Back to Crick and down the Watford Flight.

Saturday 1^st June, 2013 at Welton.

Into June and the sun shone. It was still very cool however, but we are not complaining. There were many more boats out today, no doubt due to the sunshine and the fact it was a weekend.

We stopped off at Skew Bridge (No. 19) for three reasons: (a) to top up with water (a good thing); (b) to make a proper pot of coffee (another good thing); and, (c) to try to find the mooring hook that we accidentally left behind there three day ago – without success (not such a good thing). Opposite was a lovely house with its own mooring.

At Bridge 18, we turned into Yelvertoft Marina – so new that it isn’t marked in the guide books. We had hoped to top up with fuel, but there was a long queue for the service dock so we left and carried on.  Useful reconnaissance though; it looked like a very nice marina.

Shortly after, we arrived back at Crick (now looking very quiet after the show) and filled up with fuel there. The chap in charge of the services was very helpful and said that they had been very pleased with the record attendance of 27,000 at the show, which was, he said, a great success. We also saw again the new boat built in Cumbria looking very smart.

There was a short queue of boats at the top of the Watford flight, we were the third boat to arrive but we had to wait for an hour while three boats came up the locks. By that time there were six boats waiting to go down including “Tyseley” (whose crew wanted to know if the offer of food and wine was still available!). However, we didn’t mind the wait – except perhaps the noise from the M1 motorway that ran literally overhead.  The locks are just fifty yards from the motorway and the contrast of lifestyles could not have been greater; up above was frenetic, high-speed, deafening aggression, down below was calm, gentle, quiet and good-natured.

We passed the time waiting to go down by helping those coming up, and when we started to go down everyone in their turn pitched in to help us.  M went off to help a lady named Tina on nb “Compass Rose” who was single handed.

Meanwhile R was assisted by one of the Lock Keepers and two of the ladies from “Tyseley”, so didn’t need M at all!

It was a very pleasant cruise down to Norton Junction in the sunshine. M’s arms even got sun-burnt due to all that “locking” at Watford.  Meanwhile, R is taking on a distinctly weather-beaten “real old seadog” look. We moored up just east of Braunston Tunnel and discovered that, by climbing up the bank on the towpath side, we could see M’s old house in Daventry just over a mile away across the fields.

It was a beautiful evening and we set off to walk the half mile or so north to Welton village. M said that she had forgotten what a lovely village it is, with its cottages all of Northamptonshire stone, a manor house and its very Norman church dating back to 1245 AD. 

We liked the look of the White Horse Pub and went in for a beer (most unlike us!). We were not disappointed, it’s a lovely pub despite the warning over the door!  

Afterwards, we walked back to the canal across the fields with only cows and birds for company.  Lovely!

Today: 10 miles, 7 locks and 4.4 hours.

Trip: 97 miles, 54 locks and 64.7 hours.