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)

September Cruise: Day 16

It was very murky this morning, with a not very promising forecast.  We set off about 8.30.  Napton windmill seems much more visible from this angle than it has been previously; I wonder whether some trees have been taken down.

Napton hire boats were returning to the base and reversing in, so we waited for one to do that while another waved us past before attempting it.  Then we passed Napton Junction.

Just after the junction we make a brief stop to go down the weedhatch, and got a handful, of weed off from round the propshaft.  Adrian was just pushing off the bow when he put his foot down a water-filled hole in the towpath, resulting in a wet boot and a grazed leg.  A bit further along, there’s so new piling going in.

In what seemed like short order, Braunston church came into view, and then we turned right at the junction.  After the junction was a black swan, a white swan, and a load of sizeable cygnets — so presumably the black and white swans are a family.

We stopped at the water point at the Stop House, and while the tank was filling there was a brief torrential downpour.  Then we pulled the boat back onto the moorings, tied up, and walked into the village where we had toasted sandwiches at the Community Cafe.  We returned via Midland Chandlers, so I could buy a tin of Crimson Lake paint for the handrails, as the current tin is completely empty.  Then we set off up the locks.  Once in the bottom lock we spotted a boat coming, so waited for it.  It was an ABC Diamond Resorts boat, with two couples who’d been from Gayton to Leamington and back — but seemed to have got so used to the candlestick paddles they’d forgotten how normal ones worked!  They were back in the swing of things by the top.  By now the sun was unexpectedly out.

We met boats coming down at the first four locks, and there was a surprise at the lock by the Nelson, when a couple about to have lunch recognised Adrian.  They turned out to be Braidbar owners he’d met at the Crick Show, whose boat will be ready in a couple of months.  At the top we led the way into the tunnel, and almost immediately met a boat.  The couple on board seemed to know me, but I didn’t catch who they were and didn’t see the boat name, so leave a comment if you read this.

We carried on to Norton Junction, and found a space just the right size before the junction bridge, with a nice view across the countryside.

11 miles, 6 locks.  (192 miles, 123 locks)

September Cruise: Day 2

It was pretty misty this morning when we set off at 8am, straight into the bottom lock.

While we were rising, Mike from the trip boat walked by on his daily exercise, and stopped for a chat.  Before long, he’d asked for a windlass and was helping set the locks ahead.  He seemed to be enjoying himself, not doing locks on his trips into the tunnel.

I liked a planter at the penultimate lock, with a 1910 brick, and suitably old fashioned flowers.

We said thank you and goodbye to Mike at the top, and headed into the tunnel.  We passed two boats inside, the second of which was near the water spout I call the horse piss one, meaning I couldn’t steer around it like I normally do.  Not long after we were out the other end, the day cheered up considerably, with the sun coming out.  We had lunch on the move, and said hello to Steve at Weedon.  Just through the bridge, two guys I vaguely recognised.  They were Wilf and Ivan from The Traitors; we spoke to them a bit later, and they are walking from London to Liverpool for the suicide prevention charity, Calm. Here is their Just Giving link.

We got to the bottom of Buckby Locks before 3pm, and headed up with no other boats in sight.  At about the fourth lock we started meeting boats coming down, so although we had to turn some, we also had others set for us.

At one of the locks, a bee was in the water by the top ground paddle, so I fished him out and took him to the neighbouring little garden where I managed to find a flower to transfer him to.  Hopefully he’ll dry out, get some nectar or pollen or whatever he needs, and get going again.

At the top we decided to go round the corner to see if there was a space with a view — and miraculously there was.  I think a boat exactly the same length as us must have been here before!

This even my cousin Catherine and family are coming over, bringing fish and chips from their village chippy.  And I’ve finally tested negative for Covid!

17 miles, 14 locks.  (22 miles, 14 locks)

Crick Show: Day 4

Surprisingly sunny today, the final day of the show.  I had nothing much to do, so we mooched round the show again.  Adrian also worked on the Braidbar stand again.  I also had a walk up the towpath the other way, and caught two of the little show trip boats passing each other.

At 2.30 they made the announcement of the Favourite Boat winners.  As there were only five widebeams eligible, there was just a winner, Bespoke Boats.

The winner of the Narrowboat category was Kingsground.

Stoke Bespoke Boat Co were second, and Boating Leisure Services and Braidbar were joint third.  We set off straight away afterwards.

It seems that many boats had already left, but when we got to the top of the Watford Locks there was only one ahead of us.  Three boats were coming up, so we waited about 45 minutes; we moved over to the water point and filled up while we were waiting.  Once we were on our way down, things went smoothly.

We tried to fit into a gap past Bridge 3 but it was a few feet too short, so we have moored just before Norton Junction, opposite Weltonfield Marina.  The trouble is, you never know how busy it is round the corner!  Once we were moored up, the local swan family came to visit.

4 miles, 7 locks.  (49 miles, 42 locks)

Wending to Wales: Day 2

To say the weather today was changeable is an understatement.  It was quite misty when we got up, and we set off at 8am.  As we got to the bottom of the locks half an hour later, we saw a boat behind us, so we had locking partners all the way up.  Anne and John on Endeavour were experienced boaters, and Adrian and John on the helms had a shared interest in aviation to talk about.

We got to the top in the usual hour and a half, and set off through the tunnel.  We passed two boats inside, no two more just about to enter as we got to the other end.  At the Blisworth end it was raining, and a while later it chucked it down for a few minutes.  It was one of those coat-on-coat-off days, because when it wasn’t raining the sun was out.  We stopped for diesel at Rugby Boats, where the price has gone back up to £1.20.  It had another go at raining just before Buckby Locks, but by the time we got there is was sunny again.  Some boats were just coming out the bottom lock, so we headed up, and we met more downhill boats at the next three locks.

We discussed whether we should stop in the long pound, but decided we’d try our luck round the junction.  At the top lock, two boats were about to come down, so while they did that I walked a loop round to the junction, over the bridges, and back the other side, to check whether there were any spaces (there were).  It was then our turn to come up the lock, watched by drinkers at the New Inn.

We went round the corner to the space near the far end of the piling.  At about the same time, we had messages from the Norton Gang (ie my second cousin Catherine and family) asking where we were and suggesting they bring fish/battered sausages and chips.  They’re just back from a couple of weeks on Rowington and have been to Llangollen so we’ll be keen to hear about that.

19 miles, 14 locks.  (22 miles, 14 locks)

Crick Show: Monday

It was pretty grey and cold this morning.  We went for a walk up the steps by the tunnel and into the village, then through the Millennium Wood and up Cracks Hill.  There’s a massive solar farm beyond the canal in the Rugby direction, and we also got a view of the show site in the opposite direction.

We went over to the show site for a further wander round, and watched Mark from Brinklow playing in the Aquavista stand.

We had lunch and some doughnuts, then returned to the boat where Adrian made a chilli for this evening.  I needed to go back to see who the winners were of the public votes for Favourite Widebeam and Favourite Narrowboat.  The wide title went to the Bespoke Boat Co, and Braidbar won the narrowboat title, much to their delight.

I dashed back to the boat and we set off at 3pm, straight into the tunnel, and then onto Watford Locks.  There were a couple of boats ahead of us about to go down, and we followed them, so the wait was pretty short.

At the bottom of the staircase a boat was waiting to go up, so we could leave the gates open, and another boat was waiting at the very bottom so we could leave those gates too.  We carried on, first trying to moor by Bridge 3, but the stern was sitting on the bottom way out, so we gave up.  There’s room for three boats there, but the two already there weren’t as far forward as they could have been.  We got a spot just before Norton Junction, though, so it worked out ok in the end.

5 miles, 7 locks.  (74 miles, 30 locks)

Autumn Cruise: Day 11

Last night’s mooring was particularly quiet — we wondered whether their might be early morning goings on at the farm yard over the hedge, but no.  It was a very murky morning, and our view has disappeared in the mist.  We set off about 8.15 and while the sun made an attempt to break through, it never really managed it.

The good thing was that it wasn’t raining, in fact the forecast now said rain from about 2pm.  We were soon at Braunston Turn, and took the right hand bridge towards the locks.

A boat on the water point by the Stop House made frantic efforts to set off as we approached — then waved us past once he’d got to the wide bit by the marina entrance where he wanted to turn around.  Not sure why he didn’t just wait for us to pass before setting off.  At the locks, there was a boat to come down the bottom lock, then we could go up.  The lady lock keeper remembered us from back in June, when we helped a hire boat with Canadians on board.  I went to set the second lock, which was almost empty, and a boat moored in that pound was then ready to go down.  One of the volunteer lock keepers came up the flight with us to lend a hand. The penultimate lock was full with one of the top gates swung open, and I could see a boat going into the top lock so I left it for them.  It was a Clifton Cruisers boat, which the helmsman was complaining was very difficult to steer.  It turned out he’d forgotten to put the tiller arm on!  Before long, we were going up the top lock.

It was only just after 10.30 so we’d made remarkable progress.  We moored above the locks and walked back down to go into the village.  After buying a couple of things at the village store and the butcher, we went into the Community Cafe for tea and cake.  They had a much wider selection of treats on offer today, after a MacMillan coffee morning yesterday.  Anyway, it was a lovely friendly place, with excellent tea and cake.

We walked back up to the boat and set off, thinking that if we went now we’d have more chance of beating the rain.  As we approached the tunnel entrance I could see a headlight coming the other way, so held back.  That boat came out and said there was another behind; then there was another, and then a fourth!  One of the privateers at the back said it had been a painfully slow passage, behind two Black Prince hire boats.  We moored just before Norton Junction, a little further back than we’d have liked so we don’t have the view across the valley this time.  We walked to the post box to post a birthday card bought in Braunston, at which point it began to rain.  But we got back before the really heavy stuff.  This afternoon I have refilled the stern greaser, and made an apple crumble (minus blackberries because they all seem to be over already this year).  My cousin Catherine and family are coming this evening, with fish and chips from Norton.

7 miles, 6 locks.  (147 miles, 148 locks)

Post Crick: Day 9

A really beautiful sunny and warm day, and our mooring was quiet apart from lots of birdsong.  It really is lovely round here.  We were up fairly early and treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast.  Adrian wanted his work shirts washed, so we started a wash load before setting off, and got under way once the washing part of the cycle had finished.

As well as being sunny, it was also very still, with great reflections in the water.  We were soon approaching Braunston, and the turn always seems to feel quite exciting.

We gambled on their being a space to moor by the marina, and we were in luck.  We walked up to the village to get food for the next few nights; the butcher there always has plenty to choose from.  As we set off again, a few boats came past so we knew we’d probably be queueing at the locks.  I walked up there while Adrian brought the boat.  Sure enough, two boats were going up the bottom lock, with two more waiting below, then us.  Then a boat moored between locks 1 and 2 threw a spanner in the works by turning around and going into the second lock with one of the boats, leaving a Napton hire boat without a partner.  The two boats waiting said they were travelling together and didn’t want to split up, so I suggested to the volunteer lock keepers that if the hire boat didn’t mind waiting for us, we’d join them for the locks above.  So the two boats travelling together came up and continued into the second lock, then we came up along and joined the hire boat.

There were eight people on board the Napton boat, a British couple and her Canadian relatives, and we all got on very well.  There were enough of them working the locks that I was always able to go up to the next one, and as we met plenty of boats coming down we made decent progress.

At the top, we were through the tunnel first, then continued to Norton Junction, hoping for a space just before the bridge, with a nice view.  And we were in luck, finding plenty of space in a prime spot.  This is looking from across at the Leicester Line (and although it looks as though we’ve moored leaving git gaps in between, it’s happened like that because other boats and come and gone!).

We were tied up by 1pm, and in the afternoon decided to walk down to Anchor Cottage for an ice cream.  But the shop turned out to be closed, so we walked down to the chandlery at the bottom lock instead, where they also sell Magnums.  On the way, we passed our Canadian friends going down the locks.

7 miles, 6 locks.  (88 miles, 46 locks)

To Crick: Day 2

There was a lot of rain yesterday evening, but it was dry by this morning.  We were up early, and set off at 7am, Adrian driving the boat and me working the locks.  The bottom one was empty with a bottom gate open, but we had to turn all the rest as they were full.  A little way up, a man in a hi-vis jacket appeared — it was Mike from the trip boat, Charlie.  He stayed with us all the way up, pushing gates and winding paddles, and it was really nice to have a good chat with him.

Towards the top, we used the footpath on the offside, as there are some cygnets with very protective parents.

The locks took a little under the usual hour-and-a-half, thanks to Mike’s help and there being no-one else around (until we were joined by a boat for the final two).  Adrian then jumped off to go back to his car, while I took over steering, heading for Buckby locks.  I passed one boat in Blisworth Tunnel, and I thought there tended to be fewer moored boats than in recent times along the whole route.  It soon began to rain and was quite heavy for a time; but later the sun came out, although it still seemed a bit chilly.  The house by Standing Barn Bridge has one hell of a molehill in its lawn.

Meanwhile, Adrian drove to Crick and identified where our mooring is for the show, and also helped Sheila on Salodin find her mooring and get secure. After a coffee with Sheila, he drove to Tesco in Daventry for a few store cupboard items we realised we were short of.  He then parked at the CRT car park at Buckby Top lock and walked down the flight to meet me, still a couple of bridges away from the locks.  A bit nearer, some ducks were making good use of the weir arches.

At the locks, the were three boats in front of us in the queue, and more going up ahead.  It had taken exactly the predicted five hours to get there from Stoke Bruerne.  In contrast, people coming down the locks said it had been a very slow passage, some taking four hours.  We waited about half an hour before it was our turn to start going up.

Even with people coming down the flight, we ended up having to wait at every lock — smooth operation not helped by one of them, about three up maybe, which has only one bottom paddle working.  One of the downhill boats had an interesting arrangement at the stern: he was busy telling people that it was cheaper than a canvas pram hood.

During the afternoon we had rain and sunshine, sometimes both at the same time.  Coats went on and off frequently.  We eventually made it to the top, the whole thing (including the wait at the bottom) taking three hours, so double a normal passage.  Fortunately there was a nice mooring space immediately after the water point, although for some reason there’s no ring for the stern so I have had to bang a pin in.  Also fortunately, the hose pipe reaches from the tap to our tank, so I have been able to top up.  Adrian headed off in the car to London for work tomorrow, while I’ll be turning the corner and heading for Watford Locks.

17 miles, 14 locks.  (22 miles, 14 locks)