A Visit to Foxton Locks, UK

avatar
(Edited)

foxton locks sign.jpg


One special thing about being a continuous cruiser on a narrowboat is that you get to moor up in some of the most iconic locations, and you get to play in them as your backyard. This special place is Foxton Locks, approximately 34 acres of hilly, countrysides with stunning mountain views lining the skies, and a fascinating flight of locks that ascends and descends narrowboats traversing to other locations.

Foxton Locks is the preferred location for an excursion for persons living in and outside of Leicestershire, as it's a great family outing and children are always ecstatic to assist in the opening and closing of locks gates. It's amazing to see their faces, and I always appreciate the extra hands, which save me a trip back and forth to close both gates at each lock.

It was a glorious day and schools were out, so there was a noticeable increase in traffic of boats going in both directions, to and away from Foxton Locks. I had already been through the flight of locks, and decided to meander my way back down the towpaths, right before sundown. When I arrived, I was cheerfully greeted by one of the volunteers (dressed in blue polo shirts) who noticed my camera, and she enquired if I got lovely photos. The volunteer said it was a steady day of boat traffic and she was looking forward to opening the locks for this last scheduled boat for the day.

_1010057.JPG

59 foxton.jpg


My route taken along the towpath was via Turnover Bridge, which is a picturesque walk with signs leading you towards the flight of locks.

_1010032.JPG

horse foxton.jpg


Across the UK, at the top of all flights of locks along the canals, there's always a Top Lock Country House. The one at Foxton Locks is ideal because they have converted the house to a coffee shop, which serves some of the most delicious cob sandwiches and ice cream, which has been super popular over the last days of record-breaking heatwaves.

_1010262.JPG

Hubby bought me a delicious homemade rum raisin ice cream after we navigated our boat up the locks a few days ago, but on this day I was on a solo walk.
My eyes spotted this handsome old fella drinking coffee on his own. So suave, I couldn't resist; I captured these shots of his best features.
What a poser, heh?
suave.jpg

foxton collage 1.jpg



Breathtaking views overlooking Foxton Locks

The overview of the flight of locks is beautiful and immaculately maintained. It's one of the most famous flights of locks on the canal network that every boater looks forward to.

foxton cam.jpg

This incredible engineering mechanism is always operated by volunteers. They consist of retirees from neighbouring local villages, who finally get to live their childhood dreams, of manning, operating, and interacting with journeying boaters.

Aren't these some amazingly beautiful views?

_1010068.JPG

Here you get to see the different levels that each boat has to ascend or descend. There are two paddles for each lock, and the sequence for opening the locks is of paramount importance, a red paddle, and a white paddle.
The volunteers have a catchy phrase that's easy to remember:

"Red before white, and you'll be alright. White before red, and you'll wish you were dead."

I am sure that they've repeated it a zillion times, but it's a sequence that you want to remember.

The reason is that the red paddle fills the chamber (where the boat waits) with water, while the white paddle empties the full chamber in the next lock on the flight, back into the side pond, as seen here.

_1010254.JPG

_1010255.JPG

C'mon, you are not gonna forget that now, are you?
Or are you gonna say, let me prove that for myself? I doubt that very much.

This is one of the times when I'm happy to do as I'm told! No question!

Also, there are always gongoozlers (people watching boaters cruising by), who have the cameras videoing and photographing physics in motion, as each narrowboat enters an empty chamber, gates close, and the rise of boats and the water fills, and vice versa. It still fascinates me, and I've done hundreds of locks before.



On the southern side of Foxton Locks, is this interesting swing bridge that narrowboat owners have a key to operate. The great thing about it is that the key cannot be released unless the bridge is closed. This eliminates the problem of boaters opening and leaving the bridge open (very important as that bridge leads to the parking lot at Foxton Locks.

_1010149.JPG


There is a restaurant and a pub, both lining the canals, that are popular locations and on Fridays, there is a jazz band that makes you feel like you were teleported to New Orleans.

_1010189.JPG

_1010124.JPG


There's also a museum, which was closed when I got there, but here are some exterior photos.

foxton museum.jpg




Foxton Locks Is Dog-friendly

There's even a sign welcoming dogs at their local canal-side pub, and it's common to see dog-walkers going by with their dogs.

Also a plant stall where all proceeds go to a local dog charity.

_1010097.JPG


Narrowboaters are very friendly, and occasionally you'll encounter a super friendly one like this fellow called Peter, from Wales, who has only been on his boat for 2 weeks. A lovely 57 ft boat, and he insisted on giving me a tour of his boat. That's something you can expect from narrowboaters, they are most times keen to have persons (strangers) pop in to view their boats.

moon.jpg

I guess it's just a pride thing because they really are all so different inside and you can work magic with them. He also had a dog that followed me around as if he thought I was his new permanent companion.

_1010178.JPG

Pete was thrilled with his diesel operated radiator. I took a picture of the flute, but there was camera shake caused by a sudden bark from the dog.

_1010176.JPG


_1010089.JPG


The grounds of Foxton Locks is so groomed, yet it does not feel fabricated; just an earthy grounding feel from the ambience. There's an instant uplift in your mood. There are little gem spots every where, that I was tempted to play hide and seek by myself.

I captured many shots, before the sun disappeared, and I slowly interacted with other boaters along the towpath who were friendly and curious if I was also on a boat.

_1010219.JPG

_1010242.JPG

_1010187.JPG

_1010134.JPG

_1010040.JPG



It was a stirring feeling walking back to Badger, the black and white boat here.
I had hoped to see my favourite volunteer who I've chatted with every time we've done the flight of locks here at Foxton, just to warn him that the next time should Badger ever make it up and down the flight of locks, it will be with new occupants on the boat, as we're parting ways with her, and handing her over to new owners on Saturday.

_1010313.JPG
I've been pleased to end my journey with Badger at this amazingly beautiful location, where I first visited many years ago as a gongoozler.

If you're ever in the Leicestershire area in the UK, be sure to make a trip to enjoy a fascinating day at Foxton Locks.

Thank you so much for being part of my journey with Badger the narrowboat:)))
Still, many rivers to cross!

One love!



0
0
0.000
46 comments
avatar

Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍

Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!

Want to have your post on the map too?

  • Go to Pinmapple
  • Click the get code button
  • Click on the map where your post should be (zoom in if needed)
  • Copy and paste the generated code in your post (Hive only)
  • Congrats, your post is now on the map!

0
0
0.000
avatar

very interesting that place has a very good beauty, how many km is it from the capital of London?

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thanks, yes it's undeniably stunning. You could get to London in 3 hours by car from Foxton Locks. It would take a much longer time via narrowboat:))

0
0
0.000
avatar

yes thank you guys for telling me, we can still say it is close to the capital of London. if we want to go here to the national capital, if we use a land vehicle, it will take almost 4 days to travel. how far is it because the province where we live is the westernmost tip of Indonesia I hope my friends can visit here from time to time.😁

0
0
0.000
avatar

It is a beautiful spot indeed.
The end of an era, I imagine it will be very emotional handing Badger over. Here's to new adventures on the horizon xxx

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you so much @trucklife-family
Yes, it is sad to see her go as I am currently packing up... but it needed to be done, just earlier than anticipated. We hope to resume our narrowboat life in a few months time:)
Thanks for stopping by:)))

0
0
0.000
avatar

It was a beautiful day when you went. Photos turned our really well.

Thanks for thr virtual tour!🙏🏼

0
0
0.000
avatar

"...the next time should Badger ever make it up and down the flight of locks, it will be with new occupants, and the boat we're parting ways with her and handing her over to new owners on Saturday."

Wait... What...? I thought I had missed one of your recent blogs, but I just checked and it doesn't appear that I did. Maybe I simply missed a paragraph in one of them...? You're leaving the narrowboat life, or just switching to another narrowboat? 😮
0
0
0.000
avatar

Hello @thekittygirl
😁 No, you haven't missed anything from my blog. I guess I never mentioned it, only hubby did.
It's not the end of our narrowboat life, all being well, but we might be going away for a few months, and we have someone who is eagerly looking forward to owning Badger... it came sooner than we had planned, but we would be stupid to say no. This presents stress for us to bring our plans earlier, but way less stress than if we had it sitting in a marina or going through a Broker:))

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes, it's good to have someone who is anxious to give Badger some luv and new adventures! Hope you enjoy your new adventures, too! 😊

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes, thank you. We hope so too... we'll miss Badger though:)

0
0
0.000
avatar

What? You're parting with Badger? I'm kind of sad and excited for you on your next adventure!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hey Julie, I feel the same. Yes, we part with her in a few days time...my life is topsy-turvy at the moment, as I'm packing and sorting stuff. It should not be the end of our narrowboat life... just a hiatus:)

0
0
0.000
avatar

I thought you'd been quiet. 😉

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes, it's all happening so fast 😆...and despite being so tiny, it feels like home:)

0
0
0.000
avatar

Saturday??!! So soon? I just caught a small mention about it from @scubahead post last week.

Must be exciting to move onto the next adventure!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes exciting, but absolutely shit atm. I'm trying to sort through stuff but nowhere for any sorting to be done.
Someone is coming to collect a few stuff for storage, and then we will move off for a few months ... We hope to resume narrowboat life... around springtime, or that's open... who knows 😁

0
0
0.000
avatar

Those views are really incredible. It's neat seeing the side that shows the steps downward. Very cool.

That's a smart little phrase for remembering which paddle to do first and second. Without something like that there would be no way that I would ever remember which to do and when.

That's pretty cool seeing the inside of the guys boat as well. Neat!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah, the guy's boat was VERY nice...His big dog would not leave me alone though...Seeing his boat made me look forward to our returning to narrowboat life:))))

0
0
0.000
avatar

Congratulations @millycf1976! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):

You made more than 7500 comments.
Your next target is to reach 8000 comments.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!
0
0
0.000
avatar

Hiya, LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #1629.

Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!

Become part of our travel community:

0
0
0.000
avatar

Nice views and your experiences, dear. I love it.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Dam Milly what an adventure. I feel like i was there now lol. Nice pics and story. Cool history everywhere to see. That narrowboat is sweet.

!LUV

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah! It's a cool place, and I'm always excited to visit Foxton Locks.
I will miss narrowboat life for sure, but we should return next Spring:)))

0
0
0.000
avatar

What an awesome journey. Thanks for sharing it with us. Does the mean that the adventures through the canals have ended?

Another exciting phase of what's next?

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hey @bearmol
Yes, it has been an awesome journey indeed!
... just a hiatus. We hope to resume of narrowboat journey in a few months:))

0
0
0.000
avatar

I see. I hope you'll both enjoy the break.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I’ve been off the hive for a while but now catching up. I know you have many fond memories of Badger. Maybe bitter sweet but as said, “still many rivers to cross”. Badger locked the cities. Lol! Thanks for sharing what life on a narrow boat is like. We enjoyed many beautiful views and learning about the boat life. Take care Badger.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hello @fruityfruitz

Badger locked the cities

I love that! Indeed!

Yes, we don't have any regrets about our time on Badger. It was a nice first boat that gave us the experience needed.
Hopefully we'll resume life on the water in a few months time in a bigger and better boat :)

I hope that you are well!😁

0
0
0.000
avatar

I can imagine that this was an enjoyable trip for you before saying goodbye to Badger. On to a bigger and better boat. Something to look forward to. I am looking forward to hearing about your future adventures.

0
0
0.000