Husband's Bosworth Tunnel and beyond...

First thing in the morning, after packing away the Cobb and all the bits we had just left out overnight as it had been so gorgeous, we started up the engine and headed further along the Grand Union. Husband's Bosworth tunnel (1170yards)appeared before us through a deep tree-bowered cutting, after only about half an hour into our journey. The dog decided he really didn't like it on the roof and opted for Ryan's cabin at the back with us. The engine can be quite booming and I worried about the sound waves on the brickwork!
The countryside around here was worth the visit and we could appreciate it as there weren't many other boaters along that section at the time. Some of the tight bends can be quite hairy getting the boat around if another boat meets you unexpectedly! Fascinatingly, the old Grand Union used trees as 'living' mileposts, and in the 1980s the Old Union Canal Society replaced them measuring the miles to and from Foxton.
Foxton Locks consists of 2 staircases of 5 chambers each. Boats can pass between the 2 staircases but there is a lock keeper on hand to organise the order for boats if there are several and give advice. There are pubs/cafes and a shop at the locks, so plenty of gongoozerlers(people who watch boaters) milling around, treating it as a proper day out!
In 1900, a boat lift/inclined plane was built at Foxton to ease the bottleneck for the trading boats. Archive photos in the museum reveal the astonishing grandeur of the inclined plane, an upper and lower deck , seperated by a 1:4 gradient. 2 counterbalanced tanks were capable of taking a barge or pair of narrowboats up or down the hill and the huge cogs carrying the cables and the ramps themselves can still be seen in places. (Source: Pearson's Canal Companion) The lift was closed due to being unprofitable in 1910 and the flight reinstated as the preferred method. There are plans to fully restore the plane to it's former glory and full working order.
It was my second visit to Foxton and I insisted on taking the boat down again to hopefully improve on the previous performance in the middle where I collided 'gently' with another boat waiting to come up! All went well with no collision but the angle of the second staircase and the boat waiting there means a bounce off the entrance to lock 6 is inevitable. Let's say no more....

The boat gracefully glided out of the last lock where I slowed to let Richard aboard. Turning right, we had decided to be nosey and look at the Market Harborough arm of the canal, which was originally intended to link Leicester and Northampton. Unfortunately the project ran out of capital and there the canal terminated.
Exiting the village of Foxton, first the footbridge needed to be opened for the boat and then we came across a road bridge! I jumped off the boat again to unlock the system of padlocks and stop signs and with much huffing and puffing opened the bridge slowly so that Richard could glide through. Then repeat the process, for the exasperation of the next boater. (and waiting motorist!)

Apart from the nauseating smell from the bone works (old bones are transformed into meal and tallow for use in the making of glue and soap), this canal was beautiful. It took almost 2 hours to sail to the basin at the terminus, where we were intending on staying for the night but there was no room, so we emptied the toilet, as you do, and turned around to come back. The gardens that lined the left side of bank were so glorious and framed by weeping willows, it was hard to understand why, apart from the hire company boats, there was little traffic on this route.
We made our way back to moor on the outskirts of Foxton just past the road bridge. I must really be benefitting from all this exercise, but it isn't showing yet! Too many power snacks!