by
jakepithf
@ 2006-01-22 - 19:48:54
THE JOURNEY (Part 2)
By canal through Warwick
3rd Jan 2006
Aching and bruised we made a start from beneath the A46. Avoiding deep mud on the tow path, made worse by having to dodge the doggy-doos. A couple of hours of early morning drizzle hasn't helped but once we’re under way all problems are forgotten until the fire goes out. Who was too tired to empty the ash pan last night?
A short stop at Tesco (bridge 46) gave me a chance to wash the stern deck while missus took off to Tesco, 100yds from the mooring. After a couple of false starts the path from the mooring to the store is found and the shopping gets underway.
The drizzle stopped as we passed over the River Avon and the main line railway, not quite Pontycysyllte but quite impressive. Just about to take a photograph when Steve A phoned from Exeter and distracted me.
Bascote Locks with its little staircase would have passed without comment but I got my feet wet slipping down between the boat and the lockside trying to save the paintwork by pushing against the wet brickwork with my foot. A stupid thing to do but I survived this time. Sorry no picture of the event. Surprising how warm the water was and how little got inside my boots. The Bubble stove came in handy for drying things.
4th Jan 06
Just preparing for the Stockton flight when we met Mike and Pat again. Their dogs must have thought Christmas had come around again with the number of miles they’d walked over the last two days.
Mike took Balmaha through the flight perfectly, saving me a lot of paint agro and allowing us to work up an appetite for lunch at the Boat Inn (bridge 21).
Farewells were then in order because canal stoppages meant we couldn’t get back down their way until after March. They’re great people, easy going, always laughing and will do anything for you. Buy them a drink if you meet them on Hyperion, they deserve it.
Spent some time experimenting with the Bubble corner stove, keeping the fire going over night and trying to keep the glass clean until we were shown the purpose of the top two vents
Could use one of those Eco fans to sit on top but at £70 they seem terribly expensive. Anyone got one they don’t use anymore?
Would have liked to moor up for the night at the Boat Inn but had to keep moving.
Passed Calcutt Marina with the light almost gone,
managed to turn like Wigram onto the old Oxford Canal, towards Braunston. Desperate for a quiet stretch of steel piled canal bank before the light fades completely, we found what we were looking for near bridge 103.
5th Jan 06
We were on the move as usual around 9am (rain or shine) after emptying the ash pan. Found a molehill which makes an ideal spot to mix the ash with the soil. Don’t know what the mole makes of it but it leaves the tow path clean although I have been known to spread the ash in the muddiest puddles near our moorings. I always appreciated the cinder track when we went walking on winter days. Shan’t forget the Ashby last winter, sinking into the tow path mud, hanging onto fence posts to stay upright, and yet dog walkers and runners are undeterred by thick clay mud without a blade of grass in sight. Can’t be doing with it myself, shoe cleaning is a chore and best avoided.
Today, like all others, means meals are taken on the move, aiming to stop only at dusk preferably against piling which means a faster finish to the day and no pegs to hammer in. The weather is noticeably worse now, temperatures dropping to freezing point again.
Braunston at last.
Crawling past linear moorings on the Braunston approach gives me some understanding of the frustration of those travelling with time restrictions but we are also grateful to those who slow down for us when we are moored. Glad to slow down seeing the state of some of the old wooden boats. A couple looked about ready to break their backs. Instead of a swept up stern they were clearly swept down and still people live on them, very humbling.
Turned right at the junction when I should have turned left to sweep straight onto Midland Chandler’s moorings, but with a bit of nifty reversing and we were quickly alongside. A quick shop there and we were away to the water stop down on the right by the doo-doos disposal. Saw a guy get off the boat in front with a better hat than mine and a leather jacket that I envied. Had to put it out of my mind – it’s way above my budget.
A sense of relief set in as we rose through the Braunston locks. No time to stop and eat at the Admiral Nelson
Ate here as recently as the summer but my preference is the tiny but wonderful eating establishment just outside the marina entrance. You know the one “ Pass by us, not through us” or something along those lines.
Couldn’t help noticing the traditional hedge cutting between the locks at Braunston
Leaving the lock was a relief knowing we had passed our last major obstacle - Braunston’s stoppages.
Can understand why repairs are necessary, gate leaks make transit incredibly slow
Just before Braunston tunnel we passed a boat heading the other way. Knowing they had been through we asked if it was wet today and received the reply that it’s worth covering up just before the far end but at least its warmer at that end
Sure enough the deluge hit us 95% of the way through but it sure felt colder on exit. So why does it always seem colder at the other end of the tunnel irrespective of which way you go?
Norton Junction and the Leicester Line arrived just as the cold had numbed all feeling and the brain was reduced to maintaining essential functions (tiller arm and hot chocolate hand)
Nearly sailed straight past whilst commenting on the unknown marina on the left hand side.
Handbrake turn and swerved left without hitting the opposite bank. Had to reverse to take this picture. Now who would live in a place like this?
Kipped at bridge 3 under darkening skies, and it’s only 4pm.
6th Jan 06
We knew we were close to Watford Locks because we couldn’t hear ourselves speak above the din of the M1
The bow thruster (I have heard it called a wus thruster or a cissy thruster) wouldn’t work at Watford locks, just when it was needed.
Inspected the weedhatch – cold and murky but nothing wrong here, hydraulic fluid level OK, studied the Cramm electrical wiring drawings (thanks Chris W – they came in handy), about to turn off the engine to check the fan belt and noticed the key was in OFF position. Dooohhh, remembered catching my coat on the key last time I went down the steps for something. All’s well that ends well.
Journey up the Leicester Line
Passing through Crick Tunnel and Crick Wharf we were half thinking of stopping for water but it wasn’t easy to see the water points from the main line so we swept past watching it sleep in contrast with the bustle of May Bank Holiday shows. A couple were being shown around a boat by a young lady with a clip-board, “now this is the pointy end”.
We stopped for water at Skew Bridge and picked up a couple of 25kg bags of smokeless fuel from the coal boat further on up the tow path. Mist was descending and visibility worsening so we moored just short of the Welford Arm near the bridge covered in scaffolding.
7th Jan 06
Cold with grey skies, we leave 15 minutes late, but this is the final run home, our destination is Foxton. The Welford Arm looked inviting, another day perhaps, but then it started snowing
and by the time we passed North Kilworth Wharf it was settling on the boat(pitching to Bristolians)
As we pulled out of Husbands Bosworth Tunnel it was white-out, the snow had turned to a blizzard and had turned the countryside white
ice was forming on the water again.
Do fish eat at these temperatures? Fishermen seem to think so because theres plenty of them about in sub-zero temperatures. We think they must be mad and they seem to think the same about us.
Again the cold switched off the brain until we reached bridge 60 and the excitement of another set of locks shook the cobwebs off. The remaining few hundred yards to Foxton Top Lock looked like home to us, having walked there so many times before.
So off we go “Red before white and you’ll be alright”.
Down in under an hour, didn’t seem any point in hurrying, hardly anyone about but we did get a helpful rope catch from John in his traditional clobber as we passed out of the flight to check in with Foxton Boat Services at the shop. T,M and S were very kind to us while we stayed over for a few days and performed our first oil change. It was lovely to see the ground work progressing for the new workshops but regrettably we were too early to experience the new bar facilities below the shop.
We had reached the end of our first cruise although it was more of a hasty dash across country while BW paused in their lock repairs. The engine has run-in, the paintwork has done battle and our experience levels have grown tremendously. Absolutely no regrets with the design of the boat or the choice of builder, everything has worked perfectly from the moment we took ownership.
IN CONCLUSION
There are great people about in the winter, both afloat and on the tow path. Boaters, coal boats, chandlers, anglers and walkers have been so welcoming and made our journey a pleasure. The weather has thrown some of its worst at us but we’d do it again.
We’ve discovered that solid fuel fires gallop away with the fuel, and that all the spare wood lies out of reach on the other side of reeds and shallow water, too far for our plank and rescued fenders are always eyeless and not worth risking a wetting to collect them.
After 8 days cruising and 120 locks we’ve only lost two fenders, both ripped off by lock chains. Trialling home made fenders at £1.50 each is considered a success and I shall stick to making my own. They look like everyone else’s but at that price it doesn’t hurt to see them mauled by those awful chains. Why are they there anyway?
We’ve had great times with Mike and Pat along the way and met a useful guy in Jeff Anderson.
Our first objective complete we are itching to get exploring and our eyes are on BW’s stoppages list. Brookwood on the Basingstoke Canal at the end of May is our next firm booking, meanwhile we will tour the Leicester Line and push northwards if the glacier retreats.
