Visiting great, great, great uncle Samuel's clocktower

For the benefit of those who don't know in addition to my enthusiasm for the canals, my indulgence in any form of craftwork that takes my fancy and my passion for food (cooking and eating) I am also a keen family historian.

We are now in the center of Leicester on the moorings at Castle Gardens. The Barfields, ancestors of mine on the maternal side, lived in Leicester in the mid 1800's. Most notable of these was Samuel Barfield, younger brother of my great, great grandfather Thomas. Samuel was a sculptor and his work includes the figures on the clocktower in the center of Leicester. Was my great great grandfather Thomas equally noteworthy? Well, no, his claim to fame is the fact that he went bankrupt twice that I know of, has so many alias and variants of his name that my brother calls him 'pick-a-name' Barfield. When Thomas was living in Leicester he went by the name of Henry Anderson, I'm not sure if this was because he was hiding from creditors or because his well respected brother didn't want to be associated with him! He eventually disappeared from Leicester leaving a wife and three children and we have no idea what became of him after that.

Last Wednesday was, of course, Hallowe'en and Nimue decided that was a good day to give birth, she again had three kittens but one was very weak and unfortunately didn't survive. We have named the remaining two Trick and Treat.

It was on Wednesday that we also had a visit from the Hobbins clan,we had a nice bit of lunch on board then everyone, apart from Ray, went into Leicester for a bit of shopping. When we got back we all headed for the Hope and Anchor for an early dinner before the Hobbins had to head home.

A combination of the weather and my reluctance to travel through Leicester at the weekend meant that we stayed at the Hope and Anchor until this morning. When we reached Birstall Lock,the second of the day the water level indicator was on the red, but as the current wasn't very strong we decided to carry on, there is only about a mile and a half before the mainstream of the River Soar is bypassed after passing through Belgrave Lock. We negotiated that stretch without any problems, there was actually a boat heading downstream,a fairly rare sight at the moment.

When we reached Belgrave Lock we found that the other boat had left the lock gate open, which was handy because we could steer straight in, but had also left the paddles up which was a bit annoying. The route into Leicester from the north passes between some nice lakes and parkland on the west and an industrial and residential landscape to the east.

We will spend tomorrow going shopping, particularly in Leicester market then we will head out of the city on Wednesday. It is a fairly long haul to escape to the countryside so I  hope the weather is kind.


Today's journey 5.7 miles and 5 locks

So far this year we have travelled 777.7 miles, 611 locks,  50 swing bridges, 23 lift bridges and 27 tunnels

In 2011 we travelled 461.4 miles, 444 locks, 3 swing bridges, 34 lift bridges and 15 tunnels

During 2010 we travelled 740.3 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 25 tunnels

Since Ray retired we have travelled 1979.4 miles, 1697 locks, 106 swing bridges, 61 lift bridges and 67 tunnels