The Welford Arm

Friday 31^st May, 2013 at Winwick Grange via the Welford Arm.

A strange bright object appeared in the sky mid-morning, dazzling us with its unaccustomed light. Very welcome it was too! The light of the sun brings everything into relief, almost lifting the landscape into 3D rather than 2D.

We were delighted to find emails this morning from both Angela and Maureen. Angela, whom we met on nb “Red Geranium” last summer, is going to join us at Braunston next week for a couple of days and we will have fun trying to help her find a new boat. Maureen wrote to say that she and Rob will be joining us for a day in July, and we are hoping that it will be in Gnosall, a town very dear to them (they did their courting there!) but also dear to our friends Annie and Paddy who have lived there for 10 years.

What a joy to set off in warm(ish) sunshine!  Down to only three layers of clothing now - and we’ve actually got the windows and stern door open.  Hooray!

We turned up the Welford Arm, which is less than two miles long with just one shallow lock and terminates at the village of Welford. It is a very pretty rural stretch which attracts many boaters. There is a turning point about 200 yards before the end of the arm, so R turned round and reversed all the way in.

Only then did we discover that there was actually another turning point at the end - still, it was good practice! We moored up and walked into the village to the small post office to buy a “few bits” including some wine as our stock was diminishing rapidly – most mysterious, don’t understand it at all… On the outskirts of the village, we were welcomed by the local ambassador.

As we walked in to the village, we crossed from Leicestershire into Northamptonshire, the county boundaries being at each end of the bridge over the tiny River Avon.

While having lunch back on board, an old boat came and moored up behind us. To our great surprise and joy, we saw that it was nb “Tyseley”, the boat belonging to the Mikron theatre group whose canalside performances we have seen many times. It was crewed not by the performers (who are apparently having a week’s holiday) but by a group of boat movers who are taking it down to Blisworth, near Northampton. They were a good natured lot who, on discovering that MM had a full larder and wine cellar, all wanted to come and join us in return for crewing duties! 

“Tyseley” was mooring up for the night, but after lunch we returned along the Welford Arm and resumed our progress south on the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union.  The countryside is a delight. The hedgerows are still lush with the hawthorn’s white blossom and the scent from the adjoining fields of rape sits heavy in the air. M said that she has never seen and heard so many yellowhammers all gaily calling in their distinctive way that sounds like: “A little bit of Bread and no cheeeeeese!” Not to be birdist – we also saw bullfinches, goldfinches and even reed buntings. We even saw a lone cormorant, looking a bit lost.

We moored up for the night at the very same spot as Tuesday night – beautiful!

Today: 14 miles, 2 locks and 8.1 hours (3.0 for power).

Trip: 87 miles, 47 locks and 60.3 hours.

At Foxton Locks and the Inclined Plane.

Thursday 30th May, 2013 near Foxton.
Other than one early shower, the day stayed dry. We arrived at Foxton Locks at mid-day, turned above the locks and moored up close to a magnificent bronze statue of a working horse with its "boy".

Also moored close by was another Kingsground boat nb "Novae Vitae". We walked to the top of the flight and admired the far-reaching views across the countryside. We did not want to go any further north on this canal on this trip so we had no intention of going down the locks, which have ten narrow locks arranged in two staircases of five each with a passing place between each group. The total fall is 75ft in just a couple of hundred yards, so they are very impressive.

We had a super day, walking up and down the lock flight a couple of times and then walking up the "Inclined Plane". In 1900, this was opened to allow wide beam boats to get round the bottleneck of the Foxton Locks. It consisted of two 250 ton caissons, each capable of holding two narrowboats, mounted on rail tracks that ran up the inclined plane at an angle of 30 deg. The one going up counterbalanced the one going down by means of a series of cables and the whole thing was driven by a steam engine that generated on 25hp! It must have been spectacular to watch, a great example of innovative Victorian engineering. Unfortunately, like Concorde, it proved to be uneconomic as the freight traffic was already declining and it closed after just 11 years. In 1928 the whole lot was scrapped and the scrap merchant paid the princely sum of £250 for the lot!

There is now a plan to restore the Inclined Plane, there is a very good museum and the whole site has been cleand up beautifully. Unfortunately, talking to the people in the museum, there are two big problems to be overcome. One is, unsurprisingly, the cost - although that is probably just a matter of time. The other is our old friends Natural England and English Heritage. On the one hand, if the site is restored, they want it to be exactly as it was, but on the other hand 'Elf and Safety' would require significant changes to make it safe to operate today and they say that would not be restoring it correctly. And so the bureaucratic arguments go on. NE and EH seem to be much more concerned with preserving a few bits of broken concrete than having a magnificent memorial to the brilliance of Victorian engineering that would attract people from around the world.
At the top of the locks is a cafe in what was once the Lock Keeper's cottage - in fact the Lock Keeper is still there!

At the bottom of the locks was a small shop with a great selection of books, of which we bought three including a facsimile of the 1904 edition of "Bradshaw's Canals and Navigable Rivers of England and Wales" and two books by Tom Rolt (founder of the Inland Waterways Association).
On the way back to MM, we passed a robin (the feathered variety) sitting close to us on a post and chirping happily. R (the non-feathered one) chirped back and the robin stood for a while with his head cocked on one side listening intently. What was he thinking, we wondered?

We set off south again to find a pretty mooring place. M walked the towpath, partly for the exercise and partly to photograph the "Living Mileposts".

These were mileposts that were originally carved into living trees beside the canal. The trees have long gone but the authorities planted replacements with little notices next to them to say where they used to be.
Today: 7 miles, 0 locks and 3.7 hours (1.5 for power).
Trip: 73 miles, 45 locks and 52.2 hours.

Everest Anniversary!

Wednesday 29th May, 2013 at Laughton Hills.
Sixty years ago today, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing conquered Everest, the first ever successful attempt on the summit and the cause of great celebration when the news reached England on the day of the Queen's Coronation on 2nd June, 1953. We have both been fascinated by the history of various Everest expeditions, both successful and tragic, and have a number of books on the subject.
Most appropriately, the weather today donned a degree of Himalayan chill. Despite being only three weeks away from the shortest day, you could see your breath in the air! M remarked, rather sourly, that she was wearing more clothes than she needed to go mountain walking in February! We are both quite fed up with being cold and even R wore gloves today - unheard of!
Nevertheless, we enjoyed the morning's cruise on this peaceful rural waterway. The short arm down to Welford looked inviting, but we decided to do it on the way back.

The decision to stop for lunch (and to warm up) proved to be well-founded as it started to rain the moment we stopped.
The river Avon rises here and passes under the canal on its way to Stratford; at this stage it is still in its infancy, being little more than a brook. It also serves as the boundary between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.
Despite the rain and the cold, we decided to push on a little further as the noise from the nearby road across the canal was intrusive. It was a relief to go through the Husbands Bosworth tunnel (1,170 yards) to shelter from the rain!
The countryside beyond the tunnel is truly beautiful, and we found a lovely spot to moor with the Laughton Hills sloping right down to the water's edge. No sounds other than birdsong here.

Suddenly we heard a knocking at the window - but quickly realised that it was on the canal side not the towpath side. We peered over the side and found that it was a swan banging on the galley window and demanding supper for him and his lady!

Today: 12 miles, 0 Locks and 6.5 hours.
Trip: 66 miles, 45 Locks and 48.5 hours. 

The Rain Returns - so a Quiet day

Tuesday 28th May, 2013 at Winwick Grange.
A cold and wet day. The Crick show was truly blessed for those three beautiful days, with cold, wet days on either side.
Boats started moving early, especially those heading south towards the Watford flight. We did hear that at one point there was a queue of 11 boats waiting to go down (that's about four hours' wait!). Sensibly, we decided to go north for a few days and wait until the rush was over.
R walked into the village to post some cards and stock up on milk and fruit juice because to the north there is a remote section with no villages or services - but to M's delight it is a lock-free section for 20 miles! We have time to spare at the moment, so we decided to explore this part of the Leicester Arm up to Foxton Locks.
The weather was not conducive to travelling today, so we just cruised up to the nearest water point to fill up. Food we have a-plenty, but we were getting low on water. Then on another mile to find a pleasant place to moor.
We had an idle day, mostly spent reading and having an afternoon nap. Lovely!

The only sound is birdsong and the view is of vibrant yellow rape fields stretching as far as the eye can see.
Today: 3 miles, 0 Locks and 1.4 hours.
Trip: 54 miles, 45 locks and 42.0 hours.

Whit Monday

Monday 27th May, 2013 at Crick IWA Show.
A windier, slightly cooler day but still plenty of sunshine. The show organisers said that it was 14 years since they had had three dry days with continuous sunshine at the show!!  Apparently, they also had a record attendance of 27,000 visitors.  Brilliant!
M took advantage of the good weather to do two machine loads of washing and declared herself to be very pleased with the new washing machine (we had bought a new washing machine over the winter to replace the original washer/dryer that was not a great success).

We walked over to the show and were delighted to find Cookie (ex Kingsground) now working for Barrus (marine engines) and looking very smart.

Then we bumped into Richie and his friend Liam and, later on, to Jim again. We bought home made cake, some beautiful marmalade from a couple whose produce is made from fruits gathered from the hedgerows along the canal, and a few trinkets from the "Roses and Castles" canalware stand - M said that they were irresistible! We also saw a lovely "Rosie and Jim" - they are so difficult to find these days, therefore they were definitely "Not for Sale".  Shame!

R bought a wi-fi gizmo, which unfortunately has proved to have some problems, although the suppliers have promised to sort them out.
We had made an appointment to look round a huge 60ft long by 11ft wide Dutch Barge by Piper Boats and duly turned up at 3:00pm for the viewing. We were pleasantly surprised, not just by the quality of the build but by the genuine pride and friendly approach of the builders. Great value too at just £260,000.
Back on MM, we suddenly found that we had quite a gathering on board. Richie and Liam came over, plus Jim, and also Justin and his friend from neighbouring nb "Corbeau".  The entire show had a wonderfully warm and very friendly atmosphere (even Guy enjoyed it!  The passers-by certainly loved seeing him sitting in the window watching the world go by!).

After dinner, we crossed the footbridge for the last time to look around the now deserted showground. What a contrast to just a few hours before.
A wonderful weekend. The weather was superb, we met some great people and we had so much fun!
Today: No miles but many smiles.

A Surprise Birthday Party!

Sunday 26th May, 2013 at Crick (and Goring-on-Thames).
An early start. We had been invited by Abbie to a surprise 60th birthday party for her husband Dave and, although the party was in Goring-on-Thames, we were determined to go. We took a taxi to Long Buckby railway station, driven by a very cultured Indian gentleman whose English was impeccable, in fact far better than many native English folk!  M said that it was a very strange feeling to be back at Long Buckby Station, which used to be her local station when she lived in Daventry.

Two changes of train (at Coventry and Oxford) and two and a half hours later, we arrived in Goring. The trains were on time and the sun shone - bliss!
As the trains from Long Buckby are quite infrequent, and we were under strict instructions to arrive by 1:45pm, we ended up arriving very early. We took a brief walk along the Thames, where we saw the Dutch Barge Ansuka II that had featured in a recent Canal Boat magazine article.

The party was held at Pierreponts Café and we were welcomed by the owners, Caroline and Stuart, who were setting up for the party. R knows them well as he has breakfast there each month before going in to the Capture offices nearby.   He enjoyed one of their legendary excellent capuccinos and was a very happy man!
People gradually started to arrive for the party and just after two o'clock there were about 35 cheering and clapping people singing "Happy Birthday to You" when Abbie led Dave through the door. His face was a picture - it was a perfect surprise!

A wonderful afternoon ensued, great company and superb food. We were even able to sit outside on the forecourt in the sunshine.

We left to catch the six o'clock train home and arrived at Long Buckby to find our friendly taxi driver waiting for us. We got back to MM by 8:30 - a super day.
Today: Lots of miles by train but none on MM!

Crick IWA Show.

Saturday 25th May, 2013 at Crick.
So here we are, on the first morning of the show and, wonder of wonders, the sun is shining and the forecast is set fine for all three days of the show. What a relief for everyone after the recent weather!
There was a lovely cheerful camaraderie among the boaters moored on the towpath, all enthusiastically washing down their boats after yesterday's gales and polishing the brasswork, in a flurry of friendly rivalry to have the best boat!

Breasted up alongside us was an old-style boat nb "Canopus" with a traditional back-cabin and old fashioned engine. She is an eight year old replica of a 1938 working boat by the same name - apparently one of the "dog stars".

R was delayed in his boat washing by a couple who had visited Alexanders and who were considering having a boat fitted out by Kingsground. They ended up coming aboard for a look around and stayed for nearly an hour.
Eventually, we set off for the show across a temporary bridge over the canal just 100 yards from MM. As we arrived at the far side of the bridge, we stood astonished at the scene before us. Could this really be the Crick Show, renowned in the boating community as the Glastonbury of the boating world, habitually a quagmire of mud and rain? The sun was shining from a clear blue sky and folk were sporting shorts and T-shirts. Incredible!

It could also have been called the "Crick Dog Show" judging from the number of canines around of every size and shape.
We spent a happy day wandering round the showground looking at the different stands. We found Glenn (otherwise known as "Susan") of Elite Furnishing, who had built our sofas, and also met up with Jim Sparkes of Alexanders, who built MM's steel shell. We bought home made cakes and found some beautiful hand made scarves for M. Her favourite stand was one selling hand painted traditional "roses and castles" ware, R was far more interested in the "techie" stands! We went on only one exhibition boat as there were long queues and most were operating an appointment system. We chose to go on nb "Swamp Frogs", which was last month's "Boat of the Month" in Canal Boat magazine. It was smart but we didn't think that the joinery was up to KG standards. We also ran into Brenda and Martin from Reigate at the show and they came over to MM for tea and cake.  They have a boat share.
In the evening, after the show had closed, we went across to the food area, which stayed open for an evening concert and had a Thai dish while listening to the band in the beer tent.

It was a beautiful evening with a glorious sunset.

What a contrast from yesterday!
Today: 0 miles and 0 locks.

Rain, Gales and Bitter Cold.

Friday 24th May, 2013 at Crick.
Unspeakable weather!  A very cold day with rain and gales that lasted all through the day until early evening. Other boaters and walkers on the towpath were dressed for climbing Helvelly in mid-winter. The bitter wind reduced the temperature outside to 7 deg C.
However, it did mean that we spent a relaxing day indoors after four days' cruising against the clock.
M was thrilled to see a family of ducklings at breakfast time. The proud mother was carefully shepherding eleven chicks.

Feeding the ducklings with bread was the only time that we went outside all day! Thank heavens for central heating!!
Today: No miles and no locks!

Crick a Day Early!

Thursday 23rd May, 2013 at Crick.
We made an early start, taking advantage of a window of sunshine and hoping to get ahead of the forecast rain. It was very cold and windy, but we loved the journey up to Braunston Junction where the Oxford Canal meets the Grand Union. M remarked that canal junctions are always fascinating as the turning one doesn't take always looks so inviting! However, this is a good thing as it means that there is always something to look forward to another time!

Braunston was familiar to both of us, having visited it a couple of times. We finally moored up there and enjoyed a (very) late Hobbit's first breakfast. In the course of the morning, we were joined by a number of boats also heading for Crick, including two brand new exhibition boats built by S.M. Hudson, one of which was a sailaway painted only in primer. We also passed another Kingsground boat, nb "Bosley Bell" whose owners said they were still delighted with her after 13 years.

Braunston tunnel, at 2,042 yards, is the longest that we have done to date.  It was weird to see the light of an oncoming boat and very difficult to judge distance until suddenly the other boat was very close!

Norton Junction is where the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union splits off from the main line. It is a very tight turn past the Old Toll House but we were soon heading off to the north.

After a brief but heavy shower, we arrived at Watford locks, a set of seven locks with the middle four being a staircase, where the top gate of one lock is the bottom gate of the next with no "pound" in between. This was our first experience of a staircase. We arrived to find a queue of half a dozen boats in front of us, so we had a long wait before we could start through. M walked up to reconnoitre, which turned out to be a good thing as she discovered that you have to book your place in the queue with the lock keeper. Eventually the two very friendly lock keepers told us to go up through the first two "normal" locks and then to wait at the bottom of the staircase for three boats to come down.

As we started up the staircase the rain, which had returned, turned (to our astonishment and discomfort) to hail - then we were even more astonished when it started to snow! Well it was nearly June in England after all, so perhaps we should not have been so surprised! M remarked very drily that we shouldn't have left the electric blanket at home. It was cold enough to see your breath in a cloud in the air.
The staircase of locks looked very attractive with troughs of summer flowers. It also looked quite intimidating although dealing with the weather did take our minds off our apprehension. Once the lock keepers explained the process, it became quite straight forward and we reached to top about two hours after we first joined the queue.
After that, it was plain sailing into Crick through Crick tunnel, just 1,528 yards long. Almost immediately beyond the tunnel we arrived at Crick Marina. We had made such good time that we were a day ahead of ourselves as we had not planned to arrive before Friday. Many boats had already arrived and were moored up two abreast along the towpath. Boat names for each mooring point were written on notices hung in the hedge running along the towpath, but the writing was so small that we couldn't read it from the boat. We pulled in to an empty space so that M could jump ashore to find our allocated place, only to find that the space we were in had our name on it! Serendipity!

As we moored up, we saw that the boat behind us belonged to Terry Darlington the author of the book "Narrow Dog to Carcassonne".
We were also interested to see nb "Cumbria", which featured as the Canal Boat Magazine "Boat of the Month" recently, the first boat built by a new company in the Lake District.
After dinner we walked in to Crick village to take a look around. Surprisingly, the little Co-op store was still open and we were able to pick up a "few bits" to see us through the next few days.
Today: 11 miles, 13 locks and 7.0 hours.
Trip: 51 miles, 45 locks and 28.1 hours.

Into Northamptonshire

Wednesday 22nd May, 2013 at Flecknoe.
What a super day's cruising! The weather was unseasonably cold, more like March than May, but it was thankfully dry. Beyond Fenny Compton was a long stretch of lock-free canal, which interestingly wound round and round the contours of the landscape to the extent that it frequently doubled back on itself, playing strange tricks with one's sense of perspective.
At the "Old Engine Arm" near Napton locks, we passed another Kingsground boat, nb "Julanda", still looking good although she is 10 years old. We also saw some lovely highland cattle getting very muddy at the water's edge.

Fortune smiled on us at Napton locks. An Anglo Welsh hire boat that we had been following for a while, moored up just before the flight of locks and we found all seven locks in our favour. Also, we were assisted all the way down by Chris, a CRT volunteer, accompanied by his lovely Border Collie named Molly.

As MM descended in the final lock of the flight, R and Molly played a game of hide-n-seek.

The flight of locks going down is picturesque indeed, with the pretty village below in the valley and the restored Napton windmill on the hill beyond. The windmill is a landmark for miles, as the canal twists around below the hill on its meandering course north.

We took on water and then walked up to the village shop before going on past Napton Marina, where Mick and Jackie had picked us up on their boat "Zodiak" three years ago.
We passed Napton Junction, known to working boatmen as "Wigram's Turn", and sailed on into Northamptonshire.

This was familiar territory to M. who remarked on the classic landscape with its open rolling countryside. There was some very welcome late afternoon sunshine and this lovely rural lock-free stretch was a delight.
We moored up, and after dinner, went for a walk to explore a nearby abandoned railway line, yet another casualty of the Beeching era. A splendid sunset guided us home, to be followed by a bright moon whose reflection appeared to dance in the movement of the canal water.

We lay in bed with the curtains drawn back, watching the moon and listening to the Vivaldi Mandolin Concerto on Classic FM. Magic!
Today: 12 miles, 9 locks and 6.0 hours.
Trip: 40 miles, 32 lcks and 21.1 hours.

To Fenny Compton.

Tuesday 21st May, 2013 at Fenny Compton.
Colder than yesterday, with a chill wind, although the sun did show itself briefly towards the end of the day. We set off fairly early and made good progress, pausing only briefly to buy a "few bits" in the little shop in Cropredy. Sadly, there wasn't time to explore this village, renowned for its annual "Fairport Convention" Festival, but we will spend time here on our return journey in the autumn.
Normally, we only go a short distance each day, but as we are booked in to the annual Crick Boat Show this weekend, we have to average about 6 hours' cruising a day to be there on time.
It is interesting to see evidence of the old "ridge and furrow" field system that is very prevalent in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire.

The canal banks between Cropredy and Claydon were carpeted with wild flowers in bloom - pink campion, violets, cowslips and bluebells.

At the locks, we spoke to a number of folk on hire boats and it was so cheering to hear how much they were enjoying themselves. We moored up at Fenny Compton Wharf and walked into the village one mile away.

There were some lovely houses of old local stone and the church was a delight (it was not locked).

It had an ingenious system for frustrated campanologists - all three bells could be rung by one person at the same time using a system of pulleys.
Today: 10  miles, 12 locks and 5.9 hours.
Trip: 28 miles, 23 locks and 15.1 hours.

Sandy and Trevor.

Monday 20th May, 2013 at Banbury.
We awoke early to a cooler, breezier day. Two of the pirates were washing down their hired "man-o-war".
Sandy and Trevor arrived at 9:00am and after a guided tour of MM and a bacon sandwich, we set off to the north, leaving their car in the adjacent railway station car park (which is free!).
The weather stayed cool and cloudy, but thankfully dry. S & T soon mastererd the art of "locking".

We were surprised at how many boats were out on the Cut, but then the Oxford is a popular waterway. It was certainly the first time that we had to queue for a lock.
A lovely surprise was when we passed by nb "Rufford" going the other way. She is John and Judith's "shared" boat, that has just been re-painted - and she looked beautiful! She had almost passed by before we realised it was her so we were unable to ask the names of the shared owners; they did, however, know of Judith and John.

It has taken a while to get used to the movement of the water on this narrow canal.  When passing other boats, MM quite frequently rode up on the shallow edge of the canal, causing her to rock to the extent that the kitchen drawers suddenly slid open with a bang and we had a bit of broken crockery as a result.  The locks, too, are very narrow indeed and some of them are very deep. Once inside them, it can be very claustrophobic.  Somerton Deep Lock is most aptly named; at twelve feet, it was quite intimidating.

We reached Banbury in time to drop S & T off to catch the train back to Heyford to collect their car. We had a lovely day with them and they said how much they had enjoyed themselves.
The outskirts of Banbury are industrial and, therefore, unpreposessing, so we pushed on a little further and passed the historic "Tooley's Boatyard" in the middle of the city. 

We moored on the far side of town; however, we found ourselves opposite a Kraft facility which processed coffee and a smell of roasting coffee beans filled the air!
We thought that we should explore the town centre while we were there and were so glad that we did, because we found many delightful historic building.  The famous Banbury Cross was very handsome. But, best of all, was the magnificent bronze statue of the renowned "Fair Lady on a White Horse".

She was complete in every detail with "rings on her fingers and bells on her toes" - so she really shall have music wherever she goes! Lucky lady!
Today: 13 miles, 8 locks and 6.2 hours.
Trip: 18 miles, 11 locks and 9.2 hours.