Friday 5th October 2018 in Braunston.
The C&RT volunteer turned up at 9:50 to remove the padlocks from the lock paddles. He apologised for the fact that we had been locked in early last night and assured us that, if it had been him on duty, we would have been allowed through. Two boats were waiting to come up in the lock and we were delighted to see that the second boat was Ray and Audrey on "Livein'G'".
We had not seen or heard from them since they left Aston Marina a couple of years ago, so it was good to catch up and to hear all is well with them.
Napton Windmill ("now you see it, now you don't") on the top of Napton Hill is a famous landmark which tends to disorientate boaters because you keep seeing it from different angles as Brindley's contour canal meanders its way around the hill; sometimes it's on the left, then it's on the right, then all of a sudden it's behind you! Then it's in front of you again!
We see many strange forms of transport on the towpath but this was one of the more unusual ones. The dog seemed particularly happy!
A seasonal sight, a large John Deere tractor with double tyres (to stop it sinking into soft ground), and a seed drill - planting a crop for next summer.
At this time of year, cob swans tend to become very territorial with this year's adolescent cygnets. This cob took to the air to chase the cygnet towards MM; we hoped that they would fly over us (which would have made a great photograph) but they flew alongside us and off into the distance.
After a fabulous day's cruising, we finally arrived at the landmark double bridge outside Braunston.
The narrowboat café "Gongoozlers' Rest" is always moored outside Braunston Marina and is one of our favourite places. Imagine our delight when Jackie, the manager, spotted us through the window and waved enthusiastically, having remembered us from our previous visits.
So, as soon as we moored up (next to the café), a visit for a late lunch was mandatory!
While in the café, we fell into conversation with Diane and Ian from Rugby, who were also having lunch. They had never been inside a narrowboat (other than the Gongoozlers') so we invited them on board MM for a tour.
M wanted to go into Daventry and Marilyn, one of the ladies serving in the Gongoozlers', overhead our plans and very kindly offered to give us a lift into town. This was not only very kind but very helpful as the bus timetables have recently changed and no one had any new timetables or knew when which buses were going where!
Marilyn very kindly dropped us outside M's old house.
To our surprise, the front door opened and the lady owner asked why we were photographing her house. M explained that she used to live there and was delighted to discover that the lady was the wife of the couple who had bought the house from her 34 years ago! Andy, the husband, was one of Adrian's schoolteachers at the time.
Today: 7 miles, 1 lock and 2.8 hours.
Trip: 350 miles, 228 locks and 229.5 hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment