From suevbutler@compuserve.com Mon May 3 18:36:50 1999 Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 19:11:21 -0400 From: susan butler Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: "INTERNET:canals@blacksheep.org" Subject: Jemima D Trip Report Day 3 The Soar - Longish [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] Trip report - Sue and Neil on Jemima D Taking in the GU, the Soar, the Erewash, the Trent and the Trent and Mersey Day 3 - 22nd June Thurmaston Lock to Zouch 8 locks, 13.5 miles, 6 hours Sunny but windy Soaring down the Soar (with acknowledgment to David) Woke up to find the boat baking in the sun, but soon realised it was very windy too! A quick visit to the local shop for milk and beer (the last 2 cans in the shop!) , this is not a well stocked shop - I would not recommend it. Neil has a look at the throttle which played up a bit yesterday. ( Those of you who waded through my trip report from last October will know that this is a problem we know all about. But this time we had the tools to fix it ourselves. We set off around 10, soon into the swing of locks and weirs. The cut is much busier than yesterday, and we meet plenty of boats on the move. Sileby Lock is a real picture postcard scene (one for Dral?). Mountsorrel lock is full of jetsam and flotsam in the form of huge logs (I guess from the flood of a few days before) and we have to use the pole to get the gates open. We moor below the lock and visit the Waterside Inn for a light lunch, and are joined by the crew of Monsalvat. Be warned that the shop in the village here has a siesta for lunch, and doesn't re-open til 3. I walk up to the village, and get there only a few minutes after it shut! So we move on to Barrow-on-Soar where the shops are open but the pub is now shut! Just before Barrow we are amazed to see canoe loads of kids negotiating the weir - all under strict tuition - but it all looked quite hairy to us. Then at the next lock the day boat shoots out - going way too fast and completely out of control - As they career toward Jemima, Neil manages to take evasive action! [Five blasts on the horn might have made them think again^Å I wonder?] I hoped the canoes were all off the cut before they arrived. A short stop at Barrow, and Monsalvat catches us up again. They are staying here tonight, and we say our goodbyes as we are unlikely to see them again as they are travelling shorter days than us. An evening in Loughborough We head on through Loughborough, skirting the town and enjoying the cool of the evening after another hot day. We never can resist a dead-end, so we take the short branch up to the Wharf, much to the surprise of the local fishermen. The Wharf is now a builders yard, but there are one or two boats moored, and some persistent flowers growing out of the stonework. If you are passing it is worth a visit - especially by boat. A use it or lose it branch that could be made much more welcoming, but there are one or two nice warehouses on the way down. At Loughborough Lock we meet a boat coming up whose name I can't remember, but was from Sowerby Bridge. They were very nervous, and would not let me open a paddle for them. This is the first time I have watched such a serious roping up in a lock, and it is done with great care, both front and back ropes. It is going to take them a long time to travel the Soar. However, having been in the locks on the Calder and Hebble, I can understand their caution. The helmsman is the author of the Calder and Hebble Guide. At Bishops Meadow Lock there is a Sanitary Station right by the lock, handily placed for those who don't like to carry their bucket too far - as long as the cut isn't busy! Just North of Loughborough there is a huge edifice being constructed - in the name of industrial progress. It should be very impressive when completed - overpowering a basically rural and pleasant stretch of the cut. A handy mooring behind the bar We soon rejoin the Soar and pass by Normanton - a beautiful spot - the Church overlooks the river and it is all very idyllic. Unfortunately there is nowhere we can see to moor. (Although Chris explained later where the moorings are hidden. On past the village we reach the Soar Boating Club premises. Lots of moorings here, and the campsite looks comfortable^Å roll on August. Mooring at Zouch is not as easy as we expected. There are rings behind the Rose and Crown, but it is not immediately obvious that there is room in front of the three boats already moored. However, there is in fact room for several Jemima Ds (she is only 35ft). We end up moored only a few feet behind the bar^Å very handy but for the fact that we have to walk round the pub to get there! This is another nice pub, and the meals looked good, although we were going back to JD for one of Neil's excellent Baltis. We have an lovely evening here, but for the fact that Neil suddenly realised that England were playing some football game tonight and he missed it! Sue and Neil Happy to be on Jemima D