Grand Union canal – Narrowboat Firecrest

Sharing the load

Turning right at Wigrams, onto the Warwick and Napton canal section of the Grand Union is a good place to have friends. The next 21 miles has 46 double locks, and pretty though it may be, it’s hard work without a crew, at this time of year, there are usually other boaters to share the load.

We struck lucky, making friends with a party of Australian men who had left their wives back home and come to explore the UK by narrowboat. Our heritage is certainly something to be proud of.

I hope that, if and when HS2 ever gets completed it will mellow into the countryside again just before Radford Semole

It will mellow and the trees will grow again, but I doubt it will last as long as our fabulous canal network. We said goodbye to our aussies who wanted to get to Warwick to visit Castle. We decided to have a few days in Royal Leamington Spa. Leamington is an odd place, you don’t see it at its best from the canal, although there’s some amazing street art

The town itself grew up around its mineral spring, when taking the waters became a fashionable cure all in the early 1800s. (Apparently the waters were actually a mild laxative so no wonder you felt well cleansed) Parks, promenades and bandstands with fabulous floral displays were created to entertain the visitors but despite the arrival of the railway, bringing more wealthy victorians, this prosperous period didn’t last. And nowadays its sadly rundown although the local council seem keen to maintain the gardens now, so it’s still a pretty place to walk around.

A Japanese Lantern flower in the glass house

Leamington and Warwick are so close, they seem to merge into one with only the River Avon between the two.

We’ve moored in Warwick before on the Saltisford Arm, but not this trip

The Saltisford Arm, well worth £10 a night to moor if you want to explore Warwick

We’d had the offer of a helping hand from my friend Jude

who was keen and eager to help us up the Hatton flight, so we set off straight away.

I’m not sure if Jude realised what she’d volunteered for but we never say no to sharing the load.

As we keep reminding ourselves, it’s cheaper than going to the gym

It’s a great sense of satisfaction when you reach the dragonfly pond,

Glad we don’t meet any dragonfly that big for real

Although there’s still 3 more of the 21 locks to go.
The Hatton Flight was opened in 1799 as part of the Warwick and Birmingham canal. Not only did it carry coal but also tea sugar and spices were being brought to Birmingham, it was hard work for the boatmen but it became known as the Stairway to Heaven because they knew that once they reached Camp Hill in Birmingham they would get paid. In the 1930s the unification of the network incorporated as part of the Grand Union canal and the decision was made to improve capacity by widening the single locks to double width. Not only was it unusual for canals to be improved like this, the new locks were unusual because they were built out of that revolutionary new material, concrete. Economic and efficient the new flight might have been, you’d have thought those engineers would have spared a thought for us leisure boaters, who don’t get paid at the top of the flight.

Those fellas don’t look like it’s too much of a struggle

Unless you count the evening view as a reward. Thankyou Jude, your help was very much appreciated, it was lovely to spend time with you and also to meet your family.

Looking down the Hatton flight towards the castle

And just thrown in for good measure, I’ve also squeezed in a flying visit back home to Suffolk to check out the view from my back garden.

Spitting distance

After sitting down last December and deciding to purchase a gold licence so we could spend the summer in East Anglia, we are on the final few days of our very protracted and frustrating journey, we set off with spring in the air and a spring in our step.

Only to have it clouded over by the time we reached Gayton Junction. We picked up some fuel from Blisworth Marina, (about 15pl cheaper than nearby marinas ) and off we set up the Northampton arm.

Gayton Junction going onto the Northampton Arm

Only 17 locks down

The first 12 are a flight so easy for Eric and I to work as a team, I set the lock, he cruises in, whilst I walk on to set the next one, by the time he’s let the water out I’m usually back in time to close up as he cruises on. And thankfully there’s only one lift bridge which is usually raised.

And as we were working our way down the flight, my adventurous Sister in Law was in South America ticking off her bucket list visiting the Iguaçu falls in Brazil, Lock 9 did its best to impress….

There’s some interesting art work along the 5 miles between Gayton Junction and Northampton

And the M1 motorway thunders overhead .

And another friend was visiting Chelsea Flower show as we made our way down the flight. Sometimes simple is just as good.

And we made it. Well almost, the heavens opened just as we reached Cotton End in Northampton, which is still on the canal, and under CRTs management and there were rings so we moored up. Our final, lock, Lock 17 is within spitting distance . Once the rain stopped we thought we would take a walk up to the Marina office and talk to the Enviroment Agency about river etiquette, buy ourselves the required access key, and prepare our anchor etc ready for the River Nene after a good nights sleep…..

This is a trip of 165 miles, 1½ furlongs and 137 locks from Macclesfield Visitor Moorings (Pontoons) to Northampton Lock No 17. And had we cruised for 7 hours a day (which admittedly we wouldn’t even contemplate let alone achieve) we could have done it in a fortnight. (Screenshot swiped from AC Canal plan)

Packwood House

We don’t take advantage of our National Trust membership as often as we should but Packwood House in Lapworth was a mere 20 minute stroll from our mooring. The sun was shining so off we set.

Moored just below the Drawbridge farm lift bridge

Originally built in the 1500s this grade 1 listed manor house fell into neglect until it was bought and restored by Graham Baron Ash in the 1920s. He donated it to the NT in the 1940s. Baron (his name not a title) continued to live there until he moved out to Wingfield Castle taking a fair bit of the best stuff with him. However, as with a lot of this magnificent old buildings the bathrooms remain and continue to fascinate us.

oh to be able to soak in a bath like that

Baron had been a keen traveller and great collector of things that pleased him. And nowadays the volunteers bubble over with enthusiasm to share their knowledge of the artefacts. We particularly liked this intricate lacquered chest.

And the great hall that had been transformed from the cattle byre into the party annex

But you had better behave yourselves because you were being watched

However Packwood is known most for is the Yew garden.

From the entrance its very imposing and formal , but once you’re inside, its quite surreal, we felt like characters from Alice in wonderland walking through a giant chess game. The oldest trees date back from the 1600’s, but alas they are showing their age and a lot of work is being done to restore and repair the garden.

impossible to capture without swiping a photo from the NT website

But grand though the yew trees were, you can’t beat a field of daffodils

Decisions, Decisions…

Decisions decisions
which way should we go to Birmingham,

Plan A- carry straight on up the Grand Union Canal via Knowle and Aston Junction exploring a new stretch of water

Plan A to carry on up the Grand Union canal

No, it looks like Plan B via Lapworth

Or Plan B turn left onto the Stratford Canal

We’d heard a rumour about a stoppage along planned route A so decided not to risk it. And besides, choosing route B cut 11 locks off our total journey. Despite the mindless graffiti on the bridge, Kingswood junction is a very pretty place with the Kingswood link branch joining the Stratford upon Avon Canal.

And the Stratford canal is all single locks

I know I’m a bit obsessed about the number of locks we’re doing, but that’s my achy muscles talking and I knew there were 19 to get to the top of the Lapworth flight. But as if to encourage me, the clouds dispersed and spring sunshine spurred us on.

This is the route we took last year coming south on our way to the Thames. And the Lapworth flight is where my phone took a leap in for a swim, never to be seen again, it didn’t stop me peering into the infamous lock 8 just in case I could rescue it.

surprise surprise the naughty phone remains in Navy Jones’s Locker. So we were able to marvel at some of the interesting historical structures instead. The bridges on the Stratford canal are metal and split to allow traditional horse drawn boats to pass through efficiently. On Bridge 32 there is a rotating wheel that helps guide the pulling ropes from one side of the canal to the other as the towpath changes side.

We made it up to Lapworth top lock and settled in to enjoy a few days of sunshine at Hockley Heath.

And the prospect of more than 20 miles without any more locks.

Helping hands at Hatton

With the mighty Hatton Flight looming ahead of us and with the prospect of company we didn’t linger to enjoy the delights of Royal Leamington Spa. For such a historic Georgian spa town, the canal through Leamington is a bit of a perfunctory back water. At one point we wondered if we would actually get through when we saw this leviathan looming ahead. Ok, we knew we’d fit, but there wasn’t clearance for a similar 14foot widebeam to pass. We really don’t know how they would have handled that situation.

Nice to live in, just not ideal to cruise in

The mile or so between Leamington and Warwick is a gift for boaters with Morrisons, Lidl and Tesco all having mooring right outside. We languished at Lidl whilst the passing storm clouds attempted to deal with the water shortages

myton visitor mooring, (aka outside Lidl)

We cruised through Warwick only stopping one night. Another place where the canal is not valued as an asset to the town if the state of the towpath is anything to go by. Until you get to the Hatton Flight, which is a real gem for gongoozlers and historians. Although boaters know it as the Stairway to Heaven because 21 double locks is such hard work. We struck lucky, no rain and finding ourselves a lock buddy to start the day.

We’d planned to moor up on the armco after the fourth lock so our family could join us, but the lock keeper told us to moor after the eleventh, on the bollards at Asylum Wharf. We were a bit reluctant because it was the lock landing, and it’s not good etiquette, but he assured us traffic was light and he’d make sure the gates were open so if anyone came through they wouldn’t need to stop. And a spectacular view

Heather and Ant were just passing through so they stayed for breakfast and we were on our way an hour later

I cant think why, but they didn’t offer to crew for us up the remaining 10 locks but we had another secret weapon. Friends who live locally. Ironically because of how well maintained the flight is, and the willing volunteer lockies, we flew up the remaining locks in super fast time

and James only arrived in time to do the last 3 locks, but never the less, we set him to work.

As his reward, he was allowed to take the helm as we cruised

on through the haunted Shrewley tunnel.

All in all we’d had a fantastic day, all our stars aligned

5 miles, 21 double locks, 1 tunnel and 2 lots of visitors- we slept well that night.

Sharing the load

There’s a lorra lorra locks between us and Liverpool, which is our summer goal. From Norton Junction, its 228 miles and 229 locks into Salthouse dock . We’re not planning the most direct route, this way we can call in on friends and experience a new canal on the journey.

So far we’ve done about 20 miles and 29 locks But thanks to delays with overrunning maintenance its already taken us just over 2 weeks, Perhaps we need to make some friends in Long Itchingham, who seem to have learnt something we haven’t.

However we have enjoyed our journey so far, sharing every single one of these heavy double locks. The Cheeky Pig did the Stockton flight with us.

and the guys who had been repairing the locks were happy to take a break from clearing up their equipment to help us on our way.

I doubt they’re going to sort the tow path out though.

We moored up by the Two Boats at Long Itchingham,

home to Colecraft boat builder, and a pretty village. Of course we’d rather not have the need for these, but its nice to see a contempory war memorial remembering our fallen.

Snatching a gap in the wind and the rain we completed our journey into Leamington under the watchful eye of Rudi and his crew on The Vicount.

Happily trundling slowly along the canals, preserving this gentle way of life, as HS2 looms large at Longhole, by Bridge 31

next stop Hatton Flight, anyone want to come along for the ride, we’ll be going up in the world. (And I have a plentiful supply of bacon butties)

Artists at Work

It was time to move on from central Milton Keynes, so we took our time visiting some of the places we had been in 2017/18. Our first stop was for lunch at the Camphill cafe, just 5 minutes off the towpath. It’s always a pleasure to support ventures like this, where people with learning disabilities are supported and valued. Not only does the cafe serve great lunches, but there are several well run workshops on the site. Of course I was fascinated by the weaving shed and treated myself to a bag made from the fabric they had made. We also bought some very tasty bread and a jar of their honey.

It seems like MK likes to encourage its artists, and we took some time walking the Gyosei Art trail.

Just some of the art along the towpath from the gyosei trail

Whilst we were feeling so creative, we had the opportunity to meet up with a friend of mine who lives close enough to join us on board for a knit and natter

And I proudly showed off my latest completed project, This Icelandic sweater is a gift for someone else, but you can bet I’ll be making something similar for me and Eric.

We moored in almost the same place as we had experienced our first real winter on the canal, in March 2018 when “The Beast from the East” stopped us in our tracks

Hoping we’ve had had our quota of being frozen in already this year, and i suspect Jules feels the same.

Meandering through Milton Keynes

For many people Milton Keynes means concrete cows and roundabouts. But we’ve seen them before in 2018-when we got frozen in during the beast from the east, now for us, it’s about 15 miles of cruising around 2 sides of a square from Fenny Stratford through to Cosgrove. Ironically, its where we thought we would be for Christmas but getting frozen in at Leighton Buzzard put paid to that plan. And we were still struggling with ice at the beginning of February. Milton Keynes means ice to us.

But at least we had reached Campbell Park, closest to MK central. Milton Keynes was a Roman settlement, which in the 1967 became the biggest and last of the New Towns planned specifically to house the London overflow. Sadly for the older people of Buckinghamshire continued development has seen the surrounding villages swallowed up and when MK was granted city status in 2022, it covered more than 120 square miles. There are many who don’t like Milton Keynes but we suspect that a lot of those people have never actually visited the area and believe its urban sprawl focused on cars. We would disagree, there are 215 miles of dedicated footpaths. no one lives more than half a mile from access to the 5000 acres of parkland.

Admittedly some of the housing estates are the worst 1960s construction imaginable and there’s a general atmosphere of squalor and neglect, but there are just as many very attractive areas. Although we’re not sure how this property got planning permission in the middle of the shopping centre.

Its a lovely walk from the canal up to the centre, through Campbell park, theres a lot of impressive art work

the Light Pyramid, Chain Reaction and Onwards and Upwards

But we liked the lawn mowers the most

and no park is complete without flowers

Although the Milton Keynes Rose is a commemorative art installation, not a floral display, marking the serious and not so

We can never resist trying to see a place from the highest elevation so we took the lift up to the 14th floor of the Hotel la Tour to look down over Campbell park. Eric said it was too early in the day for cocktails….

Looking forward to some warmer days and being able to cruise a bit more now.

Not quite the Christmas we had expected

After enjoying the magic of snow and ice for over 2 weeks Eric went down with a stinking cold, two days later so did I… except it wasn’t a just a cold. After 2 years of escaping the dreaded Covid, it finally caught us. Being fully vaccinated, were leading pretty much our normal lifestyle, and to be honest we were surprised that we hadnt already had it. We’d had the odd snuffle, but each time I tested it came back negative. But there was something about the pounding headache accompanying this cold that prompted me to reveal the double line.

As luck would have it, knowing a thaw in the ice was imminent and we might be moving on, I had walked up to M&S and done a big Christmas food shop. I’d splashed out on some of their part cooked range and plenty of little nibbly bits, all with good use by dates. The only thing I’d forgotten to get was brussel sprouts, but it was only the 20th so there was plenty of time….

But it wasn’t to be. Covid knocked us for 6, the temperatures went up and the rain came down, the debris thrown onto the ice held on for as long as possible, whilst we retired under the duvet feeling sorry for ourselves.

It might have been a game for the kids, but theres going to be a lot of rubbish in the cut to foul our prop

And we can’t even say there was anything worth watching on tv this year. Our biggest worry was that we had just come through 2 weeks of water rationing. Using the local launderette and enjoying a swim and a shower at the leisure centre, making sure our tank lasted longer than our period of being frozen in. But even now, if we had felt well enough to move, morally, we felt it our duty not to go outside and share our germs, so yet again we were grateful that Firecrest had been built with a large water tank as we eeked out our supply to last another week. Fortunately fuel hadn’t been an issue during the freeze. Juel’s had delivered just as the ice was forming and then they also got stuck. But they were going past us a week after Eric succumbed so he masked up, unlocked the fuel cap and retreated back inside whilst they topped up the diesel. (£1.32l)

And once the awful headache had passed I was able to get on with knitting my Christmas gnome.

Christmas Day was very subdued, Santa Claus hadn’t been able to do his usual stuff but we still managed an orange and a chocolate to start the day

And Id found something suitable for us to drink with lunch

We finally felt fit enough to make it to the water point on 27th. That was exactly 28 days since we last filled up. We reckon we could have managed another day or two, but my temperament was sorely frayed at not being able to have a proper wash. Good job we didn’t have much of a sense of smell

We’re now looking forward to a new year. Taking things easy cause we still feel washed out.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Dreaming of a White Christmas
Moving closer to town was a good move because as the temperatures dropped , the ice got thicker and we became well and truly stuck fast. Ironically when the ice is thinner it feels worse, because as it moves we hear the cracking, creaking and groaning as it moves against the hull. We try to smash the ice that’s close around the boat to give us a bit of wriggle room to float freely in but we were fighting a loosing battle.

We could tell it was getting colder because the hoar frost was looking so pretty.

And then we woke up to snow.

Of course I wanted to go out to play instantly, but it was barely a few inches deep, if that.

the rough ground made it difficult to build a snowman so I gave up and walked into town instead

Leighton Buzzard is a pretty town, with a good market on Tuesdays and Saturdays and at this time of year the salvation army band are playing carols as well.

But of course its always nice to come back to a snug warm boat

Amanda came for a visit as she lives reasonably close

An ideal opportunity to go for a pub lunch at The Grove and a catch up

The forecast is set to warm up drastically, so its unlikely that we’ll get our white Christmas, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s still too much ice in the canal for us to break free

But its been lovely place to stay.