I SPOKE at length to a lady called Claire on her narrowboat Ursa Major, who I met in Loughborough, when getting onto our boat. She is a resident in Derby and keeps her boat at Mercia Marina in Willington, writes Paul Lillie.
She told me of her trip into Leicester, she really enjoyed the Friars Mill Moorings and thought they were excellent! [These are situated just above the A47 bridge] But they do not feature on her map/guide, it was only a local passer by on the towpath that told her the moorings were there.
Much better
She enjoyed the trip to Leicester and found the route interesting and enjoyable—much better than she had heard it was from other boaters. But she did enter the city quite late and just sought refuge on the Friars Mill secure moorings before turning around the following day. She also filled her tank with water there too so the tap was of great benefit to her.
Her only moan was that there were hardly any other boats so they were doing all the locks on their own which made it harder for her and her partner. She thought it was a shame that such a nice city had so few visitors.
No fouled propeller
There were no complaints about fouling propellers for once—hooray!
I did tell her to look out for the River Soar Trail on Facebook and she was very enthusiastic about this.
I think this is really good news for the people working to make the river better, and congratulations to Leicester for getting it right for this visitor! This was lovely to hear of such a nice experience on our local waterway.
[Paul Lillie is the General Manager at Pilling's Lock Marina Ltd]