Foxton Flight

A cloudy day with only occasional hints of sun. It seemed that every time I took my waterfproof off, it started to rain, so I left it on. Then, of course, I cooked because the sun came out. 

This morning was mainly about negotiating the last few wide locks climbing up to the Foxton flight. CRT have been having problems with water levels along this stretch. We came across 2 CRT personnel who were actively managing water levels, letting water through some of the locks. They were waiting for some additional water to make it’s way down the locks, and were getting concerned it hadn’t arrived yet. We found their water 10 minutes later. Arriving at this lock, water was beginning to cascade over the top gate as well as rushing down the bywash. It made the lock difficult and slow to empty and caused a lot of problems for the boats trying to get into the lock. It subsided in around 10 minutes, carrying on its way down hill, to fill some very low pounds lower down the flight.

After the last wide lock, there were about 5 miles of twisting and often narrow canal. Most of the bridges on this part of the Leicester Line are these elegant brick built affairs.

There is always something special about a canal that is contouring its way through hilly country. But sometimes you can’t go around anymore and the canal has to resort to a tunnel. In this case it was the Saddington Tunnel. Like all the tunnels on the Leicester Ring, it is wide enough for two boats to pass, so no need for any type of traffic management. Saddington Tunnel is relatively short, at 880m, and it appears to be straight because you can see straight through. But this is an illusion because it has a few kinks in it which make you feel like you are zig zagging form one side of the tunnel to the other.

After the tunnel, it is a short run to the bottom of the staircase locks at Foxton. This impressive piece of canal engineering is actually 2 staircases with 5 locks in each and it raises the canal by 75ft. Its a popular spot with gongoozlers, so you always have an audience. There is often a queue of boats here, but not today. We went straight up, with the welcome assistance of a lock-keeper and a CRT volunteer.

Now we are on the summit level and have nearly 20 miles of lock free canal plus 3 more tunnels to look forward to tomorrow.