Hawkesbury to Yardley Gobion

The Easter weekend brought out the boaters who seemed undeterred by Storm Katie.  On Easter Monday we underestimated the volume of rain due our way and had a soggy trip to Rugby where we stopped for shopping before continuing out into open countryside.  Once we'd moored up the sun came out and so did a water vole on the opposite bank.  We quickly had our cameras out to capture this now rare sight.  

The water vole on the opposite bank

The next day we sailed under bridge 69 which is painted to depict 'canals then and now'.

Canals then and now

There are three pairs of locks at Hillmorton and two of the pairs of locks have been used to display lines of verse written by Roy Fisher to commemorate the Canal and River Trust taking over from British Waterways.

Roy Fisher's words on the lock gates

On Wednesday we sailed into Braunston and were lucky to find a mooring as it was very busy.  The sun was shining so I enjoyed a walk around the picturesque village and later we walked up for an excellent meal in the Boathouse pub.  

Braunston cottages in the sunshine

We decided to have an early start on Thursday and we sailed through the mist to Braunston Locks.

Early morning at Braunston

Braunston Tunnel followed the locks, a long tunnel with a couple of kinks in it.  We had the tunnel to ourselves so Kev didn't waste any time, creating an interesting bow-wave in the confined space.  

As we approached Napton Junction we spotted Jules Fuels working narrowboat so tied up alongside for diesel and coal.  Our journey continued down the Buckby Locks and on to the outskirts of Weedon, a good days travelling.  

April Fools Day started with ice on the roof and as it was cold travelling we had a much shorter day, finishing at 9am having covered 6 miles.  I made good use of the spare time by sorting out some materials for a new patchwork project.  This, ironically, will be a storage bag for my fabrics which are stashed in various locations around Brent III. 

Kev doesn't like tunnels and on Saturday we had the 3057 yard long Blissworth tunnel ahead.  We passed the Blissworth boatyard and large red brick warehouse before disappearing into the black opening of the tunnel.  

Blissworth Tunnel boatyard and warehouse

Blissworth is a very wet tunnel with water streaming through the roof vents giving us several icy showers.  But at least it is straight and the small spot of light in the distance gradually increased in size and we sailed through without meeting other boaters.  We sailed on to a quiet spot near Yardley Gobion.  In the afternoon sun I enjoyed a walk with Bess and Brinny during which I spotted a heron which obligingly stood still for a photo.  
  

The heron watching us as I take a photo

Our journey from Hawkesbury to Yardley Gobion