Boat Hunting with Angela

Monday 3rd June, 2103 at Braunston.
A beautiful morning with a clear blue sky, although the air temperature is still low.
We had arranged to meet our friend Angela around lunchtime; we had met her on her boat "Red Geranium" on the Kennet & Avon last summer and have stayed in touch since. Having sold "Red Geranium" at the end of last year, she is now looking to buy another boat and was interested in looking at three boats for sale in Braunston Marina.
We had moored under a beautiful "Hop Hornbeam" tree that looked lovely in the early morning light.

We set off late morning. Braunston is 3 miles, a 2,042yard tunnel and six locks away from where we moored last night. M walked over the tunnel, along the track used by the towing horses. The tunnel is wide enough for two narrowboats to pass but it has no towpath so the horses had to be unhitched and led over the top while the boatmen "legged" the boat through the tunnel by walking along the walls, hard and sometimes risky work.
The path over the tunnel was an absolute joy in the early summer sunshine. Through the banks of cowparsley on either side could be seen the distant spire of Braunston Church and the village windmill.

M dawdled, entranced by the scenery, so inevitably R was through the tunnel long before she regained the towpath!
R passed four boats in the tunnel going the other way. The wash from one of them pushed MM against the tunnel wall and damaged one of the navigation lights at the front. Fortunately the chandlery at the bottom of the locks had a replacement, and judging by the number that they kept on the shelves, it is a very common occurence!  M grizzled, however, that the new one was all bright and shiny, so she would now be obliged to polish up the older one on the other side to match!

The six broad locks were no problem as we paired up with another boat going down and there were always pairs coming up, so there were plenty of helpers. Beside the bottom lock is a small canal shop, an absolute treasure trove, stocking groceries, painted canal ware, gifts, maps, books - you name it, the old owner had it - except, at that moment, electricity!  "We've returned to the Dark Ages!" declared the owner, grinning!

Some contractor working nearby had cut through the main power cable and all of Braunston was without electricity therefore all transactions had to be in cash. R was still coming through the last lock and M didn't have enough money on her, so the owner kindly put her things on one side until R could moor up MM in Braunston. This was not easy as there were a lot of boats about and no visible mooring spaces. Luckily R spotted a boat that was just about to leave and quickly nipped in as the other boat pulled out. Returning to the canalside shop, we discovered that the power had been restored so we were able to use a card after all.
Unfortunately the phone signal in Braunston is bad at the best of times and down on the canal it is non-existent, so getting together with Angela presented some difficuly.  However, we eventually found her and she came back to MM for tea and cakes with her two lovely dogs. One was Daisy, whom we had met last year, and she bounded on to the boat and down the steps, obviously very happy to be afloat again!

The other canine friend is Angela's new rescue dog Rufftie, a beautiful Rough Collie, who was a bit nervous to start with but soon made himself at home.  Both slept happily on the floor!

We went into the marina to look at the three boats in which she was interested.  None of them was remotely suitable. One didn't have any kind of shower, and the best of the three had peeling rust and an inch of water in the engine compartment! What a disappointment!
We were interested to see that the marina has an early Kingsground boat for sale that we had seen at Enslow last year. It was 12 years old and the paint was quite faded; we peeped in through the windows and were surprised at how much more luxurious the KG boats have become since it was built.
We walked in Braunston Village later and met Angela at the Plough, were we had arranged to have dinner. 

It turned out to be very welcoming, dog friendly and with good food at reasonable prices. R is turning into a real "boatman", sampling the local real ales - tonight's was called "Doom"!!
Over dinner we had  a bottle of wine and, when asked, Angela declared that she would like "Anything but Merlot" and the pub kindly obliged.
Today: 3 miles, 6 locks and 4.5 hours
Trip: 100 miles, 60 locks and 69.2 hours.