Canal Cuttings
As a result of this summer’s drought, the locks closed to traffic on 29 July and remained closed until 27 October. Canal & River Trust (CRT) made a considerable fanfare of the reopening. This included a substantial piece on BBC East Midlands TV.
There was a queue of boats waiting to pass through, but only a few days later it was quietly announced that they would be shutting again on Thursday 6 November. This left a few people stranded, especially as the canal was still closed at Kilby Bridge, so there was no through route to the north.
After quite a lot of rain, which brought the levels up (indeed it was going over the weirs and into the Foxton Brook) but did not have very much effect on the empty reservoirs, CRT opened the locks again on Wednesday 19 November. Most boaters by now had given up on doing much travelling this winter, especially as from November onwards many canals are closed for maintenance. We are promised that some much-needed dredging and reed cutting will take place on the Harborough Arm over winter.
Some locals may remember Cliff Myles, who has died recently. He worked at Foxton from the mid-1980s until 2006, doing boatyard jobs, steering Foxton Boat Services camping narrow boats, and also serving behind the bar of the original Bridge 61. Cliff was a ‘character’ and people would visit specifically to be insulted by him. On one occasion there was a complaint in the Leicester Mercury that it was cruel that we made the horse pull the (small, modern lightweight) trip boat to the village and back a few times on a Sunday. So Cliff made a harness, and pulled it himself!
Mary Matts
Cheese & Pickle
