Leicester of East Midlands Ring

[Darcy]

Hi,

Only 6 weeks to go until out annual boating holiday and I'm getting excited already....... This year we have hired for two weeks from Market Harborough and are planning to do the East Midlands or Leicester ring. (The two terms seem to be used in different places - so I'm not sure if there is a difference). We normally like to put in fairly long days, so this is a bit short for us. Therefore, the current plan is to add in two side trips up the Erewash and Ashby canals both of which we've not had the chance to do before.

Even with these additions, according to canal planner, this is about a 97 hour trip, so a bit shorter than the Thames Ring which we did last year. We are undecided as yet whether we will stop along the way and visit some places or try to add an additional detour. I wondered whether any of you good people had any suggestions ?

Also, our current thoughts are to go anti-clockwise, primarily as this will allow us to do the Soar and Trent bits fairly early on and hence give us time to change our plans if they should happen to be on Red boards. (Hopefully, this is fairly unlikely in August ?) Does this sound sensible ?

 

And finally, does anyone have any suggestions of good pubs, places to visit or mooring places along the route. I am planning to sit down with the canal planner defaults and the guidebooks to try to draw up a rough plan. So far, it really consists of trying to stop at the North end of the Erewash.

 

Many thanks......

[matty40s]

You could add one more offshoot, carry straight on at Fradley up past Rugeley and to Great Haywood, mooring opposite Shugborough Hall, one of my favourite moorings.

Anticlockwise is good, it means you are taking water down the Leicester flight with you (often a couple of low pounds).

The Soar can rise very quickly after a good rainfall, but falls just as quickly at this time of year......most years. ...it didn't in 2012!!!!

[b0atman]

Plan a stop at Alrewas good butchers 3 good pubs and the National War memorial arboretum is nearby .

[adam1uk]

When we did the Leicester Ring in two weeks on a hire boat many years ago (from Warwick), we actually did a much larger ring to fill the time. Rather than turning left at Fradley Junction onto the Coventry, we carried on to Great Haywood, turned left onto the Staffs and Worcs, then left again at Autherley to go up the Wolverhampton 21, into central Birmingham, and back down the Hatton flight! According to Canal Plan, from Market Harborough, that's 104 hours (without the Erewash or the Ashby)

[NilesMI]

Leicester is worth a stop. Leicester market is fab and go to the cathedral to see Richard III.

 

Mooring at the top of the Erewash shouldn't be a problem. The Great Northern pub by the basin has decent, if not spectacular food and live music occasionally. Frequent buses pass Gt Northern Basin on routes to Heanor, Derby, Mansfield and Nottingham. Nice friendly local pub, The Bridge Inn at Cotmanhay Bridge 23 has an offside mooring for customers. The Gallows Inn at lock 6 has closed down. Moorings at Sandiacre bridge 9 are handy for pubs (Red Lion, Plough) and supermarkets. The Trent Lock Inn at Trent Lock has good food (advance booking advisable) moor on the canal visitor moorings north of the services or go through the lock onto the river and moor on the floating pontoon on the Trent.

 

For food, it's also advisable to book if you want to go to the Dragon at Willington. Of the three pubs in Alrewas, I would recommend The Crown. Swan at Fradley Junction.

 

At Atherstone, there's a 1940's themed cafe called The Larder on Long St, which is worth a visit. You can walk there from the moorings below Watling St Bridge. (Don't forget your ration book) Co-op and Aldi close by.

 

On the Ashby, I can recommend The Globe at Snarestone for a nice meal. Quite busy at Sunday lunchtimes.

[Tiggs]

You could divert down the Trent to Nottingham..

[Stedman II]

Anti-clockwise is good, not only because you take the water down with you, but also because most of the wide locks are downhill too.

 

I was going to recommend Bridge 61 over the Foxton Lock Inn at Foxton, but starting from Market Harborough, you will probably be beyond there on the first night.

[Richard T]

Excellent market in Loughborough on Thursdays and Saturdays. Good for restsocking provisions Tesco, Sainsburys M&S and Aldi are close to the canal. Great Central railway and bell foundry museum in Loughborough. The Rose and Crown at Zouch is fine for food. Stop and explore Shardlow to see some great buildings.

There are new pontoons in Leicester about 200m north of the West Bridge they are not shown on any guidebooks. I have put photos on a thread in General boating.

Just enjoy what is a really nice trip.

[NickF]

When we did the Leicester Ring in two weeks on a hire boat many years ago (from Warwick), we actually did a much larger ring to fill the time. Rather than turning left at Fradley Junction onto the Coventry, we carried on to Great Haywood, turned left onto the Staffs and Worcs, then left again at Autherley to go up the Wolverhampton 21, into central Birmingham, and back down the Hatton flight! According to Canal Plan, from Market Harborough, that's 104 hours (without the Erewash or the Ashby)

 

 

That's exactly what we did. I am not a fan of the West side of the Leicester ring due to the low number of locks. The extended route suggested by Briar Rose misses that bit out.

[Darcy]

Thankyou everyone.

 

It sounds as though anti-clockwise is the way to go. I had vaguely considered the option of extending the ring as Adam and Nick suggest, but had thought it would be rather longer than 104 hours. Didn't do it properly in canal planner though - so maybe I'll reconsider thanks. I don't mind giving up the Ashby if doing so gives us a better route, but I do want to do the Erewash if we can, as most years we only get to do a one week hire and it's hard to reach from any of the one week rings.

 

I hadn't considered the lack of locks - (well I know the Ashby is lock free, but hadn't looked at the rest). We do like doing locks, but not quite so keen on the broad ones. So will have to weigh up the pull of doing the Wolverhampton 21 against the need to do Hatton..........

 

We do plan to stop in Leicester, although if we choose to extend the route, we might need to push on a bit further. Many thanks for all the pub and other recommendations. I'll add them all to my route plan - once I manage to finalise the route !

 

One additional issue I realised yesterday is that we will need to find a Wifi signal on the second Tuesday as my son's exam results are due out then. So no doubt I will be back to ask you about that once I have actually worked out where we might be ! Thinking about it, we might want a lock free day - as he represents 1/3 of our active crew and might quite reasonably be somewhat incapacitated !

 

[adam1uk]

Thankyou everyone.

 

It sounds as though anti-clockwise is the way to go. I had vaguely considered the option of extending the ring as Adam and Nick suggest, but had thought it would be rather longer than 104 hours. Didn't do it properly in canal planner though - so maybe I'll reconsider thanks. I don't mind giving up the Ashby if doing so gives us a better route, but I do want to do the Erewash if we can, as most years we only get to do a one week hire and it's hard to reach from any of the one week rings.

 

I hadn't considered the lack of locks - (well I know the Ashby is lock free, but hadn't looked at the rest). We do like doing locks, but not quite so keen on the broad ones. So will have to weigh up the pull of doing the Wolverhampton 21 against the need to do Hatton..........

 

We do plan to stop in Leicester, although if we choose to extend the route, we might need to push on a bit further. Many thanks for all the pub and other recommendations. I'll add them all to my route plan - once I manage to finalise the route !

 

One additional issue I realised yesterday is that we will need to find a Wifi signal on the second Tuesday as my son's exam results are due out then. So no doubt I will be back to ask you about that once I have actually worked out where we might be ! Thinking about it, we might want a lock free day - as he represents 1/3 of our active crew and might quite reasonably be somewhat incapacitated !

 

 

The thing about Hatton is that although there are lots of them, they're not actually very difficult. They're almost as quick using just one paddle as two, so one person can work the lock you're in while another goes and sets the next one.

 

We also plan to do the Erewash this year, as we've been past the end of it quite a few times and never had the time to go up there.

[cuthound]

The thing about Hatton is that although there are lots of them, they're not actually very difficult. They're almost as quick using just one paddle as two, so one person can work the lock you're in while another goes and sets the next one.

 

We also plan to do the Erewash this year, as we've been past the end of it quite a few times and never had the time to go up there.

I agree, when my wife and I go through Hatton, up or down, it usually takes between 21/2 and 31/2 hours. We have done it in just over two hours, when sharing all of the locks with another competent boat.

[john6767]

 

The thing about Hatton is that although there are lots of them, they're not actually very difficult. They're almost as quick using just one paddle as two, so one person can work the lock you're in while another goes and sets the next one.

 

We also plan to do the Erewash this year, as we've been past the end of it quite a few times and never had the time to go up there.

I agree Hatton is not that hard, if you are on your own you just work one side of the lock, there is no need to use both paddles, and even though I will be shouted at, one gate is fine too.

[NickF]

I agree Hatton is not that hard, if you are on your own you just work one side of the lock, there is no need to use both paddles, and even though I will be shouted at, one gate is fine too.

Actually the gates are so wide there it's easy to get in and out without rubbing the wooden gate edge. so no shouts from me!

[Ally]

Keep an eye out for the very friendly fox at Kegworth deep lock....but keep more of an eye on the boat in the lock! If you happen to stop at Barrow upon soar, the Soar bridge Inn is 2 minutes walk, and offers an excellent choice of real ales etc, and proper pub food. Thursday is home made pie night for not a lot of money! There is a lesser known water point outside the car park at the Hope and anchor near watermead (syston) if you can get in infront of the pub, it's outside the corner of the car park furthest from the bridge. If the flow is up on the Soar, beware when exiting the bottom of sileby lock, the weir makes it difficult and can make it hard to get on or off the lower lock landing.

Loughborough is a good mooring, either before the junction or just right after the junction. Facilities in the basin, but not very nice mooring there. Enjoy!

[Richard T]

A further word of warning following Ally;s comments. The navigation arch at Barrow bridge is un marked - its the centre one. If there is any flow on the river go and have a look before exiting the lock as its easy to get swept into the bridge and it has low sprung arches which can make a mess of the paint work!! There is only a short distance to line up for it and the lock cut joins the main river at 90 degrees so you have to line up very quickly to through the bridge. Our normal way of tackling it is to head as far upsteam as possible on leaving the lock, put the bow into the stream and then apply power to turn quickly.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.7505806,-1.152648,309m/data=!3m1!1e3

This link shows the Google earth view enjoy your trip

[AliG]

Agree with Tiggs, do a divert into Nottingham, well worth the trip and with Adam if you have the time, go through Birmingham, Hatton isn't as bad as you think!

[Alway Swilby]

The Soar can flood any time of year. Like today for example!

 

You could do a slightly shorter ring than that involving the Staffs and Worcester: you could turn left at Fradley as normal but turn right at Fazeley and head to Birmimgham that way, then onto the Worcester and Birmingham and turn left on to the Northern Stratford, Lapworth flight then Hatton etc.

[Darcy]

OK - thanks for the warnings. We have far less experience on rivers than on the canals, so they are always a bit daunting. One of the best bits on the canals is that if things start to go wrong there is usually the option to stop, think and start again. Rivers aren't about to relinquish their control....... Having said that, we really enjoyed our trip down the Thames last year and found it easier than we had expected (except for the difficulty in finding moorings). So this year I'm determined not to worry too much. I shall add these and any other warning to my trusty Pearson's guides and then worry about them on the day.

 

I put the Birmingham diversion + the Erewash, but obviously minus the Ashby into canal planner last night and it only takes the mileage up from 226 to 232, but adds exactly 100 locks (49 narrow & 51 broad). On the default settings this takes the trip up from 97 to 110 hours. This is certainly do-able, double the 4 counties or Cheshire rings, both of which we've easily done in a week. So I've put the two choices to the rest of the crew (well son and husband - since daughter tends to be a refusenik and aged parents don't do many locks these days) . Likelihood is that we will start out intending to do the longer trip and see what we feel like when we get to the Erewash.

 

One more question. We will be doing this the first two weeks of August, so English school holidays. We usually try to fit it in the first two weeks of the Scottish hols before the English schools are off, but unfortunately, we had no choice this year. So one of the reasons for choosing the Leicester Ring was that we expected it to be less busy. Obviously the bit around Braunston is likely to be congested, but at least we won't hit it on a weekend. If we do the longer route, I imagine the Staffs and Worcester will be slow since it is on the 4 counties and we would likely be there on a Saturday, but how do Autherley to Napton and Fazeley to Rugby say compare for busyness at this time of year ? Our memory from doing the Warwickshire Ring was that the Eastern leg was the busiest, but that may just have been that we hit it on a weekend. Which are the worst pinch points ? Given that we will have the light, we might choose to do the busier lock flights in an evening.

 

Again, thanks for all your help.