We said farewell to our friends and continued up Buckby flight on our own.
The bottom locks were scheduled to start winter repairs from 6th to 17th and we knew our route onward had closures at Stockton until 17th so we weren’t in any hurry. We liked the view of this house below top lock and knowing the forecast was iffy, we settled in for a few days.
And oh boy did it turn miserable
Then to our horror, we discovered that, in their wisdom, CRT had decided to chain up the top lock despite it not being included on published closure. Pretty though it was, we weren’t prepared for another 10 days stuck there.
To be fair, CRT didn’t want anyone descending the flight, but surely a poster on the lockgate would have sufficed. We weren’t the only boats moored below top lock not expecting to be imprisoned. Luckily CRTs yard is right there and we found the man with the key who let us out. That 20 minute cruise was more than enough with snow falling. And it wasn’t long before we were snug under a snowy duvet.
a bit of blue sky would have made for a better postcard.
Which is what we woke to the next morning
We were expecting to meet up with some more boaty friends coming down the Leicester branch so we enjoyed another day on the Norton Junction waiting for them.
