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Day 52 – (much later)
The final day was rather uneventful. I went through the all the locks to Godmanchester with Nick, then U-turned onto the town moorings for lunch while he carried on. It rained on and off during the morning though I managed to dodge most of it passing through the locks during dry spells and closing Seren’s … Read more »
Day 51 – Teaching Ducks to Fly
I walked to the petrol station in Outwell shortly after 7.00 and it was already getting hot. Walking back carrying 10l of diesel in a steel can was getting hard when a car stopped and gave me a lift. So plenty of fuel to complete the trip. The run from Outwell to Salter’s Lode was … Read more »
Day 50 – Middle Level Blues
Yesterday I booked passage through Stanground lock at 10.00 so first I went to the sanitary station in Peterborough, possibly the dirtiest sluice I have ever seen and only a little over 12 months since it was installed. Then to Asda for some veg for a curry. From peterborough Embankment it’s about 10-15 minute cruise … Read more »
Day 49 – Peterborough
Oundle to Peterborough isn’t that hard but the extremely hot weather didn’t help. The map shows an EA water point at Fotheringhay so that was my first target. Fotheringhay is a very pretty and posh village with plenty of mooring space. All of it chargeable, £5 per night, £2.50 short stop and even £2 to … Read more »
Day 48 – Down to Oundle
I phoned EA at 8.00 and the river manager Ian Cook told me he needed to speak to te engineers, and they weren’t on site yet so he had no news. Phone back at 1pm. So I went for a walk to Woodford village. It’s one of those chocolate box villages that Northants seems to … Read more »
Day 47 – I’ve had better
Cruising slowly out of White Mills everything felt great. The water in the marina is clear and deep, Seren’s prop had been cleared, the cooling system was gurgling nicely. And then we came out onto the river. Or ditch. Shallow and very weedy. There are six locks from White Mills to Wellingborough and I was … Read more »
Day 46 – Sarah & Family Visit
I’d arranged to meet Sarah & family at Weston Favell lock, near Northampton Boat Club. Last year we organised a meeting at lock by a club and although the club had visitor moorings it had no provision for visitors arriving by car. This time I stopped on the Washlands Mooring which is accessible by the … Read more »
Day 45 – Northampton Arm
The Northampton Arm of the Grand Union is an oddity. It’s narrow unlike the main line but apes some of the main line design details, particularly the locks. Most narrow locks have walkways, planks basically, on the downhill side of the double lock gates so when you open one you can stride across to open … Read more »
Day 44 – Familiar Territory
I woke up early this morning but couldn’t leave until the Braunston Locks opened at 9.00. So I did some cleaning, swept the carpet, cleaned out the cockpit which gets messy with me climbing in and out all the time. Even cleaned the shower and handbasin. And the cooker. At about 8.50 I started the … Read more »
Day 43 – Back to the GU
From Hawksbury Junction to Braunston is 22 miles and three locks (not counting Sutton Stop I did yesterday. The Oxford canal continues to wind along the contour line, only occasionally resorting to cuttings and embankments and a short tunnel at Newbold just north of Rugby. From the canal Rugby appears to be a small village … Read more »