We cruised out of Yelvertoft marina via bridge 18 on Thursday 23rd April 2015 

Waving goodbye to fellow moorers with the sun shining for us & St.George. NB: ‘Bartholomew Roberts’ aka ‘Black Bart’ and her crew, Colin, Judith & our Staffordshire Bull Terrier ‘Roxy’ are Heading North on the Leicester section of the Grand Union Canal.

A wonderful cruise to br41 nr. Welford Junction and a lovely mooring. The criteria for an overnight stop is ….. Cows &/or sheep in the field(s), a church steeple in the distance and the sound of church bells (a bonus if they peel not only on Sundays), a good tow path and no overhanging trees. I think this spot only ticked 3 of the boxes.

The next day Friday 24th April saw us heading for the Husbands Bosworth tunnel (1170 yards) and then onto The Foxton Locks which consist of 2 staircases of 5 locks each. It took about a hour to go through as we were the only boat descending, with a plethora of lock keepers to aid our passage.

At the base of Foxton locks there be our old friend the Harborough arm (previously cruised by Bart & her original crew of ‘there only be two’ ((not three)) in June 2012), which will have to wait for ‘another day’.

We continue on the main line, mooring at br66 nr. Debdale Wharf Marina for the night

On Saturday 25th April with lines slipped, we continue along ‘the cut’, passing through Saddington tunnel (881 yards), and descending 12 wide locks, finally mooring by br86 nr. Wigston.

Sunday 26th April    Cruising on, descending through 8 more wide locks, we passed under br103a, struggling to find a viable, deep mooring position. Persistance (needed with Bart’s deeper than most 3 foot draft) found a lovely position, only 2 foot(ish) away from the bank. Roxy wasn’t sure about ‘walking the plank’ but confidence soon was found.

Monday 27th April   We descend Kings lock to join the River Soar as we make our final approach into Leicester. We trust the conditions are considerably more sedate than those we encountered during our June 2012 cruise coming South on the River Soar. What ‘Fun’ that was on occasion.

Not counting the Foxton staircases we have now descended through a further 21 wide locks mostly on our own, as we have cruised 32 miles of the Wonderful Grand Union Leicester Section.