Finally Through the Broken Lock.

Wednesday 18th June 2025 at Aynho.

 M had a restful afternoon yesterday as we were stuck waiting for an assisted passage through the broken lock. Meanwhile, R had to get the car from Braunston, where we had left it, to Aynho, where we will need it tonight. That meant a two mile walk to Banbury, two trains to Coventry and then Long Buckby, and a taxi to Braunston Marina. Then it was just a case of driving to Aynho, getting a lift from wonderful Sarah to Twyford and a one mile walk back to Grant's Lock. Easy!  "What took you so long? said M, as he arrived back (only joking!).

At 10:00am, the C&RT crew arrived on time and started pulling boats very gently in and out of the lock on ropes, to ensure no further damage to the broken gate. There was one very experienced lady in charge but the rest of the volunteers were drawn from wherever and had hardly seen a boat let alone a lock - so progress was painfully slow.  For example, one was a gardener! Meanwhile, as each boat went through, the queue gradually moved forward, also with ropes.

As there was no balance beam, the gate had to be opened and closed with ropes. Really hard work in the heat but the volunteers did a great job.

At the end of the alloted two hours, they had only got four boats up and three down. While they were willing, they were incredibly slow. Luckily for us, they agreed to stay an extra hour and eventually got seven boats up and down, including a family behind us who had flights to catch and couldn't wait another 24 hours.

When MM's turn came, she was pulled through the lock by two volunteers. 

As we left, the queue for boats waiting to go up still included at least 10 boats, most of which had already waited 24 hours and there was no guarantee that all of them would get through tomorrow. That's only part the queue below:

It was not too long before we arrived at Aynho Wharf, where we will leave MM for Simon to do her annual service.

 As the car was at Aynho, we were able to drive straight home without any problem. We are due to return on Monday 23rd June to pick up MM and continue our journey south.

Today: 5 miles, 4 locks and 3.3 hours.

Trip: 109 miles, 51 locks and 53.3 hours.