According to J. M. Pearson & Son Ltd. Canal Companion (our invaluable guidebook):
Leicestershire folk appear to regard Foxton Locks as their own personal street-theatre. They descend on the flight in droves. Abandoning their vehicles to the car parks, they visit the pubs, they board the day boat trips, they marvel at the remains of the inclined plane, they mill about, giving scant rein to their children’s excitement, much to the chagrin of the lock-keepers who live with perpetual fear of tragedy.
The inland navigator (like us on our boat) plays a walk-on part in Foxton’s soap opera and is expected to respond cheerfully to bizarre questions and fatuous remarks with the amused tolerance of a Gulliver amidst Lilliputians.
And this proved to be the case.
We had bacon and sausage baps for breakfast at 09:00 when the Top Lock Cafe opened. Our friends arrived at 11:00 on Saturday (03/09/2021) morning. Annie and Ian had stayed at Ian’s parents on Friday night and they had brought them along for the ride. We were still in the queue at the top lock, waiting for boats which were coming up.
Eventually we made our way into the top lock. Foxton Locks is a series of ten locks consisting of two staircases consisting of five locks each. The locks fill and empty into ponds on each side. Building work started on the locks in 1810 and took 4 years.
We had to pull over in the middle pound while ascending boats made their way passed.
This 3-dimensional map shows how it all works. There is a Canal Museum in the old engine house for the abandoned incline plane half way down (visible in the middle of the photo taken from Lock 9 above).
We eventually chugged out of the bottom lock and turned right towards Market Harborough through a pedestrian swing bridge at the junction. We moored up and walked back for lunch in Foxton Locks Inn.
It was very busy but service was good in the circumstances and we enjoyed a nice meal before setting off again with Ian on the tiller.
We did the journey by narrowboat that Steve had done on his bicycle yesterday.
We moored up at the 48 hour visitor moorings just before Union Wharf in Market Harborough and Annie and Ian walked back to their car at Foxton Locks.
Union Wharf is a nice place that we previously moored overnight at with Keith and Sarah on Sandpiper in October 2014.
We decided to move down into Union Wharf and get a mooring with electrical hook-up on Sunday morning, after The Archers. £12.50 per night seemed quite reasonable, and a good base from which to explore the town of Market Harborough.
Back in the 18th century, Market Harborough was a staging point for horse-drawn coaches travelling between London and the Midlands. You’ll still see evidence of this in the town if, for example, you visit The Three Swans coaching inn which dates back at least 500 years. Whilst the highways in Market Harborough were regularly maintained to ease travel by roads, they were not able to contend with the large amount of goods transported during the Industrial Revolution.
By 1790, businesses began to turn a watchful eye to the canal network steadily growing across the country and linking major industrial areas. With barges able to carry nearly 40 tonnes in weight, and travel as quickly as horses and mules, the canal network seemed a safe investment. The development of a waterway then known as the Leicestershire and Northampton Union Canal got underway to link Leicester and the London to Birmingham Canal.
Union Wharf Canal Development has taken over 200 years. Works reached the village of Gumley Debdale by 1797, but investment dried up all too quickly. Plans were altered, more money was raised and a branch of the canal finally reached Market Harborough in 1809.
Although this particular stretch of the waterway never extended beyond the town, Harborough Wharf served its purpose as a distribution centre for industry. Goods such as worsted cloth, grain, bricks, beer and coal were brought in and out of the town via barges and contributed to Market Harborough’s prosperity.
Steve and Vera walked down to the Co-op that Steve had cycled to yesterday to do some shopping. Many of the customers from the day boat were now enjoying meals at the Waterfront Bar and Restaurant.
Steve picked up a Union Wharf Narrowboat Hire brochure, which was like narrowboat porn!
Boutique boats like Woodland Grayling look very plush with classy fixtures and fittings.
And Chalkhill Blue, where it looks like you have to scurry down to the end of the double bed rather than clamber over each other if you get up in the night.
Kathleen May even has Ardèche taps, a Belfast sink and an AGA.
You can find out more at the Union Wharf Narrowboat Hire website: https://www.unionwharfharborough.co.uk/.
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