Scott and Family Visit.

Saturday 10th October, 2015 in Braunston.
Poor R! He's never had the pleasure of walking over the top of a canal tunnel since he is invariably driving the boat through. M often walks over the top of tunnels along the old horse paths, not because she doesn't like tunnels but because she loves the views from the tops of the hills and she enjoys the walk.
Now we are moored up in Braunston Marina, we decided to walk over the top of Braunston Tunnel together, so we took the bus to the point where the road crosses the old horse path and walked down to the eastern portal of the tunnel.

Then we set off to walk the one and a quarter miles to the other end along the horse path. Unlike many paths over tunnels, this one is easy to follow (M has occasionally got lost walking over other tunnels!). This path goes in a more or less straight line through lovely agricultural fields, in this case planted with spring cabbage.

As the path drops down towards Braunston, there is a fine view of the village church and old windmill nearly two miles away in the distance.

Three airshafts mark the passage of the tunnel underneath our feet. During the tunnel construction these shafts were also used to dig the tunnel in each direction from the bottom of the shafts until all the different sections joined up.

Finally we arrived at the west portal just as a boat was emerging.

The west portal bore this commemorative plaque to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the tunnel in June 1796.

In the afternoon, we had a super visit from M's "second son" Scott , his wife Paula, and their children Amelia and Lachlan.

They live in Daventry and came to join us for the afternoon and, after tea and chocolate cake, we took them out for a short trip.
Amelia took the tiller and did very well!

And Lachlan entertained us.

Due to the children's busy social diary (!), we couldn't stay out for long but the cruise up to Braunston Junction, down the South Oxford to the first winding hole and back, was great fun. We were thrilled to see how much they all enjoyed themselves and decided that next year we would arrange a full day with them.
Back at Braunston, Amelia and Lachlan heaved with might and main to bring MM's 19 tons into the bank to moor up - and they did it!

Today is also MM's 4th birthday. She was launched four years ago at Enslow on the Oxford Canal, since then she has carried us safely for 2,036 miles through 1,435 locks! How we love her!
A truly lovely day, which we enjoyed from start to finish.
Today: 3 miles, 0 locks and 1.7 hours.
Trip: 440 miles, 320 locks and 332.2 hours.