Mechelen
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We set off from Turnhout after a night of heavy thunderstorms and the weather now turning cooler but with some strong winds. Quite a few locks and lifting bridges on this route as we headed along the Kanaal van Dessel towards the Alberkanaal, one of the main commercial channels past Antwerp. We were fairly sheltered from the wind with tall trees lining our route and just the odd commercial although they tended to move quite slowly on this canal. We passed through five locks and a number of lifting bridges. As the locks got closer together it started to get very slow with only a couple of kilometres between locks. There seemed to be one lock keeper to cover a couple of locks and the lifting bridges between them. Each lock was 50M x 7.5M and the commercials were 50M x 7M so they absolutely filled the lock and went in at a snails pace with just a few centimetres clearance each side.
We stopped for the night between locks 5 & 6, walking back to the supermarket at lock 5 for supplies. The next day we pressed on through another 5 locks and turned onto the Albertkanaal and here the pace picked up. We were only going for a few miles before turning off onto another smaller canal so I was not expecting too much trouble, and there was only one lock to negotiate – but it was big. There were already two vessels in the lock and we went to slot down the side of one 182M long. It had its engine running to hold station and as we went in alongside, the wash slammed me into the lock gate. No damage but a wake up call. We were also behind another commercial with another slotted in behind us, and we were going up in the lock. For some reason the lock keeper pulled up our bow line and placed it halfway down the boat on the lockside and whilst that would stop us going forward, unfortunately the barge in front was driving forward and in doing so pushing us back. All in all it was a real struggle to hold us in position and I was very pleased to get out. We moored up for a bit as I needed to make a phone call, and we thought about hanging around as it was getting quite late but we soon had four commercials hanging around us making it very uncomfortable. So we squeezed out and carried on towards the Netekannal, which would take us down past Lier. There was a lock at the start of it but after this there was a great pontoon on the other side with good dog walking areas, so we settled in for the night.
We were intending to go into a marina outside Lier. The town sounded like it would be worth a visit but the marina was rubbish and there was nowhere close where we could moor safely so we pressed on towards Leuven.
Arriving at the next lock, we found that it was a tidal lock – I confess that I had not thought that through. We went into the lock and as the lock was being emptied, the lock keeper said we might struggle as the tide was going out and almost at low tide. We should have been fine but at the lock keeper’s suggestion, we agreed to refill the lock, back out and wait for a couple of hours, and that is what we did. Unfortunately that then meant that the tide was against us and so we made slow progress, but eventually we got to the canal for Leuven, aptly name Kanaal Leuven, at about 5pm which would take us away from the tidal stretches.
We targeted a stop at Mechelen purely based on the lateness of the hour and that there would be just one more lock. Lucky us, there was a commercial in the lock and one of the gates was not working! We had to moor up and just wait, and about an hour and a half later we were on our way again, pulling up at Mechelen just before the next bridge. It turned out to be a very quiet location despite being bordered by residential properties, and in the end we decided to stay a few days rather than continue to Leuven the next day. Mechelen turned out to be a real gem, almost as pretty as Brugge but without hoards of tourists.
At the previous lock we had spotted a strange craft, totally solar driven with a couple of settees on it. We found that were now moored near this vessel, run by Peter, “Captain Sunrise”, as a trip boat and he buzzed up and down past us throughout our stay.
Our to first visit to Mechelen took us into the Grott Markt where the local Saturday market was taking place, which as with most other towns was a bustling, busy experience. Then we took some of the back roads around the city, and came across some incredible street art.
While we were here we took the opportunity of visiting the Cathedral and Belltower in Mechelen – a stunning piece of architecture in itself, with apparently over 900 steps to the top of the tower with stunning views across the city and beyond.
The following day we decided to visit the Winter Garden of the Ursuline nuns in a nearby town – this time by bicycle. It is only open on Sundays as this is a working school and you have to book a place in advance so that they can ensure they have enough volunteers for each language, to guide you. The journey there was about an hour’s bike ride, as was the return, plus a further two hour tour throughout the complex – it was a beautiful and absolutely stunning building, with the piece de resistance being the Winter Garden – a huge art deco and art noveau style conservatory that has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Initially created as a free school it quickly earned an international reputation and was very popular with the elite of europe. During the first World War, the Belgiums had to almost destroy it so that it could not be used as a landmark by German bombers. After the war, the Germany had to pay for the rebuild and it appears that no expense was spared. The classrooms, refectories, library, museum, piano room, auditoriums, chapel were all restored to a very high standard and must make it an interesting educational environment for the 1600 plus children today. Well worth the time and effort to visit.
For our final evening in Mechelen we went to the weekly Carillion concert. Mechelen is the centre for this art form where they attempt to extract tunes and melodies from the bells in the Belfry. The event was not quite as impressive as we had expected and it was not helped by a bit of rain. Still, we ended up taking a stroll through the town, where I took this magical photo ….
On our return to the boat, one of the local residents told us that he had chased off some kids he’d seen messing with the ropes. We had a chain and padlock as well, so there was no serious threat but it was our first experience of this kind of problem.
