say we had any real worries going through Leicester itself in the end.

Foxton, and the market harborough arm were lovely, and the Market Harborough moorings are really good, with plenty of water points. Don't hope for water points through leicester!

[fuzzyduck]

I'm hot, the rest of it isn't.

 

Any questions?

[cotswoldsman]

Did this stretch July/August and would agree with Allan that the pub Lock 61 is far better than the BW pub. I heard a lot of stories about Leicester as one does and being a great believer in the see for yourself. I stoped in Leicester and thought it was fine good shopping and some great curries. Had no problems and as you can see was during the school holidays. As I have said many times on here you can be unlucky anywhere on the system.

[Tim Lewis]

Hi

 

Has anyone recently boated on the Grand union Leicester line from foxton to Leicester?

 

Is there anything we should watch out for and does anyone have any recomendations for traveling through leicester and good pubs etc.

 

thanks

 

Well worth visiting the National Space Centre and the adjacent pumping station museum both canalside in Leicester.

 

Tim