Down the Foxton Flight and onto waters new

Yesterday I continued along the Leicester Arm of the GU canal though the 10 lock Foxton flight which is made up of two sets of 5 staircase locks.  Staircase locks are connected so that the bottom gate of one lock is the top gate of the next one.  This allows the locks to descend a steep hill in a short space. It also requires a little more care as each lock has colour coded paddles which must be opened in the correct order to avoid flooding the lock below. There is a simple if slightly ominous mantra: Red before white you'll be alright, white before red you'll wish you were dead.  

Arriving in the top lock you do get the feeling that you are on top of the world. The flight is quite a tourist attraction so if you make a mess it will be witnessed.

After descending the flight I took a detour along along a short arm to Market Harborough.  The basin at the end of the canal offers comfortable moorings with electric hook up which allowed me to give the batteries a good overnight charge. 

The town also has a Sainsbury's where I stocked up the fridge this morning before retracing my route to Foxton and then heading through bridge 65 onto the main Leicester Arm. Having not travelled beyond Foxton before this was the start of new water for me and the rest of my trip North and through the Yorkshire waterways will all be new waterways which I'm looking forward to.

After leaving Foxton the canal meanders through largely open countryside for 18 miles until it reaches Leicester.  The first few miles passes through wooded cuttings giving it the feel of a narrow river. 

Having had a few long days to get the familiar sections behind me I now intend to travel in shorter hops to enjoy the new scenery and explore the towns and villages on route.  Today I only covered a few miles before mooring up in an isolated spot where I'm now enjoying the peace and quiet.

 The forecast for tomorrow morning is heavy rain so I may well stay here for second night.