THE Canal & River Trust is inviting visitors to Foxton Locks to enjoy some retail therapy as a ‘floating market’ visits over the Easter weekend.
Trading boats will be selling a wide variety of goods including prints, fabrics, wool and crafts, beers, wines and cider, photography, healing hands treatments such as massages, canal art, sweets and boat fenders.
The market will take place from Friday March 29 through to Monday April 1 and will be moored along the canal above Bridge 60 at the top of the famous flight of locks.
CRT duty manager Julie Nottingham said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming the floating market and giving local people the unique opportunity to buy from a boat. There will be a wide array of goods on sale so there really is something for everyone.
“Foxton Locks is glorious all year round, but Easter is particularly special with daffodils in flower, the first buds starting to show on the trees and more colourful narrowboats getting back out on the water. We hope that people come along and enjoy a bit of shopping before taking in the photo exhibition and exploring all that the site has to offer.”
Visitors over the Easter weekend can also take the opportunity to explore a free photography exhibition celebrating the diversity of people living on the nation’s waterways. The Canal Boat Lives exhibition features photos from award-winning international photographer, Gill Shaw, and comes to Foxton having previously been on show at St Marylebone Art Space in London and the Boat Life Live show at the NEC in Birmingham. Canal Boat Lives will be on display within the Canal & River Trust Welcome Station next to Top Lock Café until April 7.
Foxton Locks is home to the longest, steepest staircase of locks in Britain and welcomes over 400,000 visitors each year. Thanks to the work of the Trust and it volunteers, the site holds a Green Flag Award. It sits in 34 acres of natural green space making the site the ideal place to go nature spotting. As well as the locks, visitors can also enjoy pubs, cafés, a museum and the historic remains of a unique Inclined Boat Lift, which is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The event is free to enter, although parking fees apply (currently payment is coins or Pay By Phone). The closest car park to the market is long stay (LE16 7RY).
To find out more about the Trust, including how you can support its vital work, go to: Canal & River Trust.
