Lock Up Cruise Week 9

 Monday 31st August - Tardebigge Top Lock to Queen’s Head

First lock of the day, opposite the pump house which was originally built between 1805 and 1825 as a pumping house to provide water for the Tardebigge Locks. A James Watt beam engine lifted water by 60 feet. The pump operated until the 1930s when the system fell into disrepair.  It has since been renovated and is now used as very pleasant apartments.

We took it in turns to work the locks, 5 locks each  and swap over, it was my turn to drive the boat here and these kind gentlemen kindly pulled their boat over for me to give more room - how sweet!  

We completed the flight in just over 4 hours, no help and passing just two boats, we got into a good rhythm and it was very pleasant weather so we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I walked 5.5 miles, well over my 11,000 daily steps and celebrated the end of the second month of my 1,000,000 step challenge in aid of Diabetes UK.

2.25 miles, 29 locks, 4 hours 30 mins.

Tuesday 1st September - Queen’s Head to Oddingley

An early morning shot of the Queen's Head, just love the reflections in the water, a lovely calm start to the day.  

This was a very noisy lock as the farmers were moving the cows from one side of the canal to the other over the bridge, you can just see the cows peering over the top of the bridge.  It seemed as though they were more interested in what we were doing than getting across the bridge!

The sedge had grown up on each side of the canal and the passage between was getting narrower as we made our way down it, I think we would have struggled to pass another boat!  We passed a couple of canoes and when they saw us coming they tucked into the sedge and we lost sight of them, most eerie experience!

We moored up at a favourite mooring of ours, Oddingley Church and went for a walk back to Dunhampstead to look at the Forge which was open when we passed it on the boat but had shut by the time we got there.  One day we shall get to visit! 

6.75 miles, 12 locks, 1 tunnel, 4 hours, 30 mins.

Wednesday 2nd September - Oddingley to Diglis Basin

A beautiful morning for the last day of our travels, blue sky, sunshine and a light breeze.  A lovely cruise down into Worcester, most enjoyable!

The final straight, down towards Diglis Basin, by this time the rain had set in and we did get a little damp before we were safely moored up.  Dave opened the swing bridge and we slid into our mooring forwards this time, put the roof up and settled down for some lunch before packing the boat up for the day and returning to our flat.

6.5 miles, 14 locks, 4 hours, 18 mins.

Some statistics for this trip - 496.5 miles, 402 locks, 253 hours 48 mins cruising time, 13 tunnels and 10 moveable bridges.

Some thoughts for this trip 

• We are very pleased that we have got right across to the east of England and navigated some amazing waterways.
• Weather wise we have experienced all four seasons in our 2 month trip - it has been cold enough to have the heating on, hot enough to moor in shade, windy enough to stop cruising for a day and wet enough to pull over and batten down the hatches!  
• We have had two named storms in August!!!
• We loved the variety of locks on the River Nene and River Great Ouse - guillotine, manual and electric, radial and enormous mitred locks.
• The Middle Levels were an experience in themselves, we definitely want to revisit and explore the drains which are navigable other than the direct route through.
• Salter’s Lode and Denver Sluice and the Tidal Great Ouse in between, all amazing, certainly put all our knowledge to the test and a thrilling challenge.
• Friends made and met along the way, passing and waving, stopping to chat and sharing experiences, people we know we shall continue to meet up with as we carry on our waterway journey.
• This trip has confirmed for us our mutual love and delight for traversing our stunning navigable waterways!