Barrow-upon-Soar to Kegworth.

Travelled 9.44 miles, worked 3 locks in a time of 3 hours 50 minutes.

Wow what a weekend, not only did the Lions win the Rugby Test and Chris Frome took the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, but finally a Britain won the Wimbledon Tennis final. But before all that, our weekend was lovely at Barrow. It was not quiet, but full of activity. We saw boats of all shapes and sizes over the two days as everyone got out to enjoy the weather, which is gracing us at the moment. I have a feeling many of the boats were out of Pillings Marina out for their weekend jolly. We had fat boats, thin boat, canoes, inflatables, narrowboats, widebeams, glass fibre boats and everything in between. We were even rammed up the rear by a plastic boat after its occupants had been to the pub. Barrow was a hive of activity, which is what I would expect on a river, after all until that point it had all been very quiet. Whilst moored up for the weekend, I got painting done and Keith did some varnishing, in the heat the paint did not take long to dry. Sunday morning we walked up to Barrow boating and had a coffee in the tea room, we then walked back to the boat through the village.

Yesterday the crowning glory to the day was watching every tense moment of Andy Murray winning the Wimbledon final. I think I played every point with him. Congratulations to Andy and his family and Team, finally the 77 year wait is over.

We left Barrow this morning at 9 am with the sun shining and the heat beginning to mount.

The beauty of this area is undeniable, there are some lovely views as we approached Pillings Flood Lock. Since it is a flood locks, the gates are left open when the river is calm.

Pillings Marina.

The canal then circles Loughborough.

We were seeing more boats on the move, in fact by the time we stopped we had seen more boats on the move than in the whole time since leaving Foxton (I am not counting the boats at the weekend, because we did not move). It seems the good weather is bring boaters out on to the river.

At the Loughborough T-junction we turned right as we had no need to go into the arm.

In 2009 when we did so we got stoned by kids, of course we would have probably have been fine this time, but with no need for supplies we saw little point in stopping.

At Loughborough Lock already for a boat approaching.

Bishop Meadow Lock, we pulled in above the lock to empty a toilet cassette and to get rid of rubbish.

NB SnowGoose and another boat arrived to filled the lock. We know NB SnowGoose they have moored over winter at Welford.

St James Church at Normanton-on-Soar. The church was built in the 12th Century and looks stunning on the edge of the River Soar.

At Zouch Lock there was a boat ahead of us, so finally a boat to share a lock with.

To allow me to get back on to the boat, they very kindly offered to close the bottom gates. I do not think they were travelling very far. It was however very nice of them.

Approaching Kegworth we were on the look out for somewhere to moor up for the day.

We chose out in the countryside after the weir and before Kegworth Deep Lock.

East Midlands Airport is just across the river, so I could spend my afternoon plan spotting.