We Headed down through Sawley Lock before the volunteers were on duty and continued down the Trent past the entrance to the Erewash Canal and the Cranfleet Cut leading to Nottingham, and the Trent Valley Sailing Club that had been established in 1886 before heading into the River Soar where it joined the Trent.
Quickly the feeling of the waterway changes as the banks draw in and it looks very like a canal. Here are the flood gates just before Redhill Marina. Open now, but in flood they will be closed to direct the water round the bend in the River Soar proper.
You have to pass through Radcliffe Lock that still has the old lock next to it, seemingly complete with gates, but filled in. I assume that this was part of flood protection works. There is another flood lock at Kegworth before arriving at Kegworth Deep Lock. This also has the old lock filled in next to it. This is looking back down towards Kegworth.
It was really quiet as we passed up the Soar. Helen is waiting for Zouch Lock (Zotch) to fill. The canal passes some flood time moorings in Ashby de la Zouch. Worth knowing where they are.
We continued onwards through Normanton on Soar that has some great big houses with large gardens right down to the river that kept Helen busy. Then when out of the town there is a line of chalet. Some of these are a bit ramshackle, but most are well kept and what a great place to be on a sunny day with the river chuckling along in front of you and views across the water meadows. We continued on until we reached Loughborough. We moored up just before Chain Bridge rather than in the basin or along the main road and found it a good quiet spot.
About 15 mins walk up from our mooring, through the basin, is the Generous Briton pub. The first mention of this pub I can find is when the publican James Palfryman had his potato clamp robber, three times in 1849! James seemed to have died in 1853 but his wife kept on the licence and we can see that a Framework Knitters Union meeting was held at the house of Mrs. Palfryman, and in 1861 Miss Palfryman was duped by a gang passing counterfeit florins to the pubs and shops in the area. A Coroner's Inquest was held there in 1898. In 1937 the pub was completely refurbished and rebuilt in brick. The public bar is almost as it was then built and the pub is on Camra's Heritage list as there are several other original features. The lounge is two of the original rooms knocked through. There is nice paneling and fireplaces. On the down side there are televisions in both bars along with music, although playing softly when we were there. In the last few years the pub was sold by a pub co to a property developer. Fortunately they built flats upstairs and found a local pub company to take on the pub with lowered ceilings and sound proofing. There were six had pulls on offer when we visited.
I decided on a pint from Castle Rock Brewery. This started out when a past Chair of CAMRA, Chris Holmes, put his money where his mouth was in 1977. He started buying pubs and making them into places he would like to frequent and went on to own 12 places by 1997 when the next logical step was to start brewing. His company was called Tynemill, and they started up with Bramcote Brewery. Subsequantly Bramcote has gone. They expanded from 30 bbls a week in 2004 to 100 in 2010. Now they have expanded again and are up to 360 bbl a week. As the Castle Rock beer Harvest Pale was voted the Supreme Champion beer in 2010 at the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival it was obvious capacity had to be increased. The name Tynemill was dropped for the recognisable Castle Rock and they have gone from strength to strength.
I chose their Screech Owl. This said on the clip to be an American IPA, but really it is a strong bitter at 5.5%. That is not me who says so but the Society of Independent Brewers who voted it a top beer in the Strong Bitter category. It is brewed with American hops, but it's colour is more close to a bitter than a pale and the taste definitely is. The head pulled with a thin head. Not so promising either when brought towards the lips as I wasn't overwhelmed with aroma, but once I had a sip I was very pleased. Where a pale ale could have a dry feel in the mouth, a sweetness meant that it real had 'mouth appeal'. It had a well balanced body and was not overwhelmed by the amount of alcohol. I shall certainly look out for this and other beers from Castle Rock Brewery. The Geenerous Briton is worth a walk up from Loughborough Basin to see what they have to offer on hand pull.
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