Buckby to Fradley Junction

Having been persuaded to not attempt the Leicester Arm, we were now heading back to go the "long way" round to Shardlow.. This would take us back on the Grand Union, then on the Oxford Canal to the Coventry Canal, then the Birmingham and Frazely up to the Trent and Mersey at Fradely Junction.. We had been informed that there would be a Folk Session at the famous Swan Inn there on Thursday night, so that was our next target... First though, we had to get to Braunston Locks before 2.30pm, which was when they were due to close for the day. It was 10.30am, and we were at Watford Gap Services.. Time to get a shift on! 

On the wide open rivers, we could just open her up full throttle, and we would eventually reach the heady heights of 6 mph.. On the shallow (approx 4 ft) canals, at anything above 3 mph, we generate a huge stern wave with white water either side of the boat.. So mostly we can only do just about quick walking pace. To be fair, manoeuvring a 70 ft long, 18 tonne boat on a relatively narrow and windy canal is best done at a slow pace anyway..

Back at Norton Junction, we passed the New Inn, where we had spent an enjoyable evening the night before.

An then onto our first experience of a tunnel.. The 1800 metre Braunston Tunnel. Torches were ready, lights on, and in we went. I had read all sorts about going through tunnels. About how you can get disorientated and start to steer left and right rather than going straight. About not looking up the vent holes as you will loose the built-up "night vision". But I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought. There is a slight kink in the middle of the tunnel, but I could always see the far end. We went slow and steady, and about 30 minutes later, we were out the other side.

Ominous looking tunnel entrance. Hope we don't meet another boat in there!

Can juuusst see the other end - looks like the light of another boat coming towards you. Gets very dark. And was damn cold!

Moored up at Braunston

We made it through the locks at Braunston, just as they were closing it all up for the day (at 2.30).. Once again, we had been lucky at getting in just in time. We moored up and went in the various shops to buy some milk and maps of the new route we were going to take.. 

Beautifully engineered bridges at the entrance to Braunston Marina. Lovely looking working boat in there too.

Having bought a clutch of maps, and ice-creams, off we went again, turning onto the Oxford Canal, the wind picked up and blew the map I had bought a few minutes earlier into the canal... I could have slammed it into reverse, waited for us to come to a stop, reverse, and try and fish it out.. But, knowing the propensity for the front of the boat to swing off in exactly the direction you would rather it wouldn't take when doing this type of emergency manoeuvre, and seeing as there were boats moored either side, I thought it sensible to just accept the loss, and keep going, and concentrate on not driving into anything!

The rest of the afternoon was lockless, so easy cruising, interspersed with meeting boats coming the other way, usually halfway round sharp bends, or just at a bridge, where only one can go through at a time.. Lots of traffic! (Well, compared to what we had become accustomed to on the rivers). That night we moored up just above the three locks at Hillmorton. We could have gone through, but it was 6pm, and we thought that was probably enough for the day. By the time we had cooked dinner, walked the dog, and done the washing up it was 8.30, and time for an early night. It can be surprisingly knackering this boating business, we were finding out!

Moored up at Hillmorton Top Lock

The next morning, we were up at 6.30, ready for an early start, and hoping to get through the locks before the astonishingly slow boat we had been following the day before. It was so slow, we had to go into reverse to slow ourselves down from tick over speed a few times. It seems there is no etiquette for overtaking. Disappointingly, it seems boaters don't tend to pull over and let others past if they want to enjoy a leisurely pace either. With a long 70ft boat, we had found that it is often far easier to steer when going at a reasonable pace, but at tick over, it becomes a real pig to steer, as there simply isn't enough water going over the rudder to make much of a force to change the heavy boats course. Small boats probably have an easier time at slow speeds. Furthermore, we have effectively got a 280 square foot sail, and you also need to go at a reasonable pace or you simply get blown to one side of the canal by the wind.

On walking the dog, though, my heart sank... Vandals had been busy in the night, and completely drained the two pounds between the locks. Thats a lot of water to loose, and I thought it would take a long time to replace it. A phone call to British Waterways had workmen there by 8am sorting the situation out. By 9am, we were going through. I was really very impressed indeed with this level of service. I don't mind paying £800 for a licence if this is the result!

Middle pound at Hillmorton Locks. Vandals had broken into a boat, nicked a windlass and opened the lock paddles in the night.

We were soon at Rugby, and went through the very nicely lit Newbold tunnel. This was short, at only 250 metres. Mooring at a Tescos, we stocked up, and the skies darkened. It was turning colder. The week before it had been 23 degrees. It was now down to 8 degrees and getting colder. The rain started.. The umbrella came out! We moored at Nuneaton that night. 

Newbold Tunnel in Rugby

Moored on the Coventry Canal at Nuneaton

The next morning, it had been forecast to snow. Yeah - right! It hadn't rained in 6 weeks, had been 18+ degrees for the past 2 weeks. Snow?!! .... Ah, yes, snow.. In fact, a blizzard! The umbrella went up. A few minutes later, it blew inside out, and it came down. We froze. It was going to be a long day. We had to do the 11 locks of the Atherstone flight, and get on to Polesworth if we were going to stand a chance of getting to Fradley for the session on Thursday evening.

Here comes the (much needed) rain...

Here comes the Snow!! Not fun driving in the wind-chill of -3 degrees! 

We got to Atherstone, and had a decent lunch in a pub at the top of the flight, trying to warm ourselves up. The wind had died down, the snow gone, and it was now just very cold and drizzly. We decided to press on. The flight took around 2 hours to get down, but most of the locks were set in our favour, and Sam was helping by closing one half of the V-gates, which speeded things up. It was bloody freezing though, and we wished for a quick and easy run into Polesworth. The moorings were all taken when we got there, so we made do on a bend just after the bridge. After warming our hands on cups of tea, we set off in search of a pub with a warm fire and some grub...

An hour later, we had figured that none eats out in Polesworth unless its in an Indian. Sam doesn't like spicy food, and Nicky wasn't in the mood for that either. One pub smelt so much of cannabis, we decided that we wouldn't even wait to see if they did food - not really a place for a 7 years old! Chinese take-away it was, with a bottle of red in front of our own fire.. The morning brought slightly warmer weather, and the rain had stopped. It wasn't warm - still only 5 or 6 degrees, but a more inviting day was in prospect.

The next morning at Polesworth

The first stretch was quiet, and we were putting along at what I thought was a decent pace, when I looked behind and there was a canoeist struggling through our wake.. "Do you want to come past?" "Yes Please" - having been annoyed at being held up myself before, I thought I'd ask. We slowed down to reduce the wake, and pulled over, and he shot past! Guess he wasn't pushing 18 tonnes! 

Overtaken by a canoe..

Traffic was starting to build by late morning, and just before Alvechurch, we had to wait for about 20 minutes to get through a bridge. Must have been a flotilla of hire-boats picking up their new accommodation for the week.

Alvechurch

 Progressing onto the Birmingham and Frazely, we started to spot quite a few other Norton Canes boats.. Often we weren't too quick at getting the camera, but we saw Malleous, a couple of others I can't remember the names of, then finally were ready with the camera for Railay (1086) and Montmorency (1089).

Loving the name plate.. Need to do something similar for Rivendell.

Montmorency, no.1089. Not named on Norton Canes Register.

Our boat, 1017, moored at Fradley Junction.

Our dog, Rosie, moored at Fradley Junction.

Inside the Swan Inn, deep in the cellar. Waiting for "tea' to arrive.

The evening was great. We met up with fellow folkies and boaters, Val and John, who were on their boat Tickie. The folk session was good, with around 10 or so musicians turning up. I had quite a few beers, and sat back and relaxed. Sam found some friends, and went off playing. All happy! The next morning, Val took me to the local train station, and I got a train back to Northampton to pick up the car. We had to go back to Norfolk, as Nicky had a gig.

It took an hour by train back to Northampton, and an hour and 20 to get from Billing back to Fradley by car.... This had taken us 6 days by canal! You can see why trains and roads won out! As I returned, Nicky had some horrific news. One of Ouse Washes members husbands, Matt, had been killed in a motorcycle accident the evening before. I really liked Matt. He was a fellow spanner wielder, and was into Landys, bikes and computers. I had shared many an hour talking engines with him over the years, and on one occasion even several bottles of whiskey! His poor, poor family. He was only 41. A car just pulled out in front of him. A mistake with the most terrible consequences. The pit of my stomach churned. I cried. Life is so fragile. Oh my goodness - what is the sense in this?

Today I went to the spot. Its only a mile from our house. There was nothing to mark the spot, but dried blood. I laid two spanners in the shape of a cross. I'm not religious, but it seemed the right thing to do. I can't see why anyone could believe in religion in this type of situation. A good, honest, loving husband and father was taken by someone just not paying attention. Its just not right.

Rest in Peace, Matt. Great man.