North again: Day 5

It was beautifully sunny first thing, and we set off just after 8 — at which point it almost immediately clouded over for a couple of hours.

I walked ahead to set the first lock.  The house there is having major work done.  We were now back to wide locks.

One of the few things we remembered along this stretch was Bridge House Barn, with all its tipis.  I suspect they had an event last night, as there were quite a few cars in the field.

We were having to set every lock as we went down, and the gates have a habit of swinging open on their own.  Only occasionally did this work to our advantage; it was mostly a pain!  I got back on the boat after the first five locks, as it was then a couple of miles to the next one.  There’s some pretty countryside, and this house, which we weren’t entirely sure about.

At Newton Top Lock there was a boat coming up, doing the Leicester Ring from Yardley Gobion.  From then on the locks were full or fullish.

Bottom Half Mile Lock was not only full, its top gates were open, and it was a similar story at the next, the very pretty Turnover Lock.

Only Bumblebee Lock was empty, and it was a real struggle to get the bottom gates to stay shut so I could fill it.  Fortunately some runners had arrived and I got them to re-close one gate for me.  We got to the moorings at Kirby Bridge at around 12, so it had taken four hours.

This afternoon, I shortened the rope on the new side fenders we bought at Crick, and (having got the idea from Robbie Cumming one one of his Canal Boat Diaries this series) got my kitchen blow torch out to melt the ends.  Then one of Adrian’s former BA colleagues, Gina, who lives nearby, came to see us with her dog, Maisy.

Later we walked up to Wigston to pick up a parcel from a convenience store.  We had an ice cream to eat on the way back as it was now very warm.

5 miles, 12 locks. (28 miles, 22 locks)

North again: Day 4

Remarkably, there were only two boats on the moorings at Foxton Junction last night, us and one other beyond the water points.  That’s in spite of there having been a stream of boats past all afternoon.  This morning, we thought we’d wash the towels so started the machine before we set off.  As the tap was only a few metres away, we topped up the tank again too.  We got under way just before 9.

We haven’t been beyond Foxton since 2016, so quite a lot of this route feels new.  I have done a few boat tests at Debdale Marina, but even that seemed further away from Foxton than I expected.  Just after the marina, the canal is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the reeds take up quite a lot of the canal.

I liked the way a tall white House sat up on the ridge of a hill, and then there was a horse enjoying a field of buttercups.

There are occasional breaks in the reeds, and boaters use these for moorings which must be very quiet and secluded.  We crossed the Smeeton Aqueduct and headed for Saddington Tunnel.  It’s not that long, at 881 yards, and is also wide; but it’s the overgrown approach to the tunnel where you’d have more difficulty passing another boat than inside it.

We stopped after Bridge 73, choosing the second of the places marked on the Waterway Routes map as it was more open and sunny.  We’d done less than two hours boating, but that’s the joy of being retired!  We needed something for lunch, so we walked from the bridge across the fields to Fleckney, where there’s a very good Co-op.  The village also has a duck pond, and a village sign which uses the medieval spelling of its name.

This afternoon, I have done more podcast work and tweaked an article I’ve written.  Then we thought we’d try out the tiny drone we bought at Crick, taking it to the field between the canal and the village.  More practice is needed because neither of us could keep the thing airborne for very long, and then during one of my flights it ended up in the reeds on the far side of the canal.  I went over and investigated, and having got the boat pole from the boat, managed to fish it out.  It’s had a dunking but all its lights were still flashing, so we’d let it dry out and see if it still works.

A bit later we spotted two Spitfires going over, and they were followed by a Lancaster.  Adrian found they were on their way to the Midlands Air Festival, so we might well see them come back again.  Not the best photo, because it was getting further and further away — but you can still see the shape.

5 miles, 0 locks.  (23 miles, 10 locks)

Totals since moving on board: 62 days, 319 miles, 238 locks.

North again: Day 3

Another lovely mooring.  Last evening, we were watching a wren (or possibly two) bobbing about in the tree opposite and repeating going to where their nest must be.  This morning, as we were on our own, we got the washing machine going before we set off.  We had only a couple of miles to do before reaching Foxton Locks, and although it was fairly sunny it was also very breezy.  When we got to the locks at around 10am there was no-one waiting, so we had hopes of going straight down.  But on checking in with the lock keeper we found there were three boats about to start up.  We walked down to the shop at Bridge 61 to get some bread, and found that two more boats had been added to the uphill convoy.  It was therefore a wait of about an hour and 40 minutes before we started down.

The whole place was really busy, both with boats and people.  There were two more to follow us down, five more waiting at the bottom, and two more arrived at the top.  Plus there were lots of families on half term, with many of the kids eager to push gates.  It was all good material for a future podcast!

Once we got going, it only took about 40 minutes to get to the bottom.  We’d thought about going down the Market Harborough Arm, but we know a lot of boats that were at Crick were heading that way.  Instead we went through the bridge on the mainline towards Leicester, and stopped on the water point.

We had lunch while the tank filled, and then just pulled back a boat length onto the two day moorings nearest the bridge.  This afternoon I had an appointment at the Inclined Plane Museum, which is only open at the weekends, to do a podcast interview.  The Inclined Plane was a boat lift which replaced the locks briefly from 1900.

The area around Foxton Junction has some of the most confusing mooring signs I’ve ever seen.  How a mooring can be lock only, service only, and one day all at the same time I have no idea.  

3 miles, 10 locks.  (18 miles, 10 locks)

North again: Day 2

The moorings at Mountain Barn Bridge are really quiet, but perhaps because of the rain we didn’t see the bats in the evening like we normally do.  This morning was much sunnier than expected, and we set off at 8.30.  No-one was in the open air hot tub at the glamping place a couple of bridges along.

A couple of bridges further on the A14 tries to impose itself, but it’s only a brief interruption.

There are often rolling fields of crops alongside the canal (a lot of oats, I noticed), but there are also occasional glimpses of far reaching views.  I liked the line of wind turbines in the distance.

At Welford Junction, the canal appears to come to a dead end, but in fact there’s a right turn to Welford or a left to carry on towards Foxton.  We turned left.

A little further on, we thought we should get some diesel with a stop at North Kilworth Wharf.  There was a boat already there having a pump out, so we waited on the towpath side until they’d finished.  While we waited, about four boats went past.

We topped with diesel at a flat rate of £1.10 per litre, which seems to be a 90/10 split. We’d just untied and were pulling away from the wharf when a boat appeared coming past the moored boats, so they probably thought we’d deliberately got out in front of them.  There’s then a long cutting before the Husbands Bosworth Tunnel.

We passed no boats inside, but one was about to enter as we left.  There’s drizzle we’d had on and off for the past half hour of so then turned into something more like proper rain.  When we got to the big corner, the boat who’d had the pump up were just mooring up for lunch, and they appeared to have caught up with Barbarella, who’d gone by while we were waiting.  Being electric propulsion, Barbarella seems to travel quite slowly, and he immediately waved for me to go past.  As I was passing him, he asked me to slow down, which seemed an odd request given that it takes long enough for one narrowboat to pass another at the best of times.  The boat behind us also came past him at the same time.

We moored up just before Bridge 52 with a view of the Laughton Hills.  During the afternoon the sun has come back out again.  Occasionally, huge numbers of cows fill the field opposite, but then all disappear.

This afternoon I have spent quite a long time making the Crick Boat Show episode of my podcast, The Water Road (available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and many other platforms).  It was by far the most complicated edit so far and will be out at the end of next week.  Loads of boats have gone past, so we’re a bit concerned that Foxton might be full when we get there tomorrow.  But for the first time in ages, we have a good tv signal!

10 miles, 0 locks.  (15 miles, 0 locks)

North again: Day 1

Boats started going past early this morning, trying to beat the rush away from the Crick Show.  Some were very keen to get in the queue for Watford Locks!  And in fact quite a lot of boats had gone yesterday.  We started to extricate ourselves from our mooring at around 8.15; we had a boat breasted up on the outside of us, a pair in front and one behind, so we weren’t quite sure how we’d get out.  The guy in front was about though, and helped us.  We moved his boat and the one alongside forward into an empty gap, then I knocked on the roof of our neighbour and he came out to help, moving forward and in, so we could go out backwards.  It meant Adrian had to walk round to the water point, which was our first destination.  There we got the washing machine going and started to fill the tank, which we knew would take a while after several days at the show.  We were also waiting for a Tesco delivery, for which we’d used the address of the little marina alongside.  We chatted to various people during the hour or so we were there.  The Tesco delivery was a good 20 minutes late, which was annoying, and a boat was just arriving outside of us when it finally turned up.  All in all, it was about 10.30 when we could properly set off, and it had begun to rain.  The first stretch was slow, because we were passing the remaining boats who’d been visiting the show.

The next stretch was slow because we caught up with one of a pair of boats travelling together.  Even out of gear I seemed to be going faster than she was, and then at a bridge hole she stopped so she could lift a big tyre fender from one side of the boat.  Fortunately she then let us pass; the other boat also stopped a bit further ahead.

We passed the Tidys getting water at Yelvertoft, and then out the other side of the village the canal was blocked by a boat which had come free at the bow.  I pulled alongside another boat on the moorings so Adrian could get off and deal with it.

He had to unzip their pram cover in order to get to their centre line, then pull the boat in, and then get the bow line.  If the stern was anything to go by, they had just dropped pins behind the piling bar and expected them to stay there.  There was no longer a pin at the bow, so Adrian had to put the rope round the bar instead.

Before long we were on our way again, with the rain being persistent but not always that heavy.  We carried on to just after Bridge 27, where we have stopped before.  The first bit of piling was occupied so we’re on the second.  I was wet enough that I had to change a few layers of clothing.  It has rained on and off, but as the after has gone on, it’s been more dry than wet.

5 miles, 0 locks.

Crick Show: Day 4

The final day of the show. We went over to the show site first thing, and I managed to get a good few interviews done for my next podcast. When the show was open, Adrian was once again helping on the Briadbar stand. 

This afternoon the winner of the vote for the Favourite Boat in show was announced, and it was the spectacular Vampirate by Norton Canes. It’s a boat with a vampire and pirate theme, and they have really gone for it. 

Daisy by Braidbar was second (how many seconds have they had over the years?) and Breaking Bad by Ovation Was third.

In the evening, we went out to dinner at The Wheatshef with Andy and Helen. 

Crick Show: Day 3

A bit of writing first thing, then we headed over to the show site and looked at toilets, to help us make a decision for the new boat. During the morning, I did quite a few interviews for the podcast, and in the afternoon went to a seminar with the outgoing CRT chief exec, Richard Parry. 

We had a G&T with Helen and Andy, then went to watch some of the exhibitors’ kayak racing. 

In the evening we went over to the beer tent, and bumped into Del and Al among other people. 

Crick Show: Day 2

Adrian went off first thing to start work on the Braidbar stand, while I cracked on with writing mini boat reviews of the boats we looked at yesterday. I also ended up walking up to the village a couple of times to go to the shops, as we had Helen and Andy coming for dinner. I hardly visited the show site at all. Then we had a great evening with our guests. 

Crick Show: Day 1

The first day of the show and it was a busy one. Andy the photographer and I looked at 20 boats on show. It’s the trade day, so it’s easier for us to get on board and get decent photos without too many people in them. Adrian was working on the Braidbar stand.

In the evening, I went to the awards show put on by Crick to mark the 25th anniversary of the show. 

To Crick: Day 19

With the Tidys stuck below Watford Locks last night, we ended up walking back to see them, just a mile away. Helen cooked a lovely dinner, and we had plenty of stuff to talk about. 

A lazy start to the day, and we had scrambled eggs and mushrooms on toast for breakfast.  We didn’t set off until around 10am, and we soon approaching Crick Tunnel.

At the far side of the tunnel the moorings for the show start, and a moorings manager pointed us to our space. The mobile signal is dire.  We walked up the towpath and found the Tidys, and wandered up to the village, and then over to the show site where set up was in full swing.  Lunch was a nice toasted sandwich at the Magnolia Cafe.

Back at the boat our neighbours had arrived, and we spent some time helping them tie up so they didn’t swing back and forth as boats went past.

2 miles, 0 locks. (111 miles, 132 locks)

To Crick: Day 18

A slightly worrying moment when I fired up the engine this morning — it was a bit spluttery, which is unusual.  Revving it a bit seemed to bring it back to normal, so I’m  hoping it was just the aftermath of the fuel works the other day.  We set off at 8.30, and were almost immediately at Norton Junction.

We turned left onto the Leicester Line, which is quite a tight turn from this direction — then stopped straight away at the rather awkwardly placed water point just through the bridge.  We got more washing on so we’re now up to date, and got the tank filling.

It’s not a particularly fast tap, so even though we’d put some water in at Braunston yesterday morning it took a while — in fact the washing machine was onto the spin cycle before we left.  There’s a mile or so to Watford Locks, and there was one boat waiting when we arrived.  I went and checked in with the lock keeper, who said there was a boat coming down the second lock, then the first boat would be coming up and we could follow.  A single-hander also arrived behind us.  The wait was quite short, and we were soon on our way up the two single locks at the bottom.

The lock keeper who was at the bottom lock stayed there to help the single hander, so by the time we were in the staircase of four locks we were left to our own devices, which was quite nice.

The single lock at the top was ready for us when we got there.  The whole lot only took about 35 minutes.

Then we were on the lookout for a mooring, preferably around Bridge 9.  Lots of the usual spaces were very busy, so when the piling just through the bridge was free, we jumped on it.  Since then a boat has moored behind, and one briefly moored in front, until Adrian assured them they’d be able to get on their booked Crick Show mooring today if they wanted to.  We were expecting Andy and Helen this evening, but they’re stuck at the bottom of the locks because the lockie said there wasn’t enough time for them to get up the flight before closing time.

This afternoon, we washed the roof of the boat, which was badly in need of attention, and then did the towpath side.  We’ll do the other side when we get to Crick tomorrow, assuming it’s accessible.

3 miles, 7 locks.  (109 miles, 132 locks)

To Crick: Day 17

We thought the mooring before the Stop House might not be the quietest in Braunston, because the A45 is quite close at this point.  But we didn’t hear anything once it got into the evening.  This morning, we walked up to the village for a top-up shop, then pulled the boat forward to the water point and got the washing machine going.  It’s not a very fast tap, and we haven’t filled up since Wednesday last week, so after a good half hour we were bored of waiting and decided to head to the locks.  While we’d been on the water point, the only boats to come past were going the other way, or just going to turn around in the marina entrance.  So we started up the flight on our own.

We met lots of boats coming the other way though, including four who’d been on the Fund Britain’s Waterways flotilla in London.  We caught up with a Napton hire boat who waited for us, and we did the last two locks with them — experienced hirers who’ve done quite a bit of the network.

Braunston Tunnel confirmed its place as my least favourite tunnel, although it was the fault of other people rather than the tunnel itself.  I could see a couple of boats coming the other way, the front one of which seemed a bit all over the place.  I slowed right down as he approached, but he just wasn’t moving over; his bow was right out in the middle of the tunnel and he just kept coming and hit us really hard.  We were already close to the wall, but of course the impact knocked us hard into it.  As his stern went past, he had the cheek to say, ‘are you ok over there?’.  I told him it was generally a good idea to keep to one side when trying to pass other boats.  There was a boat right behind him, and as we passed the steerer said, ‘that guy is an absolute d***h*** — I’ve been following him all this way’.  The third boat we passed also approached in the middle of the tunnel, and was using his bow thruster to steer; at least he got over in time.

On the far side of the tunnel, we quickly caught up with a Kate hire boat which didn’t go faster than tickover, and even slowed down when boats were coming the other way or when a bridge had to be negotiated.  I had to keep going into neutral, and the mile or so to Norton Junction took an age.  We moored in a decent spot before the junction bridge and treated ourselves to mushrooms on toast for lunch.

This afternoon, Adrian has given me a haircut and we’ve been pottering about doing odd jobs or just reading.  Later we’re walking up to Norton to see my cousin Catherine and family.

4 miles, 6 locks.  (106 miles, 125 locks)

To Crick: Day 16

Today did not turn out to be the day we had planned.  Yesterday, Adrian said he thought there was an oily smell from the engine; I thought it might be diesel.  We thought we’d monitor it.  But when, having stopped at lunchtime, there was still a strong diesel smell in the evening, we thought we’d better investigate.  It was obvious there was a leak, but not obvious where it was from.  But I identified a general area, and put some paper towel down to see what happened overnight.  This morning, the paper was wet; occasionally I could see a drip had arrived, but I still wasn’t sure where it was from.  So I started the engine, and the drips became much more frequent and appeared to be coming from the fuel filter.

After some discussion, we decided we should call RCR.  To make things easier, we also moved through the bridge so we were next to a lane with lay-bys.  There was a bit of a wait for the engineer because he was on another job, but he arrived a bit before 11.30.  The problem turned out to be a pinhole in the bottom of the fuel filter — something he said he’d never seen before.  He got a new fuel filter from the van and fitted it, and because there was some gunk in the old one, he said he’d change the other fuel filter too.  That had so much stuff in it that he said he was surprised we were still running at all!

I was watching the whole process, and learned a lot.  While I’m happy to change the oil and oil filter myself, I’ve never done the fuel ones — so he showed me what to do, what the pitfalls were, and how to bleed the system once the new filters were fitted.  I think I probably could change them myself now.  The guy was very keen to pass on knowledge, and by the end he was showing me photos of his boats!

We finally got away at about 12.30, and headed up to the Calcutt Locks.  A pair of boats were coming down the bottom lock, and there were more at the second one, including a fellow Braidbar.  We had a good chat while the lock filled, but omitted to get a name.

We’d planned to stop for water at the top, but one boat had just left and another that had been waiting was taking its place, so we gave it a miss.  We turned left Napton Junction, and immediately started meeting boats coming the other way.  These are very familiar waters, and the miles take a while to pass because of the number of moored boats.  But it’s always a bit exciting when Braunston Church and the old windmill come into view.

We turned right at Braunston Junction, under one of the bridges.

This side of the junction was very busy with moored boats, so we continued to see if there was space further up.  Adrian jumped off at a bridge and walked up to check outside the marina, and beyond the next bridge.  The only space was just beyond the permanent moorers, before the water point.  It’s a space that’s often missed because people think the permanent moorings go all the way along.  Unfortunately I’d just passed it, so I had to reverse past a boat on the water point.

Once tied up, I thought the bilge pump sounded odd — and on checking I found the pump was no longer connected to the pipe which sends the water into the weed hatch.  The RCR guy had sometimes had to put his feet in that part of the bilge, and I guess he’d accidentally stepped on the pipe.  I thought it would be a quick job to reconnect it, but it turned out not to be.  Part of the spout on the pump had broken off and was in the pipe, so I had to get that out before I could make it fit and jubilee clip it.  It all took ages, with me trying to reach into the bilge over the hot engine.  Then, because I’d baled out as much water as I could to do the work, the only way I could test it was the put a couple of buckets of water down there.  It’s not every day a boater puts water into their bilge.  Anyway, it works, which is the main thing.

So we’ve only done a couple of hours of boating, and yet it’s been an exhausting day.

8 miles, 3 locks.  (102 miles, 119 locks)