Monday 5th October - Hawkesbury Junction
Today we have decided to have a rest day and do a bit of cleaning on the outside of the boat and go for a walk. A very pleasant walk along the canal and across to the Newdigate Arm which used to lead to a colliery of the same name, then down the other side of the canal past the site of Griffiths Boatyard. Active from the late 19th century into the early 20th century, John Griffiths operated a massive canal carrying fleet that at one point reached roughly 100 boats. The business included a farm, a boatyard, a blacksmith setup, and the nearby New Inn pub at Bedworth Hill. We finished our walk with lunch in the garden of the Greyhound Inn - very pleasant.
Tuesday 6th October - Hawkesbury Junction to Kent Road Bridge 69
So, an early start this morning, stopping to fill up with water before tackling the 180 degree turn onto the North Oxford Canal. Dave took this photo from the stop lock allowing access to the Oxford Canal.
Starting the turn under the cast iron bridge made at the Britannia Foundry in Derby…
…and completing the turn ready to go through the stop lock. The stop lock on the Oxford Canal isolates the water levels of the two original canal companies, Coventry and Oxford, with the Oxford being a few inches higher.
We then continued cruising all the way to below Hillmorton with a brief stop at Rugby to do a shopping top up.
15 miles, 1 lock, 1 swing bridge, 1 tunnel, 5hrs 36mins
Wednesday 7th October - Kent Road Bridge
A wet day forecast so a quiet day on the boat. A walk into Hillmorton looking for a Post Office and another walk later in the afternoon after the rain had stopped, to Hillmorton Locks. These are a flight of three duplicated locks carrying the canal up past the Oxford Canal Company’s former workshops.
Sunset from our mooring.
Thursday 8th October - Kent Road Bridge to Flecknoe Bridge 103
We arrived at the bottom of Hillmorton Locks and joined a queue to go up the locks. They didnt open until 10 o’clock and by the time we were moving up the locks it was quite busy.
Each lock was supplied with large, cast-iron gates, as opposed to the more usual timber gates. Lock 2 retains the now rare cast-iron gates which imbue it with special interest and is therefore designated as a Grade II Listed.
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.
Passing Barby Moorings where we moored for a year a while back and the alpaca are still in residence.
Approaching Braunston and you can see the church spire standing proud above the tree line.
Here we are turning right under the first of the two iron cast bridges. These are similar to the one at Hawkesbury Junction but these were made at Horsley Iron Works. Soon after this photo was taken a boat approached the bridge from Braunston and raced through ahead of me. It was quite comical!
We found our favourite mooring by the green shed and moored up for the evening. We took the opportunity to touch up the paint work on the blacking and the black paint.
10 miles, 3 locks, 4hrs 54mins
Friday 9th October - Flecknoe Bridge 103
The weather forecast for today was wet and windy so we decided to stay another day and went for a walk to Flecknoe and back along the canal.
Saturday 10th October - Flecknoe Bridge 103 to Nelson’s Wharf
A slightly breezy day but nothing too daunting, so we set out from our mooring and headed down to Calcutt Locks. They are on restricted opening hours - 9am to 2pm - and by the time we got there it was very quiet with one boat that had just come up which meant the locks were all in our favour!
Heading towards Nelson’s Wharf with the glamping pods in the distance. Just before this picture was taken I had to reverse away from these reeds as there was a boat coming through and it was impossible to see round them. Unfortunately the wind took the boat and I ended up straddled across the canal. By the time I’d sorted out the boat there was another boat coming through but i managed to stay straight this time!
A lovely welcome notice on our mooring! How good is that?
5.25 miles, 3 locks, 2hrs 18mins
Sunday 11th October - Nelson’s Wharf Home Mooring
Today we touched up the blacking and the black paint on the side of the boat, washed down the side of the boat and tidied up the roof. We are still waiting for the side panel to be delivered by Parcelforce, but they don’t seem to be able to find Nelson’s Wharf so we are in a bit of a quandary about what to do. We also took a walk along the disused railway track to the top of the Stockton Locks and called in at the Boat Inn on our way back.
We shall be returning home to Worcester tomorrow or Tuesday depending on the side panel but this has been a lovely 6 weeks and we are already thinking about what our next adventure will be.
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