Counting

After leaving Long Itchington we had intended to stop at Leamington Spa but the moorings were sparce and badly situated so we continued on to Warwick.   I enjoyed a walk around the town with its old buildings and climbed the 160 steps of St Marys church tower for a view over the town and castle.  The church also provided the setting for a large exhibition of artwork from a local school which was very interesting. 

Looking out over the streets of Warwick towards the castle.

The next day we were up early for the Hatton Flight, 21 locks which climb 146 feet.  At the top we were lucky to find a mooring in the sun and I walked back down the locks with Bess and Brinny to take some photos. 

A narrowboat coming down the Hatton Flight.  Part of the flight can be seen in the background.  All the locks on this canal were originally single locks but in the 1930s double locks were constructed to reduce waiting time for working boats.  In the foreground water is cascading down through the site of the old single lock.  

A large silver dragonfly in a pond on the Hatton Flight.

Since leaving Leicester on 19th May we have been travelling on the Grand Union canal but at Kingswood Junction we turned onto a narrow cut which linked to the Stratford-on-Avon canal. This is a narrow canal and many of the bridges are only just wide enough for us to pass through.    It also has 35 locks but using the bike, to go ahead and set up the locks in advance, helped us complete the journey in 2 days. 

Narrow bridge on the Stratford-on-Avon canal. 

 Stratford-on-Avon is William Shakespeare's home town and we moored up in the basin opposite the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.  Tourists flock to the attractive town centre which contains a surprising number of old buildings.  Not surprisingly the town had a lot of souvenir shops and I also noticed a number of upmarket jewellers.

The Shrieves House, a building which dates back to the 16th century, in Stratford-on-Avon.  

The canal basin was also part of the tourist trail and some tourists were very cheeky.  Peering into the boats is bad enough but some jumped onto the boats to have their photos taken!  As far as I know this didn't happen to us but then we do have Bess on guard.  

Our journey from Long Itchington to Stratford-on-Avon

Father's Day

The Grand Union canal has several arms and from Norton Junction we remained on the Grand Union Mainline travelling west towards Braunston.  Our journey through Braunston Tunnel was slower than that through Blisworth because, after entering the tunnel, we found our headlight wasn't working.  Luckily we always have our powerful torches at hand and along with Kev's headtorch we had just enough light.  

We also had a problem with one of our LED lights, which had developed an annoying flicker, so we walked over to Midland Chandlers for a replacement.   They had some electric bikes on display and the salesman offered us a trial in the car park.  He said "Anyone who tries them buys one".  And he was right!  The bike can be ridden in manual mode just like a normal cycle; in all electric mode using the throttle without pedalling or as pedal assist.  In this last mode you start by pedalling as normal and then the motor gives you an extra boost to make you speed along which is great fun.   The bike folds up for storage so we can keep it inside.  

A cheeky swan looks through our side hatch hoping for some bread at Braunston. 

From Braunston we continued west on a winding, twisting section of the Grand Union and moored up at Napton Junction outside Wigrams Caravan Site.  We'd arranged to meet Nic, Gaz and the kids for the weekend and Father's day.  We had some fun with various activities, including riding the new bike, and enjoyed a meal at the Folly Inn.  After our meal the landlord proved to be quite a comedian, pausing at our table to entertain us with jokes and even a card trick.  

On Sunday we all packed up an went our separate ways.  We turned north continuing on the Grand Union but this section of the canal has very distinctive winding gear to operate the lock sluices.  The turrets of the mechanisms stand next to each lock gate and it takes about 24 turns of the windlass to open the paddles.  

The distinctive winding gear.  The small white rod rises out of the turret as the paddle is wound up.

By the time we'd reached Long Itchington the novelty of the unusual locks had worn off and so we moored up for the night. 


Our journey from Norton Junction to Long Itchington

Taking it easy

We turned round and retraced our route, taking it easy to rest Kev's knee which has improved. At Milton Keynes a pigeon took it easy as well, landing on the roof and hitching a ride for 5 minutes.  

The long Blisworth Tunnel took us north from Stoke Bruerne and this time I had my camera ready.  In 1984 the tunnel was reopened after extensive repairs which used concrete lining rings in places.  A section of a lining ring is on display at the southern portal.  

A concrete lining ring showing the circular shape of the tunnel.  The water level in the tunnel would come up to the two projections.

Inside the tunnel it's pitch black with our headlight illuminating the tunnel roof in front of the bow and Kev wears his head torch for some extra light.  At slow speeds steering becomes unresponsive so we cannot crawl through on tickover.  I'm not sure if a much increased speed improves the steering but as we were the only boat in the tunnel Kev increased the revs.  We sped through creating an impressive bow wave and shot out at the other end like a cork out of a bottle.  

Our view in the tunnel.  The headlamp at the front is creating the arc of light and Kev's headtorch is lighting up the boat roof.  The tiny white dot, just above the end of our roof, is the light at the end of the tunnel. 

 We stopped for a few days at the top of the Long Buckby locks near Norton Junction and on Thursday boat traffic stopped for a repair to lock 11.  The lock and pound below it was drained to give access to the gate paddle. 

A view I usually don't like to see - a drained canal, but this time it is for lock repairs.   A gravel bar is clearly visible and silt has built up on the right- handside of the canal.  

Repairs to the lock gate.  The gate paddle has been removed from the square opening in the bottom of the left lock gate. 

Although we have moored near a busy canal junction there is only one small grocery shop on the nearby Whilton Marina.  We decided to shop online and placed an order with ASDA.  We used the postcode of the canalside pub with an unusual first line of address: the cream and red narrowboat. The next day we took delivery of our groceries in the pub car park.  It was a very good service but I'm not sure how I ordered 2 chickens.  As we don't have a freezer we'll be eating a lot of chicken in the next few days. 

Our journey from Marsworth to Norton Junction

A Change of Plan

Stoke Bruerne is a small village that is reputed to be the best example of a canal village in the country.   Buildings facing the canal have remained unchanged and the first canal museum was opened in a restored cornmill in 1963.   It's the first time we've been this far south so we decided to travel on our own and stop more frequently.  

Stoke Bruerne locks and village

After torrential rain the water levels on the canal were up and flooding over the bottom lock gates as we left Stoke Bruerne.  I was pleased to get back on board after paddling through 6 inches of water at the last set of lock gates.  The rain had stopped before we reached Cosgrove which has an unusual 'Horse Tunnel' under the canal.  It is only 6 feet high but was supposedly built to allow horses to be led under the canal to the blacksmiths.

Cosgrove Horse Tunnel

At Wolverton the wharf is newly developed and has convenient moorings for the supermarkets.  It also has a striking sculpture of a figure standing high above ground level.  

The sculpture at Wolverton.  Cyclists through the ages, starting with a penny farthing on the hand, are riding down the outstretched arm

After shopping we continued towards Milton Keynes and were impressed by a 150 metre long, black and white train mural at the side of the canal.  This was painted by Bill Billings and represents the past, present and future of Wolverton.   It has undergone regular restoration work to keep it in good condition.  

Part of Bill Billings Train Mural

Milton Keynes was built up to the canal but we saw very little of the town because extensive, well kept parkland has been created alongside the canal.   We continued on to Fenny Stratford which is now part of Bletchley and home to Threads and Patches, a needle-workers heaven.  I enjoyed a browse through the huge stock of materials, threads, wool and many other items.   The building was divided up into several rooms, some of which were equipped for workshop sessions and the chatter of sewing machines accompanied me as I admired the quilts and other completed pieces which were on display.  I resisted the temptation to buy, I already have a good stock, and not much spare room, on board.  

We moved on to Leighton Buzzard in more rain but luckily the bridges were high enough for us to leave the wheelhouse up.   The next morning we made use of the 2 hour shopping mooring before heading into the countryside.  From our mooring we saw hares in the field opposite and a kingfisher perched in a bush.  He stayed for a while and I tried to take a photo but it was a bit too far away.  

I walked with Bess and Brinny down to Marsworth Junction and that was as far south as we'd go on this trip because the next morning we had a change of plan.  Kev's knee has been giving him some trouble and we decided it would be prudent to turn back before the next section of canal which contains 52 Locks.  

Our journey from Stoke Bruerne to Marsworth Locks

Heading South

Holme Lock reopened on Saturday 17 May at noon so on that morning we had a steady run from Gunthorpe and arrived in time to join the first lock up with 6 other narrowboats.   Emerging from the lock we saw a queue of boats waiting to head north.   We then raced down to Nottingham to avoid being at the back of the queue for Meadow Lane Lock which only takes 2 boats.   On the Nottingham Canal we found more boaters waiting to head north and mooring space outside Sainsburys.  We weren't alone in bringing back a shopping trolley of groceries to our boat.  

The queue for Holme Lock

We teamed up with Ernie and Steph and continued our journey south.  At Cranfleet Cut we joined the queue of boats waiting for the lock and Bess and Brinny came out onto the pontoon. Brinny thought the sticks and debris floating on the water were solid and got a shock when she jumped down onto them.  She wasn't too keen on the rinse down that followed her dunking either.

Travelling in pairs we made good progress and stopped in Leicester on Monday night.  

A heron watches us pass on the outskirts of Leicester

An early start on Tuesday took us through 12 locks to Kilby for lunchtime and then we continued towards Foxton.  There were boats in front of us and water levels became very low. Something caught around the propeller and while preparing to free it Kev dropped our large kitchen knife through the weedhatch which is an open hole in the bottom of the boat giving access to the propeller.  Despite spending some time throwing our magnets on ropes over the spot we didn't find the knife.  We continued on to the bottom of the Foxton flight and moored up, having covered  18 miles and 24 locks in the day. 

The next morning Kev opened the weedhatch and was amazed to see our knife laid underwater on the ledge surrounding the opening.  We hadn't seen it the day before because the water was muddy.  The chances of the knife landing on the ledge and staying there when Kev pulled the material off the propeller and through the hole were slim.  Unfortunately there was nowhere to buy a lottery ticket so we went up the 10 locks of the Foxton flight and had an ice cream at the top.   There were no locks for the next 18 miles but it was busy at Crick with preparations for the show at the weekend.  We were lucky not to have any delay at the Watford Gap flight of 7 locks and even luckier to find a free mooring at Norton Junction which was busy with boats heading to Crick. 

The forecast for Thursday was heavy rain and we set off in our waterproofs.  We were doing well until Long Buckby Lock; the canal on the other side of the lock was completely empty. The cause became apparent when I walked down to the next lock and found a gate paddle had been left open, probably the previous evening.  Filling that stretch of canal would've taken a considerable amount of water and caused the levels to drop upstream so we rang the Canal & River Trust.   They quickly sent someone out who opened the lock paddles upstream so we could open our paddles and fill the empty pound.  

Filling the pound below Long Buckby lock, thankfully it stopped raining while we waited.

Heavy rain set in during the afternoon and we were pleased to reach Blisworth Tunnel which is 3057 yards long.  It's the third longest canal tunnel in Britain and after entering it was sometime before we could see the other end.  White and rust coloured deposits lined the walls and we didn't completely escape the rain, torrents were cascading down the air vents.  We emerged from the tunnel to find a thunderstorm was raging overhead.

It was a short distance to Stoke Bruerne and once we'd moored up I couldn't resist a treat from the Candy Boat.  

Jars of sweets line the side of the Candy Boat

  
Our journey from Gunthorpe to Stoke Bruerne

Waiting for Holme Lock

At Torksey we waited for the tide to come in so there was sufficient depth of water to sail over the lock cill, the structure which the bottom lock gates rest on.  The tide was low and didn't give us a lot of help to Cromwell.  Travelling on our motorway wasn't very fast and Kev decided to put the hot water we were producing to good use by cleaning the cooker!  After 4 hours we arrived at Cromwell and were surprised to find we were the only boat there. We were expecting to see a lot of boaters heading south towards the lock which has been out of action since the winter. 

The entrance to Cromwell Lock; the horizontal black bar on the left is the weir.

   
The next day we moved on to Newark and again were surprised to see free moorings on the pontoons.  Kev walked down to Just Beer but while he was supping torrential rain set in.  Phil the barman lent him an umbrella and it would've been rude not to return it the next day.  Kev was equally considerate when 2 boaters, Ernie and Steph, asked for directions to the pub; he insisted on walking with them to the "finest pub in England".  

Just Beer 

  
I was looking forward to a visit to the Millgate Museum but sadly it has been closed.  Instead I went into the small Town Hall museum and, as I was the only visitor,  I was given my own guided tour.  My guide also took me down to see the magnificent ballroom and the Mayors Parlour where the mace and chain are kept on display.  Finally I was shown the smallest house in Newark which has a connecting door from the Town Hall.  The interior was not much wider than Brent III.  

The bric-a brac market and Town Hall at Newark.  The smallest house in Newark is sandwiched between the two large buildings.

  
After 6 days, slightly longer than the 48 hour limit for the moorings, we decided to move on to Hazelford Island, a haven for rabbits and very exciting for Brinny and Bess.   We meet up again with Ernie and Steph who are delivering a boat to London and chatted to an ornithologist who had set up some nets to catch birds for ringing.  Unfortunately he didn't catch many and none while I was with him.  

We hadn't seen many boats so assumed we were at the head of the queue for Holme Lock.  To maintain this position we moved on to Gunthorpe with Ernie and Steph where we were later joined by other boats heading south.   The owner of Gunthorpe Leisure Boats thoughtfully offered to take any boaters who needed provisions to the shops.   While we waited for news about Holme Lock we enjoyed the glorious weather and the pontoons made an ideal spot to sit in the sun.    

Bess enjoying the sun at Gunthorpe

Our journey from Torksey to Gunthorpe

Saxilby

This year we want to travel south and visit London after the summer.  The River Trent is our motorway taking a direct route to Nottingham but there is a problem.  During scheduled repairs to Holme Lock a void opened under the lock floor and the Canal and River Trust estimate the lock will be out of action until mid-May.  Before leaving Goole we decided to continue with our plan to sail down the Trent rather than take a longer alternative route.   At Thorne we met some other boaters with the same intentions and started to wonder how many boats would be queuing to use Holme Lock. 

Undeterred we stayed at Thorne for a couple of days before heading east for Keadby and an early morning lock out on to the Trent.  We had an easy trip on a high tide which helped us all the way to Torksey and on arrival we were surprised to find the visitor moorings were deserted.  

On the jetty at Thorne

At Saxilby there were plenty of free moorings but they were quickly taken at the start of the bank holiday weekend.  

Busy moorings at Saxilby

On Saturday we took the bus to Lincoln where I spotted a sign outside an arts and crafts shop: Yarn Shop Day.  I resisted the temptation to buy any wool but did come out with another watercolour paint brush to add to my collection.  

Lincoln Stonebow arch and the Guildhall, one of the many interesting buildings in the city.

On Tuesday morning the bus to Gainsborough quickly filled up with pensioners making the most of their bus passes.  They were a cheerful group who were well practiced at manoeuvring their shopping trolleys.  For a small town Gainsborough has a good selection of shops and as we'd picked market day, it was bustling.  

We decided to continue our journey on Wednesday.  Newark is the last town before Holme Lock and we're hoping to arrive before all the moorings are taken.  We sailed the short distance back to Torksey and waited for our lock out on to the Trent.  

Our journey from New Junction to Saxilby