Autumn Cruise: Day 10

When I looked at the remainder of our trip on CanalPlanAC last night, it turned out we had 45 miles and 45 locks to go, to get back to base.  Today looked as though it was going to be ok weather wise, while tomorrow looks wet, so we thought we’d get a decent chunk of the journey done today.  We set off at 8.15, straight into the two Cape Locks.

In Warwick, the Kate Boats base, from where we hired twice years ago, looked deserted; they are doing all their hires from Stockton Top this year.  There’s also a lot of building work going on nearby.  In Leamington, the cat mural is still there, and there was a very stiff man steering a moored boat.

We were following a Napton hire boat, and at RadFord Bottom Lock we went in with them.  The crew turned out to be four American guys who’d been hoping to do the Warwickshire Ring, but had been thwarted by the Curdworth closure.  They did do a mini loop through Birmingham, though, going in via the North Stratford and out via the Grand Union.

With extra crew on the ground, I was able to walk up to the next lock each time to set it, and we soon caught up with boats in front.  The HS2 works are huge, and there’s now some sort of bridge over the canal, I think carrying some sort of conveyer.  At Welsh Road Lock, one of the uphill boats stopped, and the other was in the lock when we got there.  It had just left and we were about to turn the lock when downhill boats appeared.  One of them turned out to be Bonjour, the new boat of Debby and Dave, formerly of Chuffed.  We’ve been following each other’s blogs for years, so it was great to finally meet.

There was very little water at the four Bascote Locks, with the pound below the staircase about two feet down.  The boats just managed to scrape their way across.

Our locking companions were stopping for a walk into Long Itchington, so we pulled up at Bascote Wharf to top up the water tank, dump rubbish, and check the weedhatch, where I removed a load of plastic from around the prop shaft.  We also had lunch.  Long Itchington had been our first option for stopping, but we’d made such good progress that we carried on to the Stockton flight.  It also helped that the sun had come out.  A boat had just come out of the bottom lock, so that was in our favour, but we had to turn the rest as a boat was going up ahead, although almost out of sight.  It’s a very pretty flight though, and another of our favourites.

We were at the top at 2.30 so again decided against another possible stopping point, opting instead to go up Calcutt Locks.  As we approached we could see a boat in the distance, which was going up the bottom lock when we got there.  We thought they might wait for us at the middle lock but they didn’t, but it turned out not to matter much as we benefitted from hire boats needing to be back at Stockton Top in the morning.  Two came down the middle lock, and two more at the top one.  We carried on to Napton Junction where we turned left onto the GU/Oxford shared section, and moored up before Bridge 102 in a very quiet spot.  It was almost 5pm, so a very long day for us!  Our new American friends have just been past, calling out to us as they went by.  With a bit of luck they’ll leave a comment here.

16 miles, 25 locks.  (140 miles, 142 locks)

Post Crick: Day 8

After our stationary weekend while I went to work, we are on the move again.  I arrived back from my night shift at 9am and we set off shortly afterwards.  After a few minutes we saw a dog jump in the canal from the towpath after a duck.  The duck didn’t want to just fly off because she had five ducklings, so she was quaking furiously.  The dog’s owner was calling it repeatedly, but it was completely ignoring her, just swimming around after the mother duck.  It didn’t appear to be interested in the ducklings, who gathered together and kept away anyway.  Eventually the dog gave up and got out of the water, and was put on a lead.  Let’s hope it’s kept on a lead in future.

At Hillmorton Locks, both locks were empty, and a Rose hire boat was just going into one.  We used the other, but because our lock had two working top paddles and theirs only had one, we were up first.  We continued side by side up the locks, with Adrian giving the two ladies on board some advice on what they should be doing.

After passing all the moored boats on the Barby Straight, we soon caught up with a boat ahead because they never went faster than tickover.  I had to keep dropping into neutral to avoid getting too close.  We were behind them for a very long mile before they pulled in to moor up.  Soon after that, the familiar Braunston church and windmill came into view.

We wanted to stop for water at the junction, but there were two boats already on the water point, one of which had only just arrived, so we decided to go up to the Stop House water point instead.  There were also two boats there, so we thought we’d turn round in the marina entrance and see what the situation was then.  Mid-turn, there was a slight misunderstanding from a boat which had been on the pump out point in the marina, as he came flying out backwards.  He’d thought we were waiting to take his place, and it was only when he was right in my way that he realised what we were doing.  He was very apologetic though.  By then, one of the boats was leaving the water point, so we took their place, got a wash load going, and filled the tank.  We had lunch while it was doing its thing.  Once we were full, we returned to the junction and turned onto the shared Oxford/Grand Union section.

There’s lots of lovely countryside along this stretch, which we probably appreciate more these days than when we were based round here and did it all the time.  There were a few fields of blue flowers, which I think might be linseed.

We carried on through Bridge 107, where we turned around in the wide section there, which according to CanalPlanAC is called the Thick Thorne House winding hole.  On each pass through the Lower Shuckburgh moorings, we had a brief chat with Mark on Mjor.  We returned to a nice quiet spot with a nice view which we have used before, just short of Bridge 102.

15 miles, 3 locks.  (81 miles, 40 locks)

Autumn Cruise: Day 25

There was a very atmospheric scene outside the boat this morning, with mist rising off the water and the sun trying to burn through the cloud.

We set off into the mist at 8.30 and soon reached the first lock of the day, Radford Bottom Lock, to begin our climb off the sump pound.  At the middle of the three Fosse Locks, we joined a hire boat which had just set off, and as they had plenty of crew I walked up to set the next lock.  They promptly stopped for water at Fosse Wharf, so we were on our own again.  On the approach to Wood Lock we passed a boat which appeared to be about to set off, so we waited for them in the lock.  It turned out to be a good move, as Linda and Steve on board Hydeaway were excellent locking companions.  We did the Bascote Locks, including the staircase pair.

Above Bascote Locks there’s a field where workers were harvesting hundreds of pumpkins.  There were huge crates of them at the top of the field, with many more to go.  We did the bottom two locks of the Stockton flight, which are a bit separated, then were into the main part of the flight.  A couple of times we met single boats coming down.

We completed the eight locks in the main part of the Stockton flight in an hour, which is pretty good going, thanks to having a system where someone would set ahead, while someone else would close up behind the boats.

We had lunch on the move above the Stockton Locks, on the way to Calcutt.  Our new friends had decided to come with us as we had such a good system going, even though they don’t usually do so much in a day.  They have just got a roving trader licence, as Steve is making fenders and Linda is doing crochet and embroidery.  They gave us one of the key rings Steve is making; there was a big bag of different colours to choose from.  It’s been put on our handcuff key.

We did the bottom two Calcutt Locks together, even though someone who came flying out of the marina did their best to get between us, then Hydeaway stopped on the wharf for diesel.  We went up the top lock and reversed onto the water point to fill the tank and get some washing going.  Adrian also went to the shop to get some milk and a bag of logs.  Setting off again we made our way to Napton Junction.  The countryside here really emphasises that we’ve climbed out of a valley.

We turned left at the junction towards Braunston, and moored up before Bridge 102, where there’s a nice view and it’s pretty quiet.

12 miles, 23 locks.  (255 miles, 281 locks)

North West Passage: Day 33

We had a fairly unambitious target today, as Adrian needed to make a work call at 1pm. We just needed to get up the locks and round the corner in time to be moored up by them. We were just finishing breakfast at about 8am when a boat went past, so we quickly got ourselves ready to go, hoping to catch them up and share the locks. We didn't quite get there in time to share the first lock, Itchington Bottom Lock, but they said they'd wait for us at the next one, which they did. The Blue Lias pub, before the main part of the Stockton flight, always looks pretty, even on a fairly murky morning.

It appeared someone had started up the flight before us, as every lock was full. I did quite a lot of back and forth setting ahead to help things along. Our lock companions, a couple on a Kate hire boat, were good company. We were nearly at the top before we saw a boat coming down, another Kate boat, as it happened.

Our lock companions were planning to stop for breakfast before the Calcut locks. This section has quite a few moored boats, so is fairly slow going. The Willow Wren training centre at Nelson's Wharf appears to have restored more of the old arm for moorings. Approaching Calcutt, we caught up with a boat in front, Willow, and shared the locks with them. The bottom one was empty for us, two boats were coming down the middle one (which meant quite a lot of boats in a small pound), and the top one was also empty so we could go in side by side.

At Napton Junction, there seemed to be quite a lot going on. A boat was turning right onto the South Oxford Canal, I saw a couple of boats going past the junction, and as we approached a boat winded there. I slowly made the turn left onto the section that's shared between the Oxford and Grand Union canals, and was able to warn Willow that another boat was coming along. Here's Willow having made the turn.

There were immediately a lot of boats on the move, some of them met at awkward bridge holes. We moored a bit before Bridge 102 at only a little past 11.30. We've seldom stopped after such a short day. After lunch, Adrian had his call and has been working; I've written a feature article. There have been dozens of boats going by -- compared with most of the places we've been on this trip it's extremely busy here. The hire business appears to be doing quite well. Among the boats we've seen have been the motor boat, Bascote, towing the butty, Gosport.

It's felt a bit like being back home travelling these waters again. We hired twice from Kate Boats years ago, and Debdale was moored at Stockton Top when we first had our share, so we know this area quite well. It's been a little while since we were last here though, and the familiarity has been very pleasant.

7 miles, 13 locks. (382 miles, 274 locks)

June Cruise - Day One

We left home before 7am, and arrived at Brinklow just after 9.  Unpacking was done quickly, then the car was parked and we were off at around 10 in lovely sunshine.

There didn't see to be that many boats about, but of course you always meet them at the worst places.  Just after Newbold tunnel is a funny little pound, on a bend, with moorings and a water point, and a bridge.  There was a boat just finishing up on the water point, and my bow was nearly level with his stern when I saw a boat coming through the bridge.  I had to reverse, the boat coming through the bridge had to stop, and it was all a bit messy.  The man on the water point bent down to release his ropes.  "Shall I get out of the way?" he asked.  "Sure," I replied, thinking that if he'd indicated to me that a boat was coming, I could have waited further back and everything would have been a lot easier.  Anyway, he set off in front of us, and had a better run up the locks at Hillmorton.  There were quite a few boats at the locks, but even so we had to turn the middle one.  We stopped at the top for a lunch break.

There seems to be much more progress on the Barby Moorings, with the entrance now built and the wharf side very visible.  On the approach to Braunston, I jumped off at a bridge hole and walked up to Wharf House to buy a pole, just in case we need one this trip.  I can't actually remember the last time we had to deploy the pole, but I suppose it's safer to have one available just in case.  On the way, we spotted Starcross moored up.  I walked back with the pole to the junction, where Adrian had moored up to wait.  Then we carried on to Bridge 102, our planned stop for the night.  As we came round the corner, we could see that the best moorings, beyond the bridge, were full, so we joined the end of a long row of boats, immediately in front of Jannock.  A little later, Doug and James from Chance came for dinner, our first guests on board.  We had a lovely evening, talking boats and all sorts of things.

I didn't take many photos today as we've done this section a couple of times since buying Briar Rose, and as it happens the internet signal here is too weak to upload them anyway.

12 miles, 3 locks.

May weekend - Day Two

The Bridge 88 moorings are very quiet and very dark, so we slept well.  We awoke to a very sunny morning, without a cloud in the sky.  We set off at 8.15.  I got off at Bridge 89 to walk to the junction for some photos, and was surprised to see Chertsey moored up.  I gave Sarah a shout, and we had a quick chat.  She and Jim are at Braunston to have new gunwales put on.

Briar Rose and Chertsey together

At the junction, we turned right onto the shared Grand Union/Oxford Canal.  My favourite piece of canal trivia concerns this section: boats going from Braunston to Napton could be going south on the Oxford, but if they're using the Grand Union, they're going north.

By the winding hole near Bridge 98 is the sad sight of a sunken boat.  It's got a big blue barrel on the roof as a marker.  We continused to Napton Junction where we turned right onto the Grand Union proper.  We moored above the locks, and went to Calcutt Boats to look at the chandlery.  We bought a bag of coal in case tonight is chilly, some stern grease, and two different sorts of LED lights, to see if they fit our light fittings, and whether we like the resulting light.  Briar Rose has spent most of the past few years on shore power, so electricity usage didn't really matter.  But as we'll be using the boat out and about, I'd like to try to reduce the draw of the lights.

It was still before 12 noon, so we winded above Calcutt Top Lock and retraced our steps back to the junction.  As we had plenty of time, we turned right onto the Oxford.  We had two boats in front of us and another behind, who came to within a few feet, then asked to pass.  We explained that it wouldn't do him much good because of the boats in front, but at the next strait-ish section we let him pass -- we planned to moor for lunch near the Bridge Inn anyway.  It turned out that the front boat was winding by the pub, and I suspect we took the space they'd been hoping to return to.  The pushy boater didn't like having to wait, and was button to button with the one in front.

We had beans on toast, as we were quite cold.  Then we went down to the winding hole, turned and headed back past Napton Junction.  We moored just before Bridge 102, in what has turned out to be a very popular spot.  It was still early, so we've done odd jobs, including sweeping the chimney.  The sun has gone in and out all afternoon, but it's been warm enough to have the side hatch open.

An incredible number of boats have been past.  It's not like this in November!

11 miles, 0 locks.