A lovely day on the Soar

The River Trent at Trent Lock

Yesterday evening I went for a walk to Trent Lock in the warm sunny weather.  The photo shows the main flow of the Trent overlooked by Ratcliffe power station. To the left is Cranfleet Cut where we moored, straight ahead the main river turns to the left over a weir on its way to Nottingham and to the right the River Soar enters the Trent.  It is the Soar which will take us to Leicester on the next stage of our journey.

Avoiding the weir we entered the Soar, a much smaller river than the Trent. For the whole of today's journey the Soar proved to be delightful with the gently flowing tree lined river passing through remote countryside with only occasional views of the outside world.   Our impression was undoubtedly helped by the blue skies and warm sunshine.

Approaching Ratcliffe stop lock

We are unlikelty to meet one of these on the canals

On the way to Kegworth

The first point of interest was Ratcliffe lock which is only closed under flood conditions. Beyond the lock lies Red Mill marina near where we passed a line of impressively large private boats obviously designed for river conditions.

In Kegworth Deep Lock

Moored between Kegworth and Zouch

Then on through Kegworth Shallow Lock, again only closed during winter months for flood control.  This is quickly followed by Kegworth Deep Lock, a most appropriate name for a notably large lock.  Once in the lock I had to rope the boat to a vertical cable against the side whilst Denise extremely slowly raised the paddles.  WIthout these precautions the boat would have been thrown around the lock by the fierce currents as it filled.

As the weather was getting very hot we decided to moor up soon afterwards at 2pm in lovely and quiet surroundings. It was very pleasant to get off the shadeless back of the boat into the cabin where the thermometer was showing a cool 30 degC.

Today: 4.31 miles, 2 locks, 3 hours travelling.