Norton Junction to Milton Keynes

Monday 13^th October

Norton Junction

A very wet day.  An amazing number of boats were still on the move despite the rain.

Rang Kathryn to arrange to meet at Stoke Bruerne, to find she was working up the Buckby flight on an old working boat belonging to a chap called Mike.  James went to meet her and helped her through the last lock.  They came for a coffee on Gabriel, before Kathryn went back by car, and Mike went on towards Braunston where he had booked into the dry dock for a week to paint the boat.

No boating today

Tuesday 14^th October

Norton Junction to Bugbrooke

We cruised the short distance to the facilities and as we emptied cassettes and disposed of rubbish, we filled the lock – the bottom gates were open.

Buckby Top Lock

Busy A5 by Buckby Top Lock

We passed under the busy A5, and as we passed a boat called Lady Elizabeth, Andy suggested we share the rest of the locks.  We also saw BCF boat Padworth but no one was evident.

As Andy was on his own, we tied the two boats together, and Hazel steered.  At one point there were two sets of two boats coming up, and they were very slow, which held us up.

Sharing with Lady Elizabeth

Breasting up

After the seven locks, we stopped and had a late breakfast at Whilton Locks Café, which was very good.  Perfectly done fried eggs.  We visited the chandlery and bought a large bottle of their own brand of toilet blue.

We stopped at Weedon where we visited a new Tesco express. Kathryn had told us about it.

A little further on we saw Padworth again. This time we were able to say hello to Jeff and Gill Crow, BCF members we hadn’t met before.  They have shared ownership of this boat, and put BCF stickers in the window when they are using the boat.

Alpha was moored a little further on. They had a BCF sticker but there was no one around, and we couldn’t find them in the BCF directory.

Just after that, we were hailed by a young man who spotted our BCF sign.  He had just bought a boat from Whilton Marina and this was his maiden voyage. He had never been through a lock before but this boat was to be his home.  We gave him such literature as we had, but we have no suitable BCF membership forms.

We stopped at Stowe Hill Marine, but discovered that it was closed. The fuel price at 77.9p was very good.  Thankfully, two miles south, we were able to fill up at Bridge 32, where the price was 76p!  We also bought some coal.

We stopped a few minutes later just before Bugbrooke, where the railway is slightly quieter and there are some badger setts.

Moored near the Bugbrooke badgers

Active badger sett

When it was dark, James crept along the path towards the sett, and could hear some scuffling noises.  With camera at the ready, and with great excitement, he waited for the badgers to appear. Then the phone rang! It was Enterprise Car Hire following up our recent rental.  The moment was ruined and he never saw the badgers.  Having a camera and phone in one gadget does have disadvantages at times.

Back at the boat, Hugo was hiding behind a bush, and he leaped out as James went past. Very playful.

7 locks, 7 miles, 5hr05

Wednesday 15^th October

Bugbrooke to Blisworth

The day started mild, turning chilly later.

We paused at Gayton junction services 25 minutes. A boat called Elan was there, and was still there when we left.

We called in to Blisworth Marina where we saw our old boat at its mooring. We phoned Arthur to find out where he was, and it turned out he was on board.  We had a chat with him, and invited him for a meal that evening.

Our previous boat in Blisworth Marina (The green one)

We cruised on to Blisworth, where three fishermen were occupying most of the mooring length. We squeezed in at one end, and went shopping in the village.

As we arrived back at the boat, we noticed Elan moored further along. Heavy rain started.  We send Arthur a text suggesting he come by car as more rain was forecast.  We had a pleasant meal with him, but were concerned that he has no heating on his boat.  The corner bubble won’t light (it probably needs a service), and, although he has electricity at the marina, he has no electric heater.

Arthur

Moored at Blisworth

0 locks, 5 miles, 1hr50

Thursday 16^th October

Blisworth to Stoke Bruerne

An old warehouse in Blisworth

After all the rain, we had a very wet pram hood to dry off before we folded it down for the tunnel.  The tunnel was wet in places with water pouring through holes in the walls and roof. We met no other boats and it took 28 minutes.  There were plenty of moorings, so we stopped almost opposite Kathryn’s boat Leo II on some piling, just before the bollards.

Leaving Blisworth Tunnel

We went to explore the village and found Kathryn looking out of her cottage door. She invited us in to look round, or rather, up and down. Her place is on four floors, with a room on each floor. It is ideal for her, being very central to all that goes on in the village.

After coffee we explored the two pubs.  The Boat Inn first, which has bar food in one area, and a restaurant with a more up market menu upstairs.  We found that they had a still cider, and we booked a table for four tomorrow at 7pm in the restaurant.

We looked at the shop in the pub, which has very basic items, but no bread or vegetables.

The Navigation Inn had a very standard looking menu, and we stopped for a cider, which was OK, but nothing special.

We had lunch back on the boat, sitting in the stern in the sunshine.  Kathryn went past on the heavily laden Sculptor, with BBC cameras capturing the scene for an item on Look East.

Kathryn at the helm of Sculptor

Later we went to meet Kathryn for dinner at the Indian restaurant, which was very good, especially as she is known in there, and we had some extra dishes on the house.

We then went to a room behind the museum where there was a talk from the lock keeper at St John’s Lock, Lechlade

Back on the boat we managed to get Look East on i-player, with a lot of buffering. There was shot where Sculptor went past our boat and we were sitting on the back deck.  There was no mention of Stoke Bruerne or the Canal Museum. That was a shame because the BBC made no payment for the use of the boat, as the museum was hoping to gain some publicity from it.

Hugo was out somewhere, but we suddenly saw a mouse running from the galley area into the saloon. Galvanised into action, James managed to catch it and release it into the hedge. Hugo must have brought it in while we were out.

0 locks, 3 miles, 1 tunnel, 1 mouse

Friday 17^th October

Stoke Bruerne

This morning there was some blood on the floor indicating the demise of a mouse.  Whether it was the same one as last night we will never know.

We had a short walk to the tunnel mouth to explore. James came back via the “woodland walk” which was parallel, but higher up the bank.  There were some wire sculptures of animals.

Hazel went to see Kathryn again.

We saw Elan going down through the locks

The Boat Inn at night

Allen and Angela

 

It was good to catch up over dinner with Allen and Angela (previous residents at Portmore Quays) in the upstairs restaurant at the Boat Inn.  A very good meal, but there was only one other table in use.  A shame for a Friday, which should be busy.

No boating today

1 mouse

Saturday 18^th October

Stoke Bruerne to Cosgrove

Cloudy and windy

The first lock was against us. As it was filling, James tried to raise Kathryn, but the TV was on and she evidently didn’t hear him call.

The rest of the Stoke Bruerne locks were in our favour, except the last one, which was empty with the bottom gates open.  We used the facilities at the bottom before moving off again.  As we left, we noticed that the bottom lock was emptying, and a boat appeared about ten minutes behind us.

Locking down from Stoke Bruerne

 

We travelled through some open countryside past Yardley Gobion and Thrupp Wharf. At Cosgrove we passed under the lovely Soloman’s Bridge, built of mellow stone. What a contrast to the ugly bridge 54 which carried the A508 Northampton Road across the locks just south of Stoke Bruerne.

The ugly bridge over the Stoke Bruerne lock flight

The mellow stone Soloman’s Bridge at Cosgrove

We paused at Cosgrove facilities to empty our final cassette, and to let the boat behind catch up before we used the lock.  We shared the lock with them, and they were heading for Stoke Hammond that night, a lot further than we were going.

Sharing Cosgrove Lock

We stopped on the embankment, on some piling before the aqueduct.  We had a little rain, which had been forecast.

James went to explore the aqueduct, and read on the information boards that there was a small horse tunnel under the canal at Cosgrove, as well as the one by the aqueduct.  Perhaps we will try to find this next time.

Cosgrove Iron Aqueduct

The tunnel under the aqueduct

8 locks, 6 miles, 3hr35

Sunday 19^th October

Cosgrove to Wolverton to Bridge 75 Stantonbury Park

As we were getting ready to leave, a hire boat went past, and we pulled out behind him.  He was very slow, but we weren’t going far.

We stopped in Wolverton on some rings in a new development of apartments near the station.   We used the new footbridge to cross the canal, and headed into Wolverton in search of King’s Church. 

Moored on rings in Wolverton

The new footbridge

We have been to this church twice before, when they met in a school.  From their website we found that they have managed to purchase the old Wesleyan Church which they are restoring.  They now also own the community centre next door, which was previously run by the council.  We were expecting to meet in the church, but welcome signs were out by the community centre doors, so we went in and up some stairs to where the band was practising and people were gathering.

There was a good mix of modern worship songs and old hymns.  The talk was based on a passage in Hosea, where the people had let the temple remain in ruins. When they started to restore the temple, God’s favour returned.

This is an exciting project. The church has moved from being a small, almost private, family church meeting in a school, to finding a place in the heart of the community where they are visible and active.

King’s Church

The project

We had lunch in a café afterwards and looked round the shops.  As well as Tesco, there is a small Asda, and Wolverton supermarket, which specialises in Asian food.

We stocked up with a few things, and then cruised to quieter moorings just before bridge 75, where, a few years ago, we couldn’t see any houses, but now a housing estate has stared to creep over the brow of the hill towards the canal.

There was a bit of a cat fracas – Hugo and a small black and white cat. Otherwise a peaceful night.

0 locks, 4 miles, 1hr25

Foxton to Norton Junction

Monday 6^th October

Sitting out a wet day.  Catching up with blogs and emails

James went for a walk round Foxton Inclined Plane in the evening and saw a water vole.

Moored above Foxton Locks

Horse sculpture

 Foxton Inclined Plane

Very few boats went past

No boating today

Tuesday 7^th October

Foxton to Crick

James set out to walk to Foxton Village to post a birthday card to Oliver.  At the foot of the locks he found a post box by the pub, so he came back earlier than anticipated.

Early morning at the locks

We set off straight away, and a Canal Club boat pulled out at the same time, about four boat lengths ahead.  It was probably his second day, as he would have come from Market Harborough.  He was quite slow, but thankfully he saw us and pulled over for us to pass.

There was intermittent sunshine but it was quite chilly as we travelled, although we had no rain. There were few boats moving, but we did meet another boat on a blind corner, and we had to sound the horn.  Fortunately we both had quick reactions and we churned up a lot of water in reverse gear.

 Early morning views

As we entered Husbands Bosworth tunnel, the warm moist air inside the tunnel caused James’s glasses to fog up!

Husbands Bosworth Tunnel

We passed lots of pleasant mooring places around the junction with the Welford Arm, but we pressed on as more rain was forecast for tomorrow, and we needed to get to Crick to hire a car (and buy some milk).

This section is very remote and rural, with some lovely scenery. We saw several kingfishers.

We stopped at Yelvertoft to fill the water tank and empty the rubbish, before setting off once more for the final two miles to Crick.  We pulled in to Crick Marina, where we bought some coal, and 50 litres of fuel.  We also took the opportunity to empty our cassettes.

Crick Marina

We moored a little further on and walked into the village to visit the Co-op.

Hugo brought us a live mouse as a gift.  James released it back into the hedge.

0 locks, 17 miles, 1 tunnel, 6hr00

Wednesday 8^th October

Crick

Another mostly wet day today.  There were the remains of a mouse on the floor, so the first job was to clean that up.

Then James looked into the detail of the Data Protection Act and prepared a report for the BCF committee.

We made our plans for car hire the following day and decided that we needed a taxi to get us to Daventry so that we can make an early start soon after 8am, when the Enterprise office opens.

The rain paused late in the afternoon, and we went for a meal at the Wheatsheaf. It was a fairly limited menu, but the food was well prepared and very good.  They had two real ciders.

No boating today

Thursday 9^th October

We had set the alarm for 6am.  We walked to the entrance to the Marina to meet our taxi to take us to Daventry.  We were there by 0750, and they had already opened their doors and were waiting for us.  We were on the road by 0803, in a Vauxhall Corsa 1.4.  Thankfully it had cruise control.

We went across through Southam on empty roads, and joined the M40 northbound, to connect with the M42 and M5.  There were no hold-ups, although there were some short 50mph sections where the lanes were narrow.

We made good time and arrived at Westerleigh Crematorium (Bristol area) with ten minutes to spare for the 1030 funeral for Jenny Mullinger.  It was a very sad occasion, because of the many unanswered questions which follow a suicide. 

We all drove to another venue for a memorial celebration followed by soft drinks and sandwiches. It was good to see Graham and Sheila, and John, who, with us, were for many years part of a very special church cell group with Jenny and her husband David.

We drove back across country without touching a motorway, and visited Tesco in Banbury to stock up, then had an Indian meal in an upstairs restaurant in Southam.  Excellent food.  BYO booze, but we didn’t know so we had water.

Back at Crick we parked in the entrance to a field as the only public parking near to the canal was locked at night. 

No boating today.

Friday 10^th October

Crick to Norton Junction

James went off at 0730 to take the car from its overnight parking place (thankfully before the farmer found it) and he drove to Daventry to return the car, and was given a lift back to Crick.

We dried off the pram hood, inserted our tunnel light, and set off south through Crick Tunnel.

Leaving Crick

Emerging from Crick Tunnel

On arrival at Watford locks we found that we could go straight down, so we decided to do that, rather than use the facilities at the top of the flight.  There is a single lock, then a staircase of four, then two more singles.  By the time we had finished there was a boat coming up, and another waiting at the top.

Watford Locks

We cruised down past Watford Gap services to Norton Junction, where we turned and reversed towards Buckby locks, and we found a mooring in the sun, where we could dry our washing for a few hours.

We trundled our cassettes to the sanitary station, and disposed of our rubbish, but we decided to leave our water tank until Braunston.  We cruised to a frequent mooring of ours, just past Norton Junction and bridge 10, where there are lovely views, and a little less noise from the A5 and M1.

Norton Junction

Hugo brought a present that had died.

There was a beautiful sunset. A little later we were relaxing comfortably, when we heard a commotion in the water at the stern.  Hugo was having some swimming practice. He got himself out OK and ran along the path to the bows, where, thankfully, the doors were shut. This gave us time to grab a towel and shut the stern doors until we had dried him off a bit.

Sunset over Norton Junction

7 locks, 5 miles, 1 tunnel, 1 mouse, 2hr35

Saturday 11^th October

Norton Junction to Braunston

Ottawa went past at 0755 – a BCF boat.

As we prepared to set off, two boats came past, and then a third.  We had a convoy. In Braunston Tunnel there seemed to be more bends than last time, although if there were to be any alterations, surely they would have straightened it out, not made it more crooked?  We met three boats coming the other way in the tunnel. 

At the locks we found ourselves sharing with Jim on Henrietta.  There was a fish symbol on the bows, and Jim was a regular churchgoer, but he said BCF wasn’t for him.

At the second lock there were boats 1 and 2 waiting to come up, and they left the third lock open for us.  By the time we got there, two boats 3 and 4 following them had closed the gates, emptied the lock, and were just starting to come up in the lock, which took water out of the short pound, causing the waiting boats 1 and 2 to list at their moorings.  We had to wait while boats 3 and 4 coming up emerged from the lock.  It didn’t take us long to go down in the third lock, and boats 3 and 4 were still waiting for their lock.  Because of our insignia on the boat we don’t usually moan at other boaters, but Jim had no such inhibitions.  They really should have waited.

Further down the locks we discovered that we were following a single boat. We were originally following two boats, so either one stopped halfway down, or another pulled out between the first two and us.

Locking down to Braunston with Henrietta

Jim pulled over before the marina, and we moored just past the stop house, where there were bushes for Hugo.

6 locks, 4 miles, 1 tunnel, 3hr15

Sunday 12^th October

Braunston to Norton Junction

Henrietta went past, heading up the Oxford Canal

 

As we walked to the church this morning we discovered that the boat in front was BCF boat, Petroc.  We hadn’t realised the night before. We took a path across a field up to the church, where there was a family service. The hymns were chosen to highlight things that we can give thanks for: Creation, Jesus, the resurrection, The Holy Spirit.  Marian Thomas not there, but we met Gill and Geoff from Petroc, who were in the row behind us. We suggested they come with us for lunch at the Millhouse, but they had had a huge breakfast on board the Gongoozlers Rest floating cafe.  Lunch at the Millhouse was good value. From our table overlooking the canal we saw Petroc go past.

The path to the church

The knobbly spire

 Family service

We would have stayed for the rest of the day, but the forecast was wet for tomorrow, so we trundled a cassette to the nearest disposal point, reversed to the stop house water point, reversed further to the winding hole at the marina entrance, where we turned to face the other way.  The first part of the Marina, under the old iron bridge, is the original route of the Oxford Canal, which followed the contours towards Napton.

Braunston Marina Entrance

 

We went back up the six locks on our own.  At the first lock there were two community boats coming down, and they had lots of willing helpers to operate the lock.  There was a single boater going up two locks in front, so most of the locks were against us.

We had a clear run through Braunston Tunnel, which took us 16 minutes.  When we arrived at Bridge 10, there was just one space left.

Ottawa went past again, returning to their mooring in a marina just up the Leicester arm.

We had another amazing sunset.  Hugo brought us a mouse as a present. This one had a water burial.

Another sunset at Norton Junction

6 locks, 4 miles, 1 tunnel, 2hr45

Next week:  A slow weather-dependent cruise to Stoke Bruerne, where we have people to visit, and on to Wolverton, the start of Milton Keynes.

Kilby Bridge to Market Harborough and Foxton

Monday 29^th September

Bumblebee Lock to High Bridge 79, Newton Harcourt

We set off early, and the first four locks were empty in our favour, but the final two were full.  A lovely morning with a slight mist in the air.  A good view of a buzzard sitting in a field.

Early morning cruise

Top Half Mile Lock

We moored on piling just after High Bridge, with a good view of the valley, and sunshine to dry our washing.

Lots of dog walking going on. One was a German Shepherd who was interested in Hugo.  The owner told us that Newton Harcourt manor house by the church was up for sale, and they were going to build houses behind it.  He then walked on, and an elderly lady came into view a minute of two behind him, saying: “I don’t know why I go along with him on these walks!”

Hazel put out the washing to dry.  A rain shower started. Hazel took the washing in again. The rain stopped.  IS THIS A TEST?

We walked along a bit of towpath, over bridge 78, across two fields and along a road to Wistow Garden Centre, which includes a few craft shops, a farm shop, a pet accessories shop, a tea room and a model village.  We looked at the model village, which is a little tired, and bought a frappe and an ice cream, before walking back another way. 

Model Village at Wistow

This route took us up a lane, and over a new bridge, and past the manor house (not very old) where they are building new homes in the grounds. We guess that the new bridge was to allow works access to the site. 

We visited the church of Newton Harcourt, and signed the visitor’s book. Very dark and not often used.  Back over bridge 80 and along the towpath.  James spotted a bank vole running along a horizontal branch in the hedge.

Back at our boat we found another boat moored in front: Skylark. 

Two buzzards in a tree nearby. This seems to have been the year of the buzzard. We have never seen so many.

6 locks, 2 miles, 1 live bank vole in hedge, 1hr45

Tuesday 30^th September

Newton Harcourt to Smeeton Westerby

Apart from one or two trains, this was a peaceful mooring.  We set off at a leisurely time after consuming some Aldi croissants.  Skylark had not moved.

Rural views near Wistow

Crane’s Lock

Crane’s Lock and Pywell’s Locks were both in our favour, but 19 and 20 Kibworth Locks were full and needed to be emptied.  Kibworth Top Lock had a boat in it coming down, so we went in after it had left..

We paused for lunch after bridge 74, and phoned the Old Crown in Fleckney to check that the music session was happening tomorrow (first Wednesday of the month). It wasn’t – my information was old.  We scooped up Hugo, who was enjoying life on the towpath, and moved on to the moorings for Fleckney at bridge 73. Skylark arrived soon after. We walked across a medieval field with undulating bumps and made our way to the Co-op for some essentials.

We moved on through Saddington Tunnel, which has bats, but all we could see were bat boxes on the walls. 

Saddington Tunnel

Lots of good moorings after this – one local boat had reversed in the feeder from the reservoir.  We found a place with a good view of Smeeton Hill.

It was a lovely evening and we sat out on deckchairs on the grass. Not bad for the last day of September!

5 locks, 4 miles, 2hr35

Wednesday 1^st October

Smeeton Westerby

A sunny morning after a breezy night.  We had a lovely cooked breakfast with Anabel’s bantam eggs.

Djinni is a smart boat we have seen moored occasionally.  Today they went past fairly early, and if we hadn’t seen them we would not have known.  They hardly put out any wash, and the engine was very quiet.

Skylark went past around midday.

James adjusted the setting on the thermostat on the immersion heater. We’ll try in it a few days to see if it works.

Caught up with blogs.

No boating today

Thursday 2^nd October

Smeeton Westerby to Market Harborough

A lovely sunny day. Our first stop was the water tap just before Foxton Locks. There are three here, and the pressure is good.  We thought there might be boats waiting for it at Market Harborough.

Foxton Junction

There were no boats using Foxton Locks as we passed.  There is a small manual pedestrian swingbridge at the entrance to the Market Harborough arm. The instructions say to insert your key and turn it, but it wouldn’t turn.  There is also a handle to lift to release a catch and it is all very fiddly.  The bridge swung without difficulty, and when James swung it back it would not catch in the mechanism, which is probably why the key would not turn originally. He left it as he found it.

A little further on there is a road swingbridge. It has barriers which can’t be released until the key is turned. The bridge can’t be swung (manually) until the barriers are across. It is all complicated due to health and safety.

Foxton Swingbridge

We passed Djinni, and asked them whether they had an enclosed insulated engine, but they said they just had a hospital silencer and trad stern.  We cruised slowly along, making notes of possible moorings, and looking at the fish, as the water was clear. At one place we found the head of a child’s fishing net entangled in a bramble, so we cut it away to use the material as bait bags for the crayfish traps.  While we were doing that, we spotted a bullfinch in a nearby bush.  We haven’t seen one for several years, so it was very exciting.  We used to see them quite often years ago.

On arrival in the basin at Market Harborough, we headed for the facilities, where a Canal Club boat was moored in the middle of the moorings, and they were washing the boat with a hose.  We managed to reverse into a spot round the corner where we could tie on with the stern line and the centre line, with the bows sticking out across the bows of the hire boat.  “You realise you’ve blocked us in?” said one of the two Canal Club staff. The boat had nothing behind it, so was definitely not blocked in.

“We only have two more boats to do, and then it’s all yours” the other one said.  We only wanted to empty our cassettes and dispose of our rubbish. Thankfully we didn’t need water as we had filled up earlier.  This is a C&RT facility, but the hire boat base seem to think it is for their exclusive use.

Market Harborough basin

We left the basin and moored on the visitor moorings, two boats in front of Skylark.

We went shopping in Market Harborough.  They have a Lidl, Aldi, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and a small Tesco.  We pottered round the market, and some of the other shops, had a latte on the square, and took a taxi back with our trolley full of provisions.

A very warm night.  This is supposed to be October!

0 locks, 8 miles, 2 swing bridges

Friday 3^rd October

Market Harborough to Foxton Step Bridge

We needed to leave and come back again, because these are 48 hour moorings and we want to be back here on Sunday for church.

We wanted to get some more milk so James went to the local newsagents and convenience store across the main road. It had “closed” on the door; a little odd at 10am on a Friday.  Closer inspection revealed that the shelves were empty. Closed DOWN would have been a better phrase.

He wandered over towards the Canal Club office to see if they sold milk. Before he got there a lady approached and asked him if he was from Gabriel.  It turned out that she was from Silent Lights, the company from which our angel lights came, and had remembered that we had entered an illuminated procession with them.  She had just had a week on a hire boat.  With not enough space for them on the boat, the lights are now at Weybridge Methodist Church, where, hopefully, they might be erected this December for the public to see as they pass by.

The man in the Canal Club office said they didn’t sell milk, and then a voice piped up from the doorway “But we have some!”  The Silent Lights lady gave us a half full 4 pint bottle, straight from the hire boat fridge.  The Lord provides.

It was a pleasant day for boating, although there was a fair breeze.  We wanted to go out into the countryside for one night, to sit out the rain forecast for tomorrow, and cruise back in the forecast sunshine in late afternoon.

Woodland just outside Market Harborough

We cruised 3 ½ miles to a winding hole, where we turned round and reversed a further half mile through two bridges to a mooring by Foxton Step Bridge.  Thankfully no boats came along while we were making our manoeuvre.  The bow thruster really helps to keep the boat going straight.  Just after we had moored up, three boats came past.

Enjoying the wildlife

We finally managed to put our canal map into the frame we had bought, and we hung it with sticky Velcro-style fixings.  The plan is that we can take down the whole frame to show people canal routes, and put it back up again.

Hugo seemed very happy with the place, and to demonstrate this, he brought us a live field mouse, which James had to return to the wild.

We noticed a sign which said 6.43kph.  Presumably this is the equivalent of 4mph, but as boats don’t generally have speedometers, two decimal places is little excessive in the accuracy department. Who has wasted money on such a futile sign?

6.43 out of 100 for intelligence

Evening near Foxton Step Bridge

Reflections at dusk

0 locks, 4 miles, 1 mouse, 1hr35

Saturday 4^th October

Foxton Step Bridge to Market Harborough

The rain came in the morning as forecast, and then stopped at about 3pm, so we set off back towards Market Harborough, and very soon we had blue sky and sunshine.

We passed the only sight of industry in the area – JG Pears. Apparently they try to find uses for animal carcasses, and bathe the neighbours in sweet aromas on warm summer evenings.

JG Pears factory

We moored on the visitor mooring bollards and as we were finishing off with the ropes, a couple came past, with two dogs and a cat.  They had all been for a walk along the towpath.

James suggested we went to the Mexican restaurant we had spotted in town.  Hazel said it was too far, so instead we had fajitas for dinner on board.

There are water taps on the visitor moorings, so we filled up later on, in the dark, without moving the boat.

0 locks, 4 miles, 2 mice, 1hr20

Sunday 5^th October

Market Harborough to Foxton Locks

After a peaceful night we had glorious sunshine and a slight mist in the morning.

Early morning at Market Harborough

We took our shopping trolley and walked into Market Harborough and found the Baptist Church, where we had a warm welcome.  We were half expecting to see Jeff and Margaret Bonser, one-time BCF members who have since sold their boat.  Sadly they were away in Dublin this weekend.

Market Harborough Baptist Church

The worship was led by a very good keyboard player, accompanied by a guitarist and a drummer.  There was no-one leading the singing, but the congregation were in good voice.  The message was about self-control, well delivered by Nick, the pastor.  After the service, coffee and biscuits were served upstairs, where there are several large rooms – a good facility.

We popped into the Co-op to buy a few things before catching the bus back to the basin.  We used the facilities before setting off for Foxton.

It was a lovely sunny day as we cruised this now familiar stretch.  At the first swing bridge, there was day boat approaching from the other direction.  James opened the bridge, Hazel took Gabriel through, and the day boat came through slowly. The traffic was building up either side, and James swung the bridge back again after the day boat.  After replacing the road barriers and removing his key, he saw a hire boat just stopping on the bridge bollards. Bad timing!

After the second swing bridge, where we had several young children watching our progress, we were hoping to visit Foxton Boat Services, possibly for fuel, depending on price, but also for toilet blue, and coal. The place we thought was the boatyard seemed to have become a gastro pub with a large open air seating area where things like fuel pontoons used to be.  The other side of the locks entrance was a café and a shop.

We went to tie up on the lock bollards to discover that this was reserved for a trip boat!  Where were we meant to queue for the locks? The notice said queue other side. Other side of the notice? Other side of the canal?  Just then the trip boat returned, and there was lot of gesticulating for us to get out of the way.  We realised then that the notice was for people to queue for the trip boat, not for boats to queue for the locks.  We pulled back to some bollards on a bend, so our stern was sticking out into the bridge hole.  While Hazel went to find the lock keeper, James spoke to the man on the trip boat and expressed his surprise that trip boats were allowed to use the lock bollards.  “We’re not blocking anyone,” he said. “You can take your boat straight in.”   “Not without stopping first to report to the lock-keeper and open the gates!” James replied.  Apparently they have been operating like this for 55 years.

At that point Hazel returned to say that we could go into the locks.  Hazel took the tiller, while James cast off the ropes, despite being told by the trip boat man that we should not untie until the gates were open.  James emptied the first lock and Hazel took Gabriel in.  Very soon we had a crowd of people round the boat as it was a hot Sunday afternoon.  The locks have side pounds, and there are two types of paddles.  The red ones empty the water from the side pound in to the lock.  The white ones empty the water from the lock above in to the side pound.  We have to open the red ones first to stop the side pounds getting too full and overflowing, wasting the water.

Plenty of people to talk to

Extra crew

We had a team of small children pushing and shoving on the lock beams with great excitement.  The lock keeper was a CRT volunteer, who mostly just monitored what was going on, except at the gap between the two flights of locks, when he went ahead and set the lock for us.

At the top, we stopped at the first available mooring after the water points and the disabled space.

At about 7pm we took our instruments, drinks and torches, and wandered down to the museum. We found two people there already, with concertina and melodeon at the ready.  A few more turned up, and there were thirteen altogether in the end, two of whom were spectators and raffle organisers.  It was all good fun, with each taking a song or tune in turn.  We sang: Long Way Down; Well, Well, Well; Low Bridge (Erie Canal); and Dorset Juggernaut.  There was more enthusiasm than talent, but they were a friendly bunch and it was worth going.

Night in the museum

10 locks, 5 miles, 2 swing bridges, 3hr05