Look East: Day 7

It rained in the night and was still raining this morning — but there was no wind at all, which was a relief.  We were up and about relatively early, so decided to set off at 7.30.  As we reversed out of our spot, Mark appeared from Wychway to ask if we minded company, so while we set the lock they also set off and joined us.  There was a potentially nasty incident in the first lock.  As the lock emptied, Briar Rose’s baseplate got caught on one of the chains down the side of the lock near the bow, as we began to tip over at an alarming angle. It then slipped off, so the boat righted itself — although not before lots of things had been tipped off shelves inside.  Amazingly, nothing was broken.

The rain came and went, and was never particularly hard.  We went through some very pretty locks, but nothing photographs very well in the gloom.  Hopefully, it will be brighter when we’re on our way back.  At one lock a couple of boats were just coming out and hadn’t yet emptied the lock behind them, so that saved us a few minutes.  We had lunch of a mug of soup on the move.  There are numerous churches along the river, but the most impressive is Fotheringhay.  We’ll aim to stop here on the way back.

The last three locks of the day, Elton, Yarwell, and Wansford, all have strangely angled approaches, with the lock at right angles to the lock chamber.

For a good few miles, the river forms the boundary between Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire (although Pearson points out that it’s really Huntingdonshire), but once through Wansford we were in Cambridgeshire proper.  We were aiming for the pontoon moorings at Wansford Station, and they turned out to be empty, so there was room for both boats.  The station, on the Nene Valley Railway, is just across the road.  We had been on the move for eight hours.

21 miles, 11 locks.  (66 miles, 58 locks)

Look East: Day 6

Today was forecast to be as windy, if not windier, than yesterday — except for first thing.  So we’d agreed with Mark and Judy on the boat in front that we’d both set off early.  It was a little after 7 that we untied, in relatively calm conditions.

By the time we got to Titchmarsh Lock the breeze had picked up, and it continued to increase.  The river was lovely, though, with great views, red kites, and kingfishers.

There are many churches visible from the river, some with towers, some with spires.  Wadenhoe church is one of the most prominent, as it’s fairly close to the river and up a hill.  Here’s Mark and Judy approaching it, ahead of us.

We both moored up at the garden of the King’s Head in Wadenhoe.  It was barely 9am.  We accepted an invitation for tea and coffee on board Mark and Judy’s boat, then we went for a walk around this very pretty village.  All the houses are stone, some are thatched and most of the rest have pantiles.  The Pearson’s guide book comments that if the village was in the Cotswolds, it would be mobbed; as it’s in Northamptonshire, it’s not.

One notable feature is the dovecote.  We went inside to see the nest boxes, and the rotating ladder which gave access to them.

Moorings at the pub are free to patrons, so all four of us went for an excellent lunch.  Another boat arrived up Wadenhoe lock, having battled the wind from Oundle.  I went to find some blackberries, and ended up in the field alongside the lock.  There is work going on there, to install an Achemedes Screw hydro electric system.

We considered moving on this afternoon, if the wind dropped.  But it hasn’t, so we haven’t.  It’s supposed to be calmer tomorrow, but rainy instead.

4 miles, 1 lock.  (45 miles, 47 locks)

Look East: Day 5

The forecast was for wind, and it was correct.  As predicted, it was very blustery this morning, and although I’m no expert on wind speeds, he forecast of 40mph gusts was probably about right. All three boats here have stayed put.

In late morning we walked into Thrapston, which turns out to be a bustling little town with plenty of shops.  We had a cup of tea in a cafe, and bought a few things in the Co-op before coming back to the boat for lunch.  In the afternoon, I was talking to the people from the boat in front, who then came back to Briar Rose for tea.  It was a very pleasant afternoon of boating tales.

Every time we thought the wind had dropped, another squall would come through.  We almost set off at 5pm to do an hour or two, but decided against it.  Tomorrow is meant to be just as windy, except first thing, so we might try to get a few hours under our belts early.  Unusually today I haven’t taken a single photo.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (41 miles, 46 locks)

Look East: Day 4

The Countryfile forecast last night for the week ahead had an unwelcome message: it’s going to be windy.  That’s always bad news for narrowboats.  Today looked like the least windy, so when we were awake early we decided we’d get up, set off, and probably do a long day.  We left the very nice quiet moorings at Hardwater Mill at around 7.30, in gloomy, grey, cloudy, and slightly blustery conditions.  In less than a couple of hours we were at Wellingborough, where we pulled onto the moorings by the park.  We were glad we hadn’t come on to here yesterday, as there are plenty of busy roads and a noisy mill opposite.  Adrian went to Tesco over the road while I started a wash load and used the handy water point to fill the tank.  As we were about to leave the moorings, a boat came past, and we shared the next five locks with them.  It was a man and (we think) his dad, taking the boat to Blackthorn Lake Marina for blacking.

After Higham Lock there are two bridges, one very obviously daring from the 1930s, followed by its predecessor from the 14th Century.  The approach to the older one is a bit tricky, and you can see that it’s been hit quite a lot.

The locks came and went, including our first manual guillotine gates, which need a big wheel to to turned to lower and raise the gate.  As the day wore on it brightened up considerably, and the temperature rose.  There are lots of church spires visible from the river.  Woodford Church is one of the closest, but Denford Church looks perhaps the most typically English.

Around Denford we were watching at least three red kites swooping and whirling, upsetting the local crows and sometimes each other.

We were aiming to moor at Thrapston but were unsure where.  There is a single visitor mooring up an arm just before the bridge, but by the time we could see it was free, we were halfway through the bridge.  The Friends of the River Nene mooring was a bit gloomy under trees, and also landlocked, so we decided to go down Islip Lock and look at the public moorings by the sailing club.  There was a space between another narrowboat and a cruiser, so we slotted in, with a great view from the galley window.  The bank is high, so we’ve literally had to push the boat out to get the side hatch open, and will have to do so again when we want to close it.

17 miles, 12 locks.  (41 miles, 46 locks)

Look East: Day 3

It’s been a pretty blustery day today, but also quite sunny and warm at times.  We made use of the water and rubbish facilities this morning, before returning our gate fob to the marina office and getting our £10 deposit back.  Then we left the marina and made the very sharp turn to Northampton Town Lock; from here is all new water to us.  The lock is crossed by the new and very stylish footbridge to the University.

This and the next couple of locks are manual and with mitre gates at both ends.  The paddles have a hydraulic mechanism and take more than 70 turns of the windlass to open and close.  Weston Favell Lock is the first with a guillotine gate at the bottom end.  It is automated, so there’s just a button to press.  However, they have to be left raised, so going in our direction the gate has to be lowered first and the lock filled.

The river changes character often: by the Northampton Washlands it’s wide with big skies; some places are narrow and tree lined; others are extremely bendy.

We passed Billing Aquedrome and a family watched us work Billing Lock.  At Cogenhoe Lock a boat was in the lock to come up, but was waiting for a boat just behind.  At Whiston Lock there was a lot of weed in the lock mouth, which we took in with us and then caught again as we left.  Adrian managed to shake it off by coming into the landing stage to pick me up.

At White Mills Lock we joined a boat which had just come out of the marina there.  At Barton Lock, the neighbouring field was full of ponies, some with foals, who didn’t seem worried by our presence at all.

We stopped at not quite 3pm on the Friends of the River Nene (membership just £12 a year) moorings at Hardwater Mill, with a nice view of the mill itself up ahead.  It feels like a fairly remote spot, especially as we’re on a narrow strip of land between the river and the mill race.

10 miles, 10 locks.  (24 miles, 34 locks)

Look East: Day 2

A lovely sunny morning.  We set off a bit before 9, turned right at Gayton Junction, and headed for the top of the locks. It was about 20 past when we got there.  The first few locks were empty and needed turning, but about five down we met a boat coming up.  It’s a very pretty flight.

The last time we did this flight we had friends with us, and did the first 12 locks in 55 minutes; this time took around double that.  One problem is that I wasn’t confident stepping across when one of the bottom gates was open, as there are no foot boards and the rail gets in the way.  Lock 12 is immediately before the M1 bridge.

I had an interesting chat with a local dog walker, who walks the flight most days.  The arm has a reputation for some of the pounds draining overnight, and everyone has blamed leaks in the canal bed.  However, he says that since the flight has been locked overnight, it hasn’t been happening.  Certainly there was plenty of water today.  After the first 13 locks, the remaining ones are more spread out.  The canal is shallow and a bit weedy.  Eventually the Northampton Lift Tower dominates the skyline.

At the last lock a boat was just coming out and another was waiting below.  Half the lock landing was taken up with a broken down boat which the other boats had helped.  It had been bought on the river and was on its way to London as a live aboard — and the reason it broke down was that there was no oil in the engine.  One of the boaters had put some in and got it going again.

Once on the river, we went into Northampton Marina, as we needed to get a licence and an Abloy key for the locks.  We also paid to stay the night, and were given a berth to move into.  The marina was having an open day, and Becket’s Park had a range and stalls and activities at the start of the Nene Valley Festival.  After lunch we walked into town, picking up a festival brochure on the way.  We went to 78 Derngate, the only interior in England designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.  There were even discount vouchers in the festival leaflet!  It’s a great little place with some really striking designs.

We had a look round town, did some shopping, and then Catherine, Nigel, and the kids came to see us, bringing freshly made biscuits with them.

5 miles, 17 locks.  (14 miles, 24 locks)

Look East: Day 1

Adrian came up to the boat after work yesterday evening, and picked up my car which had been at Milton Keynes station car park since last Saturday.  I was on night shifts, so came up this morning.  I got away early, so arrived on the train at Wolverton just before 8am.  Adrian had already done a Tesco shop when he picked me up.

Adrian is actually working today, and had a few calls to make.  The first was at 9 so while he did that I got the boat ready and set off.  There was a brisk breeze in just the wrong direction for the double-back-on-yourself turn out of the marina going north.  It took a while to get round.  I couldn’t get over how quiet the canal was.  We saw no moving boats until we got to Stoke Bruerne Locks, and even lots of usually popular mooring spots were nearly empty.  When we got to the locks, two boats had just come down so we headed up.

The first three locks were empty and ready for us, then we met a boat coming down.  They’d left a gate open on the fifth lock up so it was set for us — but then crew from a couple of boats coming down turned the lock on us.  If that hadn’t happened, we have been up the five locks in record time.  We tied up in the long pound as Adrian had another call at 12, and when that was done we had lunch. There was a question mark over Adrian’s 1.30 call, and confirmation that it was off came just too late for us to join a boat which was heading up the final two locks.  We waited a few minutes and went up after them.

In Blisworth Tunnel we passed two boats.  The first one was fine, we both kept going at a reasonable speed and slipped by each other.  The second one, which I could see from the round window at the front was a Gayton hire boat was going very slowly, and as we got closer he all but stopped, meaning his bow swung out and gave us a clonk.

We carried on through Blisworth and moored at a regular spot just before Bridge 49.  The sun keeps coming out, but in between the clouds are big and rather black.

This is the start of this year’s main trip.  It won’t be as long as the previous few years, because Adrian’s new job meant he could only get a couple of weeks.  Nevertheless, we’ll still be trying out some new waters.

9 miles, 7 locks.