We pulled pins in Birstall at 06.10 and while Carolyn was preparing the lock i was confronted with 3 hire boats moored on the lock landing , I held Inca in the lock approach until the gates opened which took a lot of revving of the engine and a lot of noise and a lot of working the bow thruster … I hope I didn’t wake up those poor hire boaters.(Message to hire boaters .. Please please Read the RULE book before you start your holiday).There have been many occasions when we could have broken the rules to make life easier but never have. I believe that rules should be kept to by everybody, otherwise if everyone broke them what would we have ????. RANT OVER.
One for my dear old mate Tony (Cooper). Text should be in the middle .or not
OOps we failed and missed the canoe slalom course.
The Space centre at Leicester and our trip starting into the city. We are now approaching Belgrave lock which is the first lock as you enter the city. We were greeted by a drunken mob of young foreign men who were drinking and shouting near the lock , luckily they didn’t seem to notice us as we passed through the lock.. Not a good start to our cruise into the city.
This old factory is currently being converted and having a new lease of life which is always a good thing to see.
Everywhere you look there is Graffiti which is a message for us not to stop. There seems to be two different types of Graffiti and this was done by an artist , but most of it was gang related and contained very bad language.
We passed the secure moorings at the Castle grounds in the centre of the city and were disappointed to find them full. The secure moorings are pontoon moorings inside a secure steel fence with a gate that is accessed with a waterways key. The pontoon was only big enough to take three or four boats ,but it could have been extended as there was plenty of room to do so, It seems to us that the message is very clear …. Leicester does not want boaters in their city. What a shame !!!!!!. All through the centre of the city it was littered with empty beer cans and spirit bottles around every bench, and there were no boats moored through the entire length of the city. A lot of big cities have now got their act together such as London , Birmingham , Manchester and Liverpool and realized what an asset the waterways can be…. We met a couple of Canal and River Trust workers carrying out repairs on one of the locks and they said “Don’t stop what ever you do as this is Bandit country , just keep going until you get to Kilby bridge”. 
A disappointed Carolyn on the tiller while we pass Leicester city football club as we leave the city. The locks through this part of the river are getting so heavy that Carolyn kindly allowed me to do a few to give her a rest. 
At least the Water lilies looked good as we passed through the city. 
Finally out of Leicester and back into the country. This is the worst field of Ragwort I have seen , its very bad for horses and can do them a lot of harm.. Back in the olden days when I used to work we had to pull ragwort before it seeded to stop it spreading and then we had to burn it. I wouldn’t like to be the person pulling this lot.We finally arrived in Kilby Bridge and were lucky to pick up a mooring as it is a very popular starting and finishing spot for people passing through Leicester. While there we heard of a boat that came through the city the day before us and they had stones hurled at their boat from bridges and kids jumping all over their boat at locks. I think that we were lucky although other people have said they have been through many times with no problems.
We are now heading down towards Norton Junction to pick up number one Daughter Chloe and Curly (Abbie) the best granddaughter in the world. Chloe is going to have a few days with us and then will leaves Curly with us for a couple of weeks.
Happy Days
We must have been lucky mooring at castle gardens..maybe worse in school holidays. We wont be going back!! Enjoy ur time wiv curly. Great to meet sometime for a tiple or two. Pam terry
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