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| Why? |
We had two choices at Napton Junction. EITHER stick with the teamed
Grand Union Canal – Main Line and the Oxford Canal OR turn to Port and be on
the one and the same Grand Union Canal-Main Line cruising in the direction of
Birmingham. This opens up the possibility of turning on to the Stratford Canal
at Kingswood Junction. We turned to Port.
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| Paddle going down |
We are loving this Canal. There is little boat traffic and the Canal
width is generous in comparison to the Oxford Canal. It is fit for wide beam
boats but I've not seen any on the move, only a few moored ones on home
moorings. The locks allow two Narrowboats. We had luck at the first of 2
flights of 9 locks to share the space. The people were newbies on boats and had
loaned a relative’s boat for a holiday week. The Lock paddles are hydraulic and
take a lot of muscle to get them moving. 22 ½ rotations to fully wind up a
paddle. I have a painful memory of working the Hatton Flight in 2011 and I was
determined not to let history repeat itself. I found that having a wide base of
support (feet well apart) and bending my knees as I rocked with each
turn of the windlass made a difference. I have been told that the lock takes 2
minutes longer to fill or empty if only one paddle is wound up. The gates are
steel (not wood) and heavy, and the ‘bum’ push can be cold and wet depending on weather conditions and time of day.
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| Strike a pose. |
The rural scenery is stunning and inviting with plenty of public
footpaths to wander along away from the Canal. The blackberries are abundant
and there is no excuse for not picking them for compost, jam, pie....! I say
compost with a tongue in cheek memory of a friend who was not a linguist. The
word ‘compôte’ didn’t fall
off the tip of his tongue but he could swallow ‘compost’ with ease.
Our first overnight stop back on the Grand Union was at Itchington, a
pleasant village adjoining Long Itchington where the steel shell of Nb DolcieBlue
had been fabricated at Colecraft. Next day a friend met us on the Canal and to
take the cruise and the 9 locks to Leamington Spa. A couple of Lock tales from
that day....
1. We had been told there were two abandoned Bull
Mastiff dogs at one of the Fosse locks. The boater I had talked to said she left
a phone message to report the dogs to the local Animal Services. We arrived at
that Lock and saw the dogs on the far side of the Lock taking an interest in
the boat activity. We kept Della on board and felt sad for the ‘abandoned’
dogs. Chris threw them some dog food and I kept out of the way working the
lock. Next day Chris managed to contact Animal Services to express his concern
and request they tell him the outcome of their investigation of this matter. A
happy ending... the dogs were owned by a local farmer and the dogs had found a
gap in the fence where they could get to the Lock! The farmer will repair the
fence and ensure the dogs wore collars.
2. Arriving at another Lock we
found the bottom gate open and a Boater roaming around the top of the Lock
asking us if we would wait for another boat at the Water Point, below and
beyond, filling up with water. We said “No.” Filling up with water is not
always a 10 minute task. The Boater was miffed and thought we were being
unreasonable. We guessed where the Water Point was located, in the distance,
and could see no sign of boat movement. The Boater decided to take the Lock leaving
us with instructions to tell the other boat crew he would wait for them at the next Lock. 30
minutes later we were down the Lock and moving along the Canal. Our assumed
spot for the Water Point was wrong. In fact it was further along and the boat
was still filling up with water! I shouted out the other Boater’s message. A
puzzled expression greeted me.
We tied up for a few days in Leamington Spa. What a nice town it is, great Gardens with
Squirrel tv for Della and the quietness of the Canal didn’t encourage us to
change moorings in a hurry. There was a small cafe run by people from Portugal
and I had fun speaking my country Portuguese. I couldn’t resist eating an all time
favourite of mine from Portugal - Pasteis de Nata- (Custard Tart, yum).
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| Cape of Good Hope |
We moved DB to a good position on the outskirts of
Leamington, for a couple of days, and close to Warwick. The advantage was a selection of supermarkets
and some friendly gongoozlers. We had been recommended to go to ‘The Cape of
Good Hope’ a Kiwi owned and managed Pub at the top of the two Locks in the
direction of Warwick. So we moved on a quiet Sunday afternoon and we were fortunate to get a prime mooring
outside the Pub. Much easier than carrying Della across the Lock Gate to the
Tow path side.
A sunny clear blue sky, the following day, encouraged an early move. We were planning to do the 21 Locks, known as the Hatton Flight
later in the week but decided that should a boat with more than one person
aboard turn up we would ‘team’ up! A brief reverse up the Saltisford Arm, in
Warwick, to visit the Sanitary Station and an attempt to moor in the shallow
waters by the Grand Union Tow path to
eat breakfast saw us arrive early at the bottom Lock of the Hatton Flight. I had time to get my breakfast cereal in its bowl but eating it was another matter.
A boat had arrived soon after we had moored up, we agreed to go up together and next thing they were on the move and entering the Lock! As luck would have it the crew on this boat Nb W. Anchor were being joined by 4 willing friends to lighten their journey up the flight! Yes they were fabulous and we sped through Lock after Lock. Again, little Lock traffic and we caught up with a holiday boat who happily let us move ahead of them. In an ideal world they could have teamed up with a boat, that was 2 Locks ahead! At Lock 13, it felt like we were on a downward slope in an upwardly mobile way. 8 more Locks is more than manageable.
I remember the 19th Lock from Nb Avalon Mist days. I hurt so much
at that Lock, I couldn’t even wind my windlass. This trip had not physically
hurt me. This time we were waiting for an “old Lady” reported by the Volunteers
who was coming down the 2 Locks, ahead of us, in her boat. That was misrepresentation
by the Volunteers. It turned out the “old Lady” was a 63 year old woman who was
travelling on her own. Luckily she was paired with a boat with 2 people aboard
(Australians) and she had the Volunteers on her side.
The available moorings at the top of the Flight are
in the shade of the tree covered hill side and we decided to move on to find a
sunnier spot which was past the next bridge. Lovely countryside but the noise
from the nearby railway line meant moving on the next day. I did make time to
collect blackberries and yellow plums. Being a responsible dog owner means I always
have a bag handy!
A move the next day through the Shrewley Tunnel and we have found an idyllic spot looking over fields in Warwickshire.
Chris went
and collected our car from Mercia Marina and we will rest here for a few weeks. The Stratford Canal
is about 2 miles away. A cruise to Bancroft Basin had been the plan as Della is
booked in for a 'groom' in Stratford-upon-Avon. But we will drive!!
