There and back, and There and Back Again!

 

Tuesday 26^th to Sunday 31^st May at Braunston.

We awoke on Tuesday morning to find that the process of removing the infrastructure of the show had already begun. Men arrived to start taking the KG and Lakeland marquees down and R had to remove the contents of the KG tent rather hastily as they had not been taken away last night. It was amazing how quickly everything disappeared and the marina began to look normal again.

 

As an exhibition boat, MM could stay in the marina until Friday without charge so we decided to go home for a few days to recover; four days of intense heat, activity and emotion had taken their toll. We were exhausted and M had lost her voice! We drove home on Tuesday afternoon via Aynho and KG at Enslow.

On Friday, we drove back to Crick, picked up MM (not literally!) and took her out on to the cut having said a huge “Thank You” to the staff at Crick for all their help. The weather was still hot and sunny but we were fortunate to find a shady mooring almost immediately  beyond the road bridge.

 

On Saturday morning, we set off early to go through the seven locks of the Watford flight, helped by some very cheerful volunteers.

 

We moored up at Norton Junction for lunch before setting off again, R and MM headed through Braunston Tunnel while M decided to walk over the top.

 

Like last time that M walked over the tunnel, she got lost on the first half of the former horse path which has been obliterated by a large new housing development. However, the second half, down towards Braunston, proved to be as delightful as usual with far reaching views of the pretty village.

 

Going through the six Braunston locks, we teamed up with a couple on their “liveaboard” boat “Reynard”. Coincidentally their names were Dan and Erica (with a C not a K). At the bottom lock we rewarded ourselves with well deserved ice creams.

We moored up on the canal outside Braunston Marina while R took a taxi back to Crick Marina to collect the car.

 

Breakfast in the Gongoozlers’ Rest floating café was a “must” next morning; we were very happy to see Avril still there and as cheerful as ever. She remembered not only us but also the name of our boat. Sadly, these days they only open weekends but the staff are busy during the week doing outside catering.

 

Later, Scott, Paula and Amelia came to visit and we went off to have lunch in the Admiral Nelson pub by Braunston Lock 3.

Back at MM, we took them for a short trip to move MM into Braunston Marina, where she is booked in for a few nights while we have to go home yet again for a few days.

 

We are due back on Thursday 4^th when we will finally start our “Last Hurrah” cruise up to Tattenhall Marina near Chester.

30^th May: 9 miles, 13 locks and 4.4 hours.

 Year to date: 73 Miles, 64 locks and 38.2 hours

The Crick Narrowboat Show 2026.

Friday 22nd to Monday 25th May 2026 at Crick Marina.

Tiffany of Kingsground, builders of MM, had asked us if we would exhibit MM as a 15 year old boat next to one of their new boats at the huge annual narrowboat show at Crick, in Northamptonshire. The idea was to demonstrate that when Kingsground builds a boat, it stands the test of time so well that it is hard to tell the older boat from a new one. We had delivered MM to Crick on the 12th and gone home for a few days. We came back to Crick on Monday 18th and spent the next few days polishing, cleaning and de-cluttering MM to make sure that she looked her very best. When we arrived on the Monday, there was no indication that a huge national show was just four days away. Initially, MM was there by the marina office in splendid isolation! Two days later, she was joined by her sister Kingsground boat "La Sorciere II" and for a while, we were almost the only boats there. Keith and Helen, the owners of La Sorciere II, were delightful and we became good friends over the course of the show.

Gradually, other boats started to arrive, some by water and some by being craned into the water from a flat bed truck - always an exciting sight which brings back happy memories of the day that MM was launched at Enslow.  

Our brokers, Lakeland Leisure, arrived and set up their marquee so we had the opportunity to get to know them all. Some of their advertising was very amusing:

It was a very emotional moment when the "For Sale" sign appeared on MM's roof.

Next door to Lakeland was the Kingsground marquee, both of them were directly in front of us. The show always takes place over four days from Friday to Monday on the Whitsun Bank Holiday towards the end of May. It runs from 10:00 to 5:00pm each day and this year was attended by 28,000 people. About 600 of them came to see round MM over the four days.

Friday the 22nd was the "Trade Day" with a limited number of tickets available to the public. Nonetheless, it was absolutely full on.  When the gates opened, a tidal wave of visitors poured through the gates, making a beeline for the boats. Fortunately, we had discussed with Ant of Lakeland, a system for showing visitors round the boat. Sonia, one of his staff, showed one small group round while Robin took another.  Meanwhile, M sat on the stern of the boat, doing a sort of "meet and greet" routine and keeping the waiting queue of visitors "entertained". Below is a photo of the queue waiting patiently for a tour of MM.

 

It was incredibly hard work in temperatures reaching well over 30 degrees and in blazingly hot sun but also a great pleasure to see all the visitors having such a good time. The highlight of Friday for us was the visit of Jim Sparkes, who built MM's steel shell and who retired last year. 

Our reward to ourselves that evening was to walk up to The Wheatsheaf pub in the village for dinner.  It's a lovely pub and the food was excellent.

Saturday was even busier but at least we knew what to expect! It was wonderful to see Simon, who was our engineer during MM's build. At some point, Ant called us into the Lakeland marquee to introduce us to a lovely couple who were prepared to offer the full asking price, plus a hefty deposit, to buy MM. We would have gladly agreed to the sale but unfortunately, they had a house to sell and, since the house had already been on the market for 2.5 years, it wasn't realistic. 

Sunday was much the same; neither the temperature nor the flow of visitors eased! Once more, Ant called us into his marquee to meet a couple who wanted to put in an offer. Originally they had come to make an offer on the Aqualine boat next door to us and were downcast to find it had just been sold.  Ant suggested they come to see round MM instead and it turned out that in fact, MM was far more what they were looking for.  They too have a house to sell but their position is such that they should be able to complete very soon  So the sale was agreed.  It was a highly emotional moment for us both as the "For Sale" signs were removed from MM. M retired briefly to the KG marquee to have a bit of a cry. 

 

That evening we had a small celebration with all the Lakeland people, plus Tiffany and the Kingsground crew. Clearly, having Champagne to hand is one of the benefits of having a cellar on MM!

 

Monday was thankfully a quieter day. We even had time to spend with some very welcome visitors. In the morning, we were thrilled to see Jon Atwood, MM's cabinet maker, with his wife Panutcha and little daughter Isla.  We hadn't seen Jon for about ten years. Later in the day, Scott (M's "second son") arrived, along with our friends Andy and Michelle, and we were able to take some quiet time with them in the Kingsground marquee. 

 

During the show, the public are invited to vote for their favourite boat as "Best in Show". All the boats, including MM, had a poster inviting people to vote for them.

 At 2pm, the results were announced, as voted for by the visiting public.  We were delighted to hear that KG's La Sorciere II came fourth. We had been extremely touched by the number of visitors to MM who said they would be voting for us.

The show officially closed at 3pm, but visitors continued to ask to see over MM until 6pm. What a rollercoaster of a weekend! It was incredibly hard work but also incredibly rewarding because, without exception, the visitors were absolutely enthralled with MM. None of them could believe she isn't brand new.  Time after time, we heard the words "stunning, amazing, beautiful, outstanding", sometimes it brought tears to our eyes. On Monday evening, we sat quietly on MM with a glass of wine and contemplated the events of the weekend as the sun slowly set. Such a lot to think about. 

 

Lakeland Leisure was our chosen broker for the sale of MM and their whole crew were a delight throughout the weekend and so supportive and helpful. They made a very emotional weekend into more happy memories and we cannot thank them enough. We would especially like to thank Sonia, who helped us to "show" MM over the four days.

We are so very grateful to Tiffany for giving us such a superb opportunity to display MM at the nation's biggest boat show. She, and the entire KG team, worked tirelessly for the whole four days in the unrelenting heat.  We could not have done any of the above without them.  We had no idea how the show would go and whether we would have any interest in a fifteen year old boat but, in the end, we could have sold her at least four times over! Thank you, Tiff, so very much!

We now have to move MM up to Tattenhall Marina. near Chester. where the sale will be finalised.  This is wonderful for us, as it gives up the opportunity for one last cruise on our beloved boat. We are calling it our "Last Hurrah". It will be a very emotional journey ....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

 

A Broken Paddle and a Dry Pound.

 Tuesday 12th May 2026 at Crick Marina.

 M arose early again at 4.30 to go and sit outside on the stern deck in order to listen to the dawn chorus. It was magical. By sheer good fotune, she captured the rising sun through the bridge at the junction. And to make it even more special, a waning moon was also rising as its current phase means it is in the sky during the daytime.

As it got lighter,a pair of swans with no less than ten cygnets swam by in the hope of some breakfast.

It was a very chilly morning and the cygnets were obviously feeling the cold as four of them were competing for a space on Mum's back under the shelter of her wings.

 Next to the junction between the Grand Union and the Leicester Arm, this house is for sale. It is the left half on the market for £425,000, three bedrooms and beautiful inside. We thought that it looked a lovely place to live as we turned past it on to the Leicester Arm.

Two miles along the canal is the Watford flight of seven locks, four of which are of the "staircase" variety (not M's favourite!). As we approached it was clear that there was a queue and when we walked up to Lock 1, the reason was obvious.

 A completely dry pound, not what you want to see. It turned out that the ground paddle (on the right in the photograph) would not close properly. Engineers were there and had found that the plastic strips that act as a bearing for the paddle were too thick and were binding, so had sent them away to be planed down. We were told that there would likely be a wait of three or four hours.

The winch over the hole is necessary in case the engineer is overcome by fumes or gas and has to be lifted out of the hole in his harness. Safety first. 

Looking down into the hole you can see the large square paddle sitting at the bottom. The entire pound had to be drained so that the C&RT chaps could access the paddle.

Finally the two strips of plastic arrived back and were displayed with pride (and some amusement) by the chaps. Within an hour the pound had been refilled and boats started to move. MM was fourth in the queue so had to wait a bit longer.

Eventually we started to go through the staircase locks with the help of two very cheerful C&RT volunteers. M regards this type of lock with suspicion and so was very glad of the professional help!

A couple of miles further on we went through Crick tunnel. M has walked over this in the past but decided to stay on board because it looked like rain. This may not have been the best decision as there was a lot of water falling from the tunnel roof and when we came out, the sun was shining. We actually got wetter inside the tunnel than we would have done outside in the rain!

And so we have finally arrived at Crick Marina where the narrowboat show will be held from 22nd to 25 May over the Whitsun weekend. A very helpful lady in the office showed us where our space is for the show and we moved MM in. Just for now we have no neighbours but by the time the show starts every mooring slot will be taken, the banks will be lined with tents and marquees and thousands of visitors will be milling around. It felt rather strange being here on our own and with it being so quiet!

 

Tomorrow, R will take the bus back to Braunston to collect the car and bring it back here before we go home for the weekend. We will be back around Monday lunchtime and spend most of next week making sure that MM looks her very best for the public.

Today:5 miles, 7 locks and 3.1 hours.

Trip: 64 miles, 51 locks and 33.8 hours.  

A Walk Over Braunston Tunnel in Two Halves.

 Monday 11th May 2026 at Norton Junction.

 On Monday morning we set off in the car (now fixed) to drive to Braunston, where we had left MM while we went home. On the way we stopped off in Daventry so that M could buy a "few bits" in Waitrose, where she used to work when she lived in the town. 

It was just past mid-day when we unmoored and headed for the marina exit.

There are six locks in the Braunston flight and when we got to the bottom lock a C&RT volunteer told us that a "single hander" had just gone up through and was currently in the second lock. M had to run up to the second lock to suggest that he wait for us as it is so much easier with two boats together when in wide locks. With the help of the volunteer on the frst lock, we caught up with nb: "Doris" in the third lock. M was still trying to catch her breath as she had been running to and fro all along - and with a gammy knee too!!

So, we did the last three locks together with M walking on ahead to set the locks for us. R introduced the owner of Doris to the technique of  stopping in the "throat" of the lock to be able to close the gates without mooring up. This was also a good idea as the pounds were very low and getting to the edge would have been difficult.

Soon after the top lock, we arrived at Braunston tunnel and M decided to walk over the top as the views are spectacular; it's a walk she has done many times. 

 It is quite a climb to the top of Braunston Hill but the former horse path is magical and has changed little since the days of horse drawn boats. It would not be out of place to see a Hobbit walking the other way.

The views looking across the fields are beautiful and so typical of the Northamptonshire countryside.

Looking back towards Braunston, the church spire can just be seen in the distance. You can just make out the brick "chimney" of one of the ventilation shafts of the tunnel underneath. 

M has walked this route many times and really enjoyed it right up to the point where she crossed the Daventry road. What had previously been fields, a farm and the horse path were now covered in mud and heavy plant machinery, and surrounded by fences as yet another housing estate was being torn into the landscape.

The mud got worse and the fence cut off the old route to the east end of the tunnel. So much so that, after a mile of struggling through the mud, M called R to try to find out where she was and how to get back to the horse path. Luckily we could see each other's location thanks to "Find My Phone" and R realised that M was only a few feet from the tunnel mouth. R walked up above the tunnel and found a hole in the safety fence so that M could get through at last. M was jolly relieved!!

 

Back on board, we carried on to Norton Junction where the Leicester Arm meets the Grand Union. At this junction there used to be a toll house where boaters had their trip card stamped and they could pick up any letters. The former toll house is behind the trees on the left of the photo. One of the two houses at the junction is for sale. What a wonderful place to live.

The signpost at the junction shows the distance to Braunston, Leicester and Brentford on the Thames.

 

This is where we moored up for the night. Tomorrow we should arrive in Crick Marina where we will stay for the Narrowboat Show.

 

  After an excelent supper and the first strawberries of the Summer, we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

 

Today: 4 miles, 6 locks and 3.4 hours.

Trip: 59 miles, 44 lockks and 30.7 hours.

 

 

 

Aileen Rose and a Hungry Duck.

 Tuesday 5th May 2026 in Braunston.

M was up early again (4.30!) to listen to, and record, the dawn chorus, although a problem with her phone suddenly demanding age verification meant that R was up early too! However, it was worth it because the morning mist lingering over the water was magical.

Following our decision last night, we walked up into the village so that M could post the card and we could sample the village shop's breakfast menu. The shop was delightful, a true cornucopia stocked with everything you could want including coffee, a bakery, pies and - breakfast!

The sign outside said it all. Better still there was a constant stream of customers coming and going all the time that we were there, even at 8am, and the staff could not have been more helpful.

The shop no longer has any seating inside but they did have seats outside.  We were most pleasantly surprised and pleased when a member of staff kindly invited us to sit in this lovely covered area behind the shop for our breakfast. It is the owner's private back garden!

 Their lovely one year old mouser "Winston" inspected us to make sure that we were safe and was very affectionate. 

 

 After breakfast, we set off again on the lock free section to Braunston. On the way we passed nb "Aileen Rose", another Kingsground boat. It was being shown around Aileen Rose in 2010 by the then owner, Fiona, at Beale Park that decided us to choose Kingsground as our builder for MM.  We could see there were people on board so we hovered alongide and chatted to the new owners for some time.  They said that they had bought her in February from Fiona and were "beyond thrilled" with her.

Bridge 100 in one of M's favourites and passing it means that we are getting close to Braunston. The weather this morning was beautiful, gentle sunshine and no wind.  M said the cruising was so very lovely that she was almost hoping we would never reach our destination!

When we arrived, we managed to moor up in what appeared to be one of the last available spots just before the Stop House and the Gongoozlers' Rest, which sadly only opens weekends now so we will not be able to have breakfast there.

 The day included seeing several broods of very small ducklings but we also had a visit from a very inquisitive swan who tapped on the window but left breadless.

 At Braunston, having closed the back doors to keep out the cool breeze, we were surprised to be visited by a very hungry duck, who demolished the slice of bread that we gave her and even cleaned up most of the crumbs before leaving.

 

 We walked up to the office at Braunston Marina past nb "Raymond", which was the last wooden working butty launched at Braunston in 1958. It has now been restored and is looking resplendent.

 In the office, where as ever they were most obliging, we confirmed our mooring in the marina for tomorrow until Monday, when we will return with the car. Our plan then is to take MM up to Crick and leave her there for the following weekend.

 Today:7 miles, 0 locks and 2.9 hours.

Trip: 55 miles,38 locks and 27.3 hours.