Another early start.

Monday 8th October 2018 in Huddlesford.
Having tried all summer to take our cruising day by day without any time pressure, we have ended up with several very nice treats ahead over the next week which mean we really need to make progress quickly over the next few days.
So, another before dawn start - but actually it is so beautiful to watch the sunrise and it is so peaceful and quiet that we really enjoy it (even R, who is definitely a "night owl" not a "lark"!). Ahead of us was the Atherstone flight of 11 locks, so at 7am M went ahead to set the lock as R bought MM in.

We have met many foreign visitors from all round the world on the canals but it is the first time we have seen multi-lingual notices from C&RT. A sign of the times perhaps?

We have done so many locks now that we make a really good team. M walks ahead to set the next lock and open the gate ready for MM to come into the lock, then R takes MM through the lock while M walks ahead to the next one. This way, we did the 11 locks and two miles of the flight in under two hours. And it's really enjoyable on a lovely morning such as this; you feel you have the world to yourself. And you can look at all the still moored up boats with disdain, muttering "sluggards" under your breath!!!

On the way, we passed some C&RT repair work being done on the bank. Like most "serious" work that we have seen on the canals, it was being done by contractors not C&RT employees. We can't help wondering if that is the most cost effective way of doing things?

At this time of the morning, the light can be magical.

Nice to see that care has been taken to preserve the old mile markers, although the soft stone has eroded so badly that they are now impossible to read.

All the locks on this flight used to have side ponds to save water by storing half the lockfull each time the lock was emptied, but none are now in use.

Just above the last lock in the flight, M met up with an unusual fisherman. His job was to test fishing tackle for the manufacturer and, there he was, busy at work. Nice way to earn one's living!

This garden had a splendid display of gnomes and garden ornaments. The house even had a Kingsground boat moored outside it.

But our favourite was the two sheep in the middle of the lawn. Priceless!

We arrived in Tamworth at the Glascote Locks. We call them "piggy-bank" locks because they are slow to fill but quick to empty. The house next door belongs to a gentleman called Paul; we've met him on a number of occasions.  He collects bricks with different manufacturers' names in their "frogs" (middles) and creates structures with them in his garden.

In Tamworth, M went shopping for the usual "few bits" while R went to his favourite emporium for a coffee (before heroically carrying M's few bits back to MM!).

On the way back to MM, we saw this notice. Jolly handy for our new rose beds but M couldn't think of a way to get the product back home!

We carried on to Huddlesford on the Coventry Canal, where the the bridges have charming names rather than numbers.

Tomorrow, we will put MM into King's Orchard Marina so that R can go home to pick up the car. On Wednesday, we shall drive to Snettisham in Norfolk for a concert by Pamela Greener, (the wife of Jonathan, M's cousin) then back to MM on Thursday.
Today: 17 miles,13 locks and 8.0 hours.
Trip: 401 miles, 245 locks and 249.6 hours.

A Pre-dawn Start and a Long Day.

Sunday 7th October 2018 at Atherstone.
An early start today, partly dictated by the lack of rain in the forecast and partly by our plans to go to Norfolk mid-week (long story). It was, however, extremely cold, with ice forming on MM's roof.
We "let go" at 7:00am to the most beautiful sunrise. How wonderful after the gloomy skies of yesterday!

We love the "contour" canals, designed by Mr Brindley, which meander here and there in a leisurely fashion. Unfortunately, they were a source of frustration to the old boat people who were paid by the load and time was money. Along came Mr Telford, who cut straight canals, digging cuttings through high ground and building embankments for the low bits. He straightened out the worst wiggly bits of Brindley's canal - cutting the length of the Oxford canal by 13 miles!
It is still possible to see places where Brindley's old canal branched off, often the old "arm" was spanned by an iron bridge, like this.

It was the first really cold night of the autumn and the frost lingered on the fields as it did on this classic ridge and furrow field.

The morning light, as the sun rose above the horizon, was truly lovely.

The old working boat people used to have certain locations where they stopped to pick up orders for their next load, these were known as "Stops". Today, we will pass two "Stops" and this one, "Stretton Stop", was the first. It is now the boatyard and hire base for Rose Narrowboats. This boat had been pulled out of the water to have its bottom blacked (something we will have done for MM over this next winter).

We thought that this might well apply to us - not New Age Travellers but Old Age Travellers!

The little hamlet of Ansty certainly doesn't welcome boaters; we are obviously too common for them! This was one of a line of such notices.

However, the local equine population came down to the water's edge to greet us and have a quick drink.

Herons tend to be nervous and fly off as we approach them. This was a "brave" heron, who stood his ground and watched us pass with interest.

The second "Stop" of the day, "Sutton Stop" a.k.a. Hawkesbury Junction, one of the most important locations for the old boat people as it was right in the heart of the Warwickshire coalfields and the place where they were told which coal wharf to pick up coal to be transported towards London on the Grand Union Canal. We stopped MM briefly for some lunch.

Hawkesbury Junction is where the Oxford Canal and the Coventry Canal meet and is also the site of the old water pump house - currently the subject of a restoration project.

As with yesterday's abandonned signal gantry, this telegraph pole is a lonely relic of a forgotten past, rarely seen these days.

Finally, we moored up at 4:00pm in Atherstone, once famous for the manufacture of hats, which were exported all over the world (including pith helmets!). The factory is sadly now derelict; we would love to see it restored and used as offices or apartments, but unfortunately, it may be beyond repair now.

Very good progress today.
Today: 25 miles, 1 lock and 8.4 hours.
Trip: 384 miles, 232 locks and 241.6 hours.

A Visit from Scott and Amelia.

Saturday 6th October 2018 in Rugby.
We awoke to the sound of rain thundering on the roof. Only the second really wet day that we have had on MM all summer, so we can't complain!
M's "second son", Scott, still lives in Daventry with his family and we had arranged for him to visit with his daughter Amelia. We had warned them about the weather forecast but they were still game to go on a cruise. First things first, breakfast in the Gongoozlers' Rest, which was, as ever, brilliant!

As the rain continued, we set off towards Rugby and waved goodbye to Braunston's landmark church as we left.

Very sensibly, Scott and Amelia opted to stay in the dry inside MM, where M entertained them while R gallantly braved the cold and wet on the tiller. Normally, we would not travel in the wet but we have a couple of fun "treats" in the next two weeks, which mean that we have to make progress today to be in the right places at the right times.
We moored up for lunch close to one of our "special places", beside the long abandonned forlorn and lonely signal gantry on the defunct Great Central Railway that still waits in vain for the iconic "Master Cutler" train from Sheffield to London.

Here we said farewell to Scott and Amelia.

It was really lovely to see them and they set off to walk the two miles back to their car at Braunston.

We then continued on to Rugby, M making copious cups of hot Bovril to keep R from freezing.
On the outskirts of Rugby we passed about a mile of huge earthworks.

 

Judging from the enormous abuttment, it is going to be a new major road to cross the canal.

We moored up just before the park in Rugby, expecting the moorings in the park to be taken this late in the day.
Today: 9 miles, 3 locks and 3.7 hours.
Trip: 359 miles, 231 locks and 233.2 hours.

Braunston and a Trip Down Memory Lane.

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.

Locks on the Locks, a Wigwam and a Mediaeval Village.

Thursday 4th October 2018 at Napton Bottom Lock.
Like many canals, the Oxford has had water supply problems this summer due to the hot, dry weather. We set off to Claydon Bottom Lock, only to find it locked and a queue of two boats in front of us waiting for it to open. Eventually, at 10:00 the C&RT man unlocked the lock and, after waiting for the other two boats to go through, we left the lock at about 11:15. The pound was very low, at least a foot below normal, so MM was scraping the bottom at times.

What a delight to see this traditional "tug" in the old British Waterways livery; and such a nice chap to talk to.

We carried on through the next four locks on to the summit pound, which ironically had plenty of water depth. The summit pound is ten miles long although only half that distance as the crow flies because the Oxford is a "Brindley Contour" canal that winds this way and that following the contour. It is a beautiful canal, almost like a river. This is Northamptonshire countryside at its best, truly lovely and very remote.

On the way, we passed a large field full of seemingly random lumps and bumps - quite different from the straight rows of mediaeval "Ridge and Furrow" fields.

It turned out to be the site of the mediaeval village of Wormleighton. In 1499, the 80 inhabitants were evicted by the local landowner so that he could graze sheep on the land. A aerial view shows up the layout of the site.

The large square in the centre is the site of a later fish pond but the central village street runs from the top corner of that pond to the canal top right, with house plots on either side of it. The square, top centre next to the canal, is the site of the original moated manor house, the canal uses two sides of the old moat.
One doesn't often see wigwams by the canal! Not sure if it was "glamping" or just a restful escape for the local farmer.

A real curiosity and a clever way of providing free mooring that the C&RT can't charge you for (the water level in the little arm was higher than the canal, so the C&RT could not claim that you were using their water!). Quite a list on it though - so clearly still not enough water!

Finally, we arrived at Napton top lock beside this very unusual trapezoidal building that used to be a warehouse but is now offices.

There was a C&RT volunteer on duty who warned us that the bottom lock (two miles and nine locks away) would be locked at 4:30, which was in just over one and a half hours. We set off, with M lock wheeling (setting the next lock ahead) while R did the lock that MM was in and closed the gates as he left. We did the two miles and eight locks and arrived at the bottom lock at 4:20 (that is an average of about six minutes per lock) only to find it already padlocked and no sign of any C&RT volunteers!

A tad frustrating as we could have made Braunston this evening but we decided that there are many worse places to moor for the night than in sight of Napton windmill!

So, we moored up on the lock mooring for the night and will have to wait for the C&RT to unlock the lock at 10:00am tomorrow morning.

Today: 13 miles, 13 locks and 6.5 hours.
Trip 343 miles, 227 locks and 226.7 hours.