Splendid Isolation Week 3

 Monday 19th October - Flecknoe Bridge to Norton Junction

Lovely start to new week, we set off from our mooring and headed slowly into Braunston.  I decided to walk Toby along the towpath and was amazed at the number of boats going in the opposite direction.  Here Dave is negotiating a bridge alongside a moored boat and a boat that has just come through the bridge.  It was like this all the way into Braunston.

I am enjoying my walk along the towpath, unfortunately Toby is struggling!  His dilemma is - Do I stay and wait for Dave on the boat or do I walk on ahead with Janet?  Consequently he ends up walking behind me if the boat is behind and way ahead of me if the boat is ahead. It’s a dogs life isn’t it?

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We passed this boat moored on permanent moorings as you come into Braunston.  Tāne Mahuta ('Lord of the Forest') is New Zealand’s largest known living kauri tree.  We were lucky enough to visit this tree one evening during our visit to New Zealand in February this year.  The silver fern beneath the name is New Zealand’s accepted national identity since the 1880s. To Māori, the elegant shape of the fronds stood for strength, stubborn resistance, and enduring power. To Pākehā (New Zealanders of non-Māori descent), the fern symbolised their sense of attachment to their homeland.

We moored briefly in Braunston so Dave could go up in to the village to visit the local butchers, we have always been impressed with the quality of the meat from them and like to take the opportunity to support a local business. 

We then continued up through the locks, this is the lock beside the Admiral Nelson pub and a delightful pair of boats came down ahead of us.  The driver told us that he had just finished renovating the powered craft and now he was starting on the butty. I should think they will look amazing once they are completely done. 

We moored up just before Norton Junction for the night and were settling down to our supper when we heard the sound of a boat chugging towards us.  It was gone 8pm and pretty dark as you can see in the photo. For some reason it continued to the junction where it turned and came back again heading back the way it had come, I do wonder why?  It lead to an interesting discussion between us about night cruising and why you would want to do it. 

6.75 miles, 6 locks, 1 tunnel, 4 hours 54 minutes. 

Tuesday 20th October - Norton Junction to Crick Marina

This morning we set off from our mooring and headed for Norton Junction where we turned left to go up the Leicester Line of the Grand Union.  This is a new part of the canal for us so we are very excited to have made it this far.  The plan is to go along the Leicester Line until we get to Market Harborough, then turn round and return the same way.  

We very soon reached the Watford Locks, these are two locks, followed by a staircase of 4 and ending with a single lock.  The thing that confused us was that the Grand Union is a broad canal and the locks are wide locks, but these are all narrow locks.  Fortunately there was an obliging lock keeper to tell us all about them!   Here we are going into the first of the staircase locks.

The Watford Locks raise the canal by 52ft 6ins to the Leicester summit and were opened in 1814. The summit is 20 miles long with the Watford Staircase locks at one end and the Foxton Locks at the other end.

  Our volunteer lock keepers today were Bill and Alison Root, they have been volunteering on this flight since 2013.  Bill explained why the locks were narrow locks.  It was decided to construct a canal from Nottingham to London but unfortunately the company ran out of funds and enthusiasm once it had got to Market Harborough and the project was shelved.  In 1810 the Grand Junction Canal built the canal now known as the Leicester Line to provide a link between Market Harborough and London, but as the GJC banned wide beam boats from using  their tunnels, it was agreed they could build narrow beam locks.

The Locks are worked by emptying and filling the water into a neighbouring pound, it is essential to work the locks in the correct order in order to prevent water wastage.  All you have to remember is ‘red before white and you’ll be alright’, but generally there is a lock keeper available to see you safely up and down.  The locks look pretty similar to the locks in 1814 except for the addition of lock bridges which were added after a lock keeper fell into a lock from the lock gate and drowned.

We went through Crick Tunnel and passed a couple of boats in the tunnel.  Dave managed to get this photo of the two boats passing in the tunnel, it is quite a scary thing, but there is plenty of room if you go slowly and hold your nerve!  

We moored up for the night opposite Crick Marina, Crick is famous for its annual Boat Festival, and went for a walk along the canal, up Crack’s Hill and into the village of Crick.  This is the view up Crack’s Hill, Toby ran all the way down and ended up going for a paddle in the canal!!! 

5 miles, 7 locks, 1 tunnel, 2 hrs 54 mins. 

Wednesday 21st October - Crick

Today we have decided to stay as the weather forecast is rain all day, so a quiet day onboard relaxing!  

Thursday 22nd October - Crick to Welford Junction

We woke to a sparkling sunny day, so started off by going into Crick Marina to fill up with diesel, from inside we could see where the Boat Show usually operates and spotted where Bourne Boatbuilders usually exhibit their boats.

We moored for the night just ahead of the Welford Junction, a long cruise of around 10 miles along the summit, with no locks.  It reminded us of the South Oxford Canal, following the contours, but much wider and with similar problems water wise.  

We went for a glorious walk over some fields into Welford Village, still bright and sunny with some glorious views.  We then found our way to the Welford Arm of the Leicester Line and walked back along it to the main canal. 

This made us laugh though!!!

This is the junction of the Welford Arm, very pretty spot, a delightful place to moor, so quiet and peaceful.

10.5 miles, 3 hrs 54 minutes. 

Friday 23rd October - Welford Junction to Foxton Inclined Plane Junction

A short journey today to the top of Foxton Locks, as there were no locks I took the opportunity to clean and wash the floors in the boat, with the weather becoming wet and windy and a dog that attracts mud unlike any other dog, it needs doing on a very regular basis! 

We moored before the lock beside the junction with the inclined plane that was built to lift boats up and down instead of using the staircase locks.

We went for a walk down the Foxton Locks and saw how they worked for when we do them tomorrow.  We then crossed over the canal at the bottom and walked across some very wet fields into Foxton village, which is split by the canal, but nevertheless is very pretty. 

The incline was conceived in the late 19th Century to help the important East Midlands to London route (operated at that time by the Grand Junction Canal Company) to compete against the rapidly developing railways. They were steadily taking trade away from the canals and many were struggling to survive. The incline saved a tremendous amount of water and introduced the use of much larger craft. Passing a pair of boats through the lift took just a fraction of the time taken to pass the ten locks; unlike the locks it wouldn’t take any water from a summit level which wasn’t particularly well supplied. Despite this, traffic to the lift just didn’t materialise, and when this was combined with the cost of keeping a head of steam (just in case boats did appear) it became uneconomical.

This is what is left of the inclined plane today, after some restoration was carried out after a National Lottery Grant was awarded to the project.  However it is unlikely that enough money will be forthcoming to restore the plane to a working level again.

Stunning autumn colours in the evening sunlight.

7.5 miles, 2 hrs 24 mins. 

Saturday 24th October - Foxton Top Lock to Market Harborough 

A beautiful sunrise, taken at just gone 7am, to herald a very exciting day.  Today we descend the Foxton Locks, two staircases of 5 locks. There is a pound of water in the middle where two boats can pass.  This is the largest set of staircase locks on the canal system and raises the canal by 

75ft and 2ins, on a good day it can take about an hour to get up or down the flight.  We moved from our mooring to the top of the flight and put on water before finding the lock keeper and checking in with him.  

Our lock keeper was called David and he said we could make a start on our way down and he would come back up to help us down.  The locks work on the same principle as Watford, red before white and you’ll be alright, so we felt quite happy to make a start.  

Dave worked the locks and I took the boats down the first five locks.  Over 4,000 boats a year pass through these locks making it a wonderful attraction for people to come and watch boats moving and the locks working.

Once we had completed the first five locks we had to pull over and rope up in the short pound before the next set of five locks.  This was because there were 4 boats on their way up the locks and we had to wait for them to clear before continuing down.  After one and a half hours we thought we would be able to go but the lockie had let up an extra boat and we had to continue to wait!

Once we had cleared the locks I made a wide sweeping turn to the right to head up the arm to Market Harborough.  Dave had gone on ahead to open a swing bridge for me.  We continued down to Market Harborough and moored up outside the Basin for the night with a view to stopping an extra day so we could explore Market Harborough. 

5.75 miles, 10 locks, 2 moveable bridges, 4 hours 18minutes.

Sunday 25th October - Market Harborough

A lovely surprise this morning, Lizzie our eldest daughter phoned to say she would like to come and find us and spend the day with us, how exciting!!!  This is the Basin from our mooring, a beautiful sunny day to spend with Lizzie. 

We filled our day with lunch, a walk, a shopping expedition to Waitrose (take the opportunity to stock up having the luxury of a car), a game of scrabble and rounded off with a roast dinner in the The Waterfront Inn in the Basin, a brilliant day and great fun!