Monday 30th September - Foxton to Welford
Today we have another canal ‘first’ for us. We have made an on-line shop with Sainsbury and asked to have it delivered to Gumley Road Bridge just behind where we moored. We know that many boaters do this so we thought we would give it a go - and yes the driver arrived, Dave packed up the goods and the driver helped him carry it down onto the canal towpath. How amazing is that?
Once sorted and packed away, we set out on a longish cruise to Welford. We passed a pair of boats, engine and butty, moored up together so a narrow passage to get through.
The heron in the photo was on the towpath and took off just ahead of us several times and I finally managed to catch it on camera.
The Laughton Hills behind us, but shrouded in mist, it was a drizzly sort of day, enough to get nicely damp!
North Kilworth Wharf where we pulled in for diesel and to replace an empty gas canister. They have a small fleet of hire boats and John said they were doing ok with their bookings. The space was too small for us to moor in so there was a lot of shuffling back and forwards to get stern in for diesel and bow in for gas, but John was brilliant and did the gas bottle for us.
The turning for the Welford Arm, left off the main canal. The short stretch of canal known as the Welford Arm was one of the last canals to be built, completed in 1814. It was created as a feeder canal, drawing water from three reservoirs to feed water to the main Grand Union Canal. In the early 1800s, the area primarily relied on agriculture but the canal allowed a growth in business opportunities. Welford Wharf supplied local people with coal and wool, whilst locally-sourced produce could be “exported” to other parts of the country.
There is one lock on the Welford Arm with a rise of 3’6”. We arrived down near Welford Marina and turned the boat in the 70’ winding hole, I then reversed the boat down the arm to the first set of visitor moorings, about a quarter of a mile, we slotted into a neat little mooring and stayed for the night. Unfortunately phone reception and WiFi were non-existent, so a quiet evening listening to the radio.8.75 miles, 1 lock 4hrs 12mins.
Tuesday 1st October - Welford to Clay Barn Bridge
We decided to move on today even though it was quite wet and a little windy.
This was the stretch of canal I reversed down yesterday afternoon, in the distance is the small boat we were moored in front of with a solo boater and the most gorgeous husky dog
Concentrating on bringing the boat into the side as there was another boat using the lock ahead of us.
Waiting on the lock landing for the other boat to exit and pass me before I can get into the lock. At this stage it began to rain properly and Dave took over the driving and I went below and cleaned the kitchen. We eventually stopped quite close to Yelvertoft so the phone and WiFi signals are much better.
7.75 miles, 1 lock, 3hrs 24mins
Wednesday 2nd October - Clay Barn Bridge to Crick
A much drier start to the day, so we set off from our mooring and headed towards Crick. Unfortunately the drizzle set in once again and we travelled in light to heavy drizzle all the way.
We arrived at Crick and moored just after the first entrance to Crick marina. Once it had stopped raining we took a walk into the village. We were fascinated by this huge mast with numerous aerials on what seemed to be a mobile trolley, I wonder what that’s all about?
On our way back we checked out the facilities which we shall use when we leave tomorrow morning. We are having a few problems with our batteries, they are now 7 years old and are not able to stay charged overnight, so in the morning we have a flat bank of batteries and need to run the engine to top them up. We have been in touch with an electrician who works with many of the marinas in the area, and this afternoon he was at Yelvertoft Marina and called in to see us later in the afternoon. He confirmed that the batteries needed replacing and we have booked him to sort this out for us in the New Year. In the meantime we carry on doing what we are doing and all should be well.
4.25 miles, 0 locks, 1hr 45mins
Thursday 3rd October - Crick to Norton Junction
A brilliant start to the morning, sunrise over Crick Marina, absolutely stunning!
We left our mooring and headed off to the facilities, we had to wait whilst another boat was filling up with water, and we took the opportunity to wipe down the solar panels and clear the roof of the leaves brought down by the wind and rain.
Dave driving the boat through Crick Tunnel, it was rather wet in the tunnel as seen by the drips on his sweater and in the distance you can see the headlight of a boat following us. It has been a long time since Dave felt confident enough to drive the boat through a tunnel so I felt it deserved a photo to celebrate!
We arrived at the top of Watford Locks and joined a queue of boats waiting to go down the flight. We are number 4 of 6 boats waiting! We both spent sometime browsing in the book exchange and came away with some interesting novels. Toby had several walks up and down the locks and after 2 hours waiting we were ready to go!
At last, into the top lock we go and 40 minutes later we had completed the flight and continued on our way to the junction where we turned right towards Braunston. We tucked in on the end of a line of moored boats and enjoyed the sunshine.
Our view for the evening, looking out over open fields, blue skies and sunshine.
5 miles, 7 locks, 2hrs 30mins + 2hrs waiting
Friday 4th October - Norton Junction to Braunston
Another glorious sunrise from Norton Junction and across the fields. Slightly misty this morning but the sun soon came out and heralded a lovely sunny dy.
Blue sky behind trees beginning to change colour with the change of season, the shades of green, orange and brown are beautiful.
Approaching Braunston Tunnel and in the distance is the headlight of a boat coming towards us. Unfortunately the light was incredibly bright which meant that the glare of the headlight and the glare from the water made it very difficult to judge the position of the boat and contact was made. The male driver then shouted at me that my light was wrongly positioned! Oh dear!
At the first lock we joined up with Mark on Star Line fuel boat ‘Calisto’. Here we are entering a lock side by side, so brilliant when it works well! He also sold us some coal and kindling straight onto the roof of our boat without carrying it! Mark talked about the boat that hit me and complained about the halogen lights being so bright, saying that he didn't go into the tunnel until the boat was clear because he finds it difficult to judge the position of their boat and he might hit them. So, was it my fault we hit each other?
The locks in Braunston were quite busy, this is Ella and ‘Calisto’ behind me passing another boat going into the lock we have just left.
We moored up in our favourite mooring above the last lock and I went to get some fresh bread from ‘The Boat Shop’. Clare took over the running of the shop a month ago and is gradually bringing in various improvements, we treated ourselves to new sweatshirts with ‘Braunston Grand Union canal’ written on them, very smart! Well worth a visit if you are ever up this way.
3.5 miles, 4 locks, 2hrs 30mins
Saturday 5th October - Braunston to Hillmorton Top Lock
Before we set off this morning we were very excited to see ‘Minuet’ pass us on its way up the locks. We owned shares in ‘Minuet’ before we bought ‘Ella’. She is still looking very smart.
We went down the last lock with another boat which had moored behind us last night. Strangely enough as he came into the lock he lost all power and couldn't move backwards or forwards. The volunteer lock keepers pulled him into the side once out of the lock and Braunston Carrying Co. were going to have a look at the engine for them.
At Braunston turn we moored up at the chandlers and bought some waterproof grease for the hinges on the gas locker and weed hatch. Then we carried on up the North Oxford Canal past Barby Moorings with the three alpacas grazing near the entrance.
There is a line of boats as you pass Barby Moorings, quite pleasant in line moorings but quite narrow and it was made more difficult by these two boats breasted up doing some repair work.
This line of buildings are the opposite side to Hillmorton Wharf, possibly buildings associated with the loading, unloading and storage of goods during the trading era, but now transformed into atttractive dwellings.
Passing under a bridge, we could see that it had been painted with pictures depicting the history of the game of Rugby, although they have faded badly.
This is ‘Badsey’ moored outside the Cafe of the same name and has recently been bought by Richard from Roach coalboats.
Looking up the locks from the bottom set of locks. They are narrow locks and there are three pairs of 2 parallel locks. The locks were designed to act as mutual side ponds, with a paddle between the locks enabling water to be transferred from one chamber to that adjacent, thereby saving water. Although no longer operational the winding gear can still be seen between the locks today.
8.25 miles, 1 lock, 3hrs 30mins
Sunday 6th October - Hillmorton Top Lock to Masters Bridge, Rugby
Today we are going down the three locks and straight onto Rugby. We hope to moor up, go and do some shopping, Tesco and retail as there are some things we need to replace.
First of the locks and we were lucky as there was a boat coming out so it was ready for us. An easy drop down passing 2 other boats on the way. These locks are meant to be the busiest set of locks on the network, with around 9,000 boats passing through in a year.
Passing over an aqueduct over The River Avon, it is 85 miles long and rises from a spring in Naseby, Northamptonshire and is the same River Avon that flows through Stratford Upon Avon.
We found a pleasant mooring before the main bridge and Dave did the Tesco shop before lunch and we visited the retail park in the afternoon.
3 miles, 3 locks, 2hrs 6mins
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