
Quick update on the previous post. Our bid was successful, so we are now the proud owners of an as yet unoccupied stretch of canal and a pontoon in Market Harborough!
Written by Andy – Edited by Louise!
We’ve been giving a lot of thought as to where our new boat will be moored and we’ve considered lots of options. Our favourite was a new marina being build at North Kilworth, but there was a strong possibility that it wouldn’t be ready in time for us. However last week Andy spotted that The River and Canals trust had put a mooring up for auction at Union Wharf, Market Harborough.
We really like Market Harborough having lived there for a couple of months whilst our boat Faustroll was being painted. Union Wharf is ideally situated, with the town on the doorstep and a mainline railway station with in easy reach, which is good for Andy travelling to work at the university.
The auction is for a 3 year lease and we’ve put in a bid for the mooring. Here are the details. The auction finishes tomorrow and we’ve got our fingers crossed
The Market Harborough Arm connects to the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union canal and offers some lovely rural cruising to the outskirts of Leicester, or all the fun of Foxton locks if we fancy a hard day’s work! In 1950, the basin at Market Harborough was the location for the very first National Festival and Rally of Boats, organised by the Inland Waterways Association. This was the event that kick-started the modern revival of the canals.
We went to visit our (likely) future mooring. This is a view of Union Wharf looking across to the reception/hire boat area:
The next view is looking across to the Waterfront restaurant. We anticipate some good meals therein!
Here is a view along the line of moorings. The orange buoy marks Mooring No. 9, our future location:
And here is a view along the pontoon at Mooring No. 9:
Finally, we’d like to introduce latest addition to the crew – Rosie is a 9 week old Cavachon. Andy has her in a carry bag because her vaccinations aren’t complete for another 3 weeks, so she’s not allowed contact with any other dogs. She attracted a lot of attention as we walked around!
Of course when I added ‘edited by Louise’ it should really say “Mucked about with by Louise”. All grammar and spelling mistakes are obviously mine!