Drained Locks

So following on from the saga of the failed/replaced water pump - my last post - Thursday was a haircut day for me followed by the  Friday Boaters Night Out at the Sugar Loaf pub in Harborough where the winter moorers of Union Basin have their weekly get together.  Come Saturday C&RT had opened the drained Foxton Lock flight to public viewing so we went along to have a look see.  There were two points of access to the emptied locks but the queues of people waiting to climb down the scaffolds into the locks were just too long for my short patience so the 'look see' was from a distance...

Looking down the drained and fenced off lock flight

 

All the side pound were drained

 

The culverts that feed the locks from the side pounds

 

The middle pound between the two flights of staircase locks - this be the lock entrance that catches many/most boaters out with the water flows slamming the bow into the entrance wall.

There were at least a dozen side fenders lying in the silt here

There were an awful lot of sightseers about all fascinated by spectacle of this bit of remarkable engineering.  Well done C&RT for allowing people to have a look. 
Having seen what I had come to see I walked the two dogs back to Harborough and Joe went off to Braunston to get the micro switch for the errant water pump.

 

And come Sunday we went into the town for a birthday lunch at the local Thai restaurant.  The buffet for £7.95 was excellent value and I am sure that we will be going back to sample more of their fare.