Foxton Locks - Leicestershire
Hail to the Hive!
As many of you already know we live on a little narrowboat cruising about the canals and rivers of the UK. Recently we returned to my hometown of Leicester for a visit and on the way went through one of my favourite canal destinations that I loved visiting way before I ever knew that I'd actually be living on the canls on a boat. This place is Foxton Locks and it's awesome.
We stayed in the immediate area for several weeks both at the top of the locks and also at the bottom. One morning I decided to get up early as the wether was pretty great and send the whirly bird up and get some good footage of the place from th air. It turned out to be one of my better ideas as the footage came out pretty darned good.
These locks were built in 1813 and have been in constant use since those days. It's actually pretty amazing that we are still using them today to travel about the canal and river network. Pretty old engineering but obviously very robust.
Foxton Locks are staircase locks meaning that one lock goes straight into the next with no separayion between them like in other flights of locks. There are 2 flights of 5 making 10 locks in total.
This enables boat traffic to traverse the landscape as it rises and falls and is pretty ingenious when you think about it and also quite incredible when you think that it was all dug out by hand over 200 years ago.
and using a drone you can get a feel for what that actually means.
The scale of it is quite incredible. Over 2000 miles of navigable canals and rivers connected across the UK.
I always get asked to include a shot of the drone operator( me) in all his glory 😁.
I've included some video footage from the drone in this vlog also. Worth a watch and you'll see the locks in action in this as well
Watch and Enjoy!!!
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I'm rarely here at the moment, but I really enjoyed this post again. Including video. That's where the staircase design really comes to life. Excellent work!
!invest_vote
Cheers for stopping by mate. Yup the video reslly makes it come alive. I’ve started to love making them again as Imreslised when we were out of the water what a great memory store they are so I shall be continuing with them for sure
Love seeing the history and great pics!
!BEER
!PIZZA
This is where the drone really helps lend that awesome perspective. I’m loving the dji mini its so easy to whil out quickly and get in the air which makes me more inclined tomuse it more and more. Amazing that these were built in 1813 eh!
Amazing !INDEED
You guys are going to talk me into one of those mini's one day.
fits into my cargo pants side pocket, no bg required 😉
(1/10)
@scubahead! @ksteem Totally agrees with your content! so I just sent 1 IDD to your account on behalf of @ksteem.
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@ksteem(1/10) tipped @scubahead
Truly, this is spectacular... From the very first time @millycf1976 shared about the locks in her post, I was curious and seeing this is a good one for the morning.
The experience must be a great one especially with having your friends around and to enjoy the moment while assisting as well. I saw Milly pushing those locks very easily, they look kind of heavy and aside from pushing the locks, she was cranking something by the locks too?
Are those another kind of lock? Or are they connected to the same locks?
The graphics, nature and everything about the video is awesome. Thanks for sharing the experience with us on Hive.
The cranking part Milly was doing open and closes the paddles allowing the water into or out of the lock depending on if you are going up or down. It can be a lot of work depend on how well maintained the locks are. Really appreciate your kind feedback as well , its nice when people watch the videos as I enjoy making them to share this unique way of life.
this is really amazing♥️
Thanks, it's very cool. I have always enjoyed going to Foxton Locks even way before we ever knew we would one day be living on a narrowboat. Having the drone reslly helps convey how amazing it really is too. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment :)
Dude, it's so cool to see a bit of this place. I feel privileged to see some of it, and the place... wow, it's really beautiful! Congrats on the shots, you did a great job!
awwwww making me blush 😌