October weekend - Day 1

I finished my night shifts this morning, and drove up the M1 to Brinklow Marina, with a brief stop at Tesco on the way.  There was patchy fog on the motorway, and the marina was also shrouded in mist, although the sun was trying its hardest to get through.  Adrian's on a course in London, and will be coming up later.

It was 10am when I arrived, and Briar Rose felt very cold so I immediately lit the fire.  I unloaded the car, unpacked, and got the boat ready for cruising.  By 11am, I was reversing off the pontoon and turning onto the North Oxford Canal towards Rugby.  It was a really lovely morning, sunny but with a nip in the air.  The leaves are turning yellow and red, and it was so still that there were great reflections.

We've travelled this stretch so often that there no longer seems much point in taking photos.  However, the canal was looking lovely today, and there was a view right through Newbold tunnel.

I met my first boat of the day at Newbold, then three in quick succession at Rugby, just where the aqueducts form a couple of narrows.  Just before mid-day, I reached the golf course and moored up on the piling, leaving enough space behind for one more boat.  I had a quick shower and a sandwich, and then heard a boat coming in to moor: it was Doug and James on Chance, arriving for a pre-arranged rendevous.  They came on board for tea and home made ginger biscuits, and a good natter.

Adrian will be getting a train up to Rugby this evening, and will come to Bridge 66 and walk along the tow path.

3.5 miles, 0 locks.

Map art

Sometimes it takes a while for a plan to come to fruition.

When we bought Briar Rose, we knew we needed to get a picture of some sort to put up behind the dinette.  The previous owner had taken away a framed piece of needlework which was very precious to him, leaving an outline on the bulkhead.

When we were in Tewkesbury in June we bought an old waterways map for £1 at a second hand bookshop, and this weekend we got round to buying a frame for it.  We've had to fold it to make it fit, but the whole connected system is still on show.

We'll be going up to the boat this weekend, so we'll be able to put it in place.

Tidal Thames photos

I've just received some photos taken by one of my colleagues, Peter, who came down to Limehouse on the day we went out on the Tidal Thames.

Here we are heading into Limehouse Lock, lifejackets on, and a little nervous.

The water is let out by opening the gates slightly.

Once we're at a level with the river, we're free to go -- and already looking rather small in the lock.

When we're out of the lock cut, we make the right turn towards central London.  This required virtually no steering - the tide took us round.

Once we were on the river, Peter jumped on his bike and raced us to Tower Bridge.  As he got there, he could already see us approaching, and went over to the south side by City Hall to take some fantastic photos of us coming through the bridge.

Honesty on test

The November edition of Canal Boat is out, and includes my test of the Aqua Narrowboats boat, Honesty, built on a Norton Canes shell.

Autumn Cruise - Day 23

The late summer continued, but our three week trip was coming to an end.  There was a lovely sunrise this morning, and we were up and about fairly early, setting off just before 8am.  We hadn't gone very far when the helmsman on a boat called Barbara Ann called across that he reads the blog.

When we got to the top of Hillmorton Locks, there was a boat going down, another waiting, and boats coming up too.  There was a lock keeper on duty, who said we'd be ok to carry on down, as we'd meet a boat at each lock.  Sure enough, we did.  Hillmorton is famous for its radio masts - there are dozens of them.  But they could soon be a thing of the past, as there's a planning application for a new town on the site of up to 6,200 houses.

At the bottom of the locks, we waved at Lynn and Paul from Piston Broke as we went past, then shortly afterwards passed Victoria and Phil from Clifton Wharf, who slightly confused me by not being on their own boat!

We had to stop just before Rugby to go down the weedhatch, and removed a bit of rope from the prop.  Then we caught up with a couple of boats going very slowly.  The leading boat pulled over at Newbold to let the two boats pass, but it turned out that the boat in front of us was equally slow.  He also didn't realise that boats can pass in the Newbold Tunnel.  On the other side of the tunnel, something similar seemed to be happening, only worse: there was a Rose Narrowboats day boat with five boats following.  It looked like rush hour on the M25.

The final mile to Brinklow Marina took a good half hour, but soon we were making the turn under the bridge and discovering that even on a calm day it's windy in the marina.  Adrian made a well executed approach to our pontoon, and we were soon tied up without any dramas.  The original plan had been to move to Barby Moorings at the end of this trip; but the marina there is so far behind schedule (there are still no pontoons, for example, and electricity is available only 12 hours a day), that we've decided to stay at Brinklow.

11 miles, 3 locks.  (365 miles, 208 locks)

Autumn Cruise - Day 22

Apparently it's now October, but it was a summer's day from the off this morning, with no autumnal mist or dew; instead it was warm and sunny first thing.  There was no rush, as the lock flight down to Napton currently opens only at 10am, so we had bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast.  We then started a wash load.  At about 9am there was some activity at the locks, with a BW staff member running some water down to fill a pound which had got a bit low overnight.  Soon the boat at the front of the queue was on its way, and we, at number 4, entered the top lock at 10am.

The last time we did the Napton Flight was on Boxing Day 2008 on Debdale.  Today was much warmer and busier.  We met a few boats coming up, but there wasn't the same efficient one up one down rhythm that was achieved yesterday at Claydon.  It's a very pretty flight no matter the time of year, and the Napton windmill on the top of the hill makes for a nice view.

We got to the bottom of the 9 locks in two hours, and stopped on the water point to top up the tank -- we've done lots of washing over the past few days, as it was good drying weather.  In fact, we'll be taking home very little dirty washing.  There are two water points at Napton, and we remembered that one is fast and one is very slow, but couldn't recall which was which.  They were both free so I tested them and found that the one furthest from the locks was at least three times as powerful as the other one.  We had lunch while the tank filled, and as the first load of washing was already dry, started another one.

After the quiet of the summit pound, we went round the corner from the water point to find a rather chaotic scene.  There was a boat aground on the offside, and a procession of boats coming the other way, one of which decided to turn in the winding hole, rather to the dismay of the guy who was aground.

The length from the locks to Napton Junction always seems to last longer than I expect.

For the rest of the afternoon, the canal was incredibly busy.  We think we've seen more moving boats this afternoon than any other complete day of the whole trip.  But some of the usually busy mooring places, such as either side of Bridge 102, were almost empty.  The other change since we came this way in June is that all the offside trees and bushes between Bridge 102 and 101 have been cut down, making the canal much wider.  Soon we were approaching Braunston, with its distinctive church spire and the sail-less windmill.

We turned left at the junction, and in doing so completed the Thames Ring: Braunston to London via the Grand Union, and back via the Thames and the Oxford.

It seemed to have been quite a long afternoon, so we decided to stop at a favourite mooring just past Bridge 88.  There were only two other boats here.  It's quiet and peaceful, and we've been sat on the well deck with a glass of wine watching the world go by.

10 miles, 9 locks.  (354 miles, 205 locks)

Autumn Cruise - Day 21

There was a fantastic sunset through the trees last night.

This morning it was misty again.  We didn't need to get going early, as the Claydon locks are opened only at 10am at the moment, because of water shortages.  Even so, while we got ready two boats went past.  When we got to the bottom of the flight, it appeared we were sixth in the queue.  It turned out that one of the boats wasn't going anywhere, so we were fifth.  In the event, the first boat was allowed to start up the locks at about 9.45, and we entered the bottom lock at 10.30.  By then boats were coming down, and we met southbound boats at every lock and got to the top in 45 minutes.

The summit pound was quite shallow, and going seemed very slow.  We went through the most northerly lift bridge, and then through the Fenny 'tunnel', which used to be a tunnel, but had the roof taken off.  There's a lovely little bridge which takes the towpath from one side to the other; it has a big road bridge towering over it.

We stopped for lunch at Fenny Compton, where there was plenty of room.  One of the boaters I'd taked to on the Claydon flight said the summit was a bit like a ghost town, and so it was: all the moorings you'd normally expect to be full were almost empty; we passed just a handful of boats going the other way, when normally you'd expect dozens.

Adrian went to the little shop at the Wharf Inn for eggs, then we set off again.  It was a beautiful day (if anything, too hot!) and the rolling Warwickshire countryside looked lovely.  At one point on this quiet, winding summit, there's a sign showing where the planned high speed rail line will cross the canal; as good a reason as any against it, I would have thought.

As we approached the end of today's journey, a hare ran alongside the canal.  I don't remember ever seeing one before, but they're easily identifiable as they're so much bigger than a rabbit.

We moored up at the top of the Napton Flight of locks, at Marson Doles.  There are restrictions with these locks too, and we're fourth in the queue for the morning.  Not long after we'd moored, a helicopter flew low along the canal and landed at the property on the offside.  It frightened another hare (or maybe the same one), giving me another opportunity to get a shot of it.

Once the temperature had dropped slightly, we washed the towpath side of the boat, which had got very dusty over the past three weeks.

12 miles, 5 locks.  (344 miles, 196 locks)