The promised strong winds certainly blew yesterday evening and night. The rustling of the bushes was quite loud, and we were glad we were moored on rings and without any big trees nearby. This morning we set off about 8.15, Adrian bringing the boat while I walked up to Itchington Bottom Lock. There waiting for a locking partner were our friends on Conqueror. We went up that one, then Shop Lock. Lola the dog was keeping a lookout.
We started up the Stockton Locks, but at the second lock a dog Walker told us the pounds further up were empty, and there didn’t appear to be a volunteer lock keeper about to sort it out. Richard went off on his bike to investigate, and started running water down, while we came up the lock. I walked up to see what the situation was. The pound with the bridge was empty, even with some water now arriving, and so was the one above.
A lockie had arrived and said it was a daily occurrence for the pounds to be empty. But actually it didn’t take long before we were on the move again, and by the time we reached the top half of the flight there was, if anything, too much water — with cascades over the gates. Towards the top we also met a single hander coming down.
At the top, we did the couple of miles to Calcutt Locks, where Adrian and Sharon did the work while Richard and I steered.
We were following a boat up, but the three locks didn’t take long, and a boat arrived at the top as the rose. Conqueror carried on, while we reversed onto the water point to fill the tank and get another load of washing going;Adrian also went to the marina shop for some milk. We’ve really enjoyed the past few days travelling with Sharon and Richard. It’s amazing how sometimes you just click with the people you’re sharing locks with. From Calcutt it’s just a short hop to Napton Junction; the boat in front of us turned right towards Oxford, while we turned left towards Braunston.
The next section is shared between the Oxford and Grand Union canals, and I always repeat the quirk that boats going north on the Oxford go one way, but boats going north on the GU are going the opposite way. Along this section we passed Mary H with Richard at the helm, and also a boat whose steerer I recognised as the woman who’d been steering the Brindley trio boats in Birmingham at the weekend. We also passed Conqueror moored up, and Derwent6 where we had a brief chat with Del and Al. Then it was the right turn at Braunston Junction.
After some investigations about the availability of moorings, we slotted into a spot after Butcher’s Bridge. It’s been quite busy with boats in both directions. We went to Tradline Fenders to get a mooring line to replace one which got a broken strand at Grindley Brook, then to the butcher’s for some bacon and black pudding for a cooked breakfast, and finally the Bottom Lock shop for a Llangollen Canal bridge plaque. We also treated ourselves to an ice cream, even though the sun has only been out for brief moments today.
10 miles, 13 locks. (359 miles, 294 locks)
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