The End of our 2019 Season

So, here we are at the end of our 2019 season.

On Monday we travelled from Gayton to Stowe Hill in the dry but with rain setting in at lunchtime we stayed put for the afternoon. Another cosy afternoon in front of the fire and a good book!

Our journey to Braunston was trouble free in the company of two different boats. It  is always good to share these big double locks with heavy gates. The weather was dull but the rain stayed off.

We have spent our last couple of nights on the water at our favourite moorings, one of which is south of Braunston , and the other is in the 'wilderness' between Napton and Fenny, where  we have been treated to a beautiful sunset across these vast open skies.

We head into Fenny Marina tomorrow morning after a very mixed season which has left us with some interesting memories. We have travelled through 550 locks and clocked up 360 engine hours since we set off at the end of April and today Hunters Moon clocked up 5000 engine hours.

Back on the Canals

We are very pleased to be back on more predictable waterways as we progress off the Nene at Northampton and make our way up the 17 Locks on the Northampton  Arm of the Grand Union.

We are both full of cold so decide to stop early, light the fire and settle in for a cosy evening of 'Strictly'.

Rain, rain and more rain on Sunday so we stay put.

Whilst we were stuck on the Nene ( for 10 days) we had signed up to the EA flood line, which automatically messages SSA info for the river. At 2.30pm on Sunday afternoon we received a message to say the river was closed again! Thank goodness we got off when we did!

Moving at last

It has been a very long and frustrating week but at last the Strong Stream Advice has been lifted and we have made it back to Northampton. Unfortunately,  the weather was dreadful for our dash to get off the river before another possible closure of the Nene due to heavy rain. Strong and very gusty winds and heavy rain showers were our constant companions during the 8 hour journey through 13 locks. We were very pleased to get moored at the end of a tiring day.

Frustration

No heavy rain for several days has bought the river levels and flow down. However, although we made the short trip from Irthlingborough to Wellingborough in calm  conditions  and gentle locks the Strong Stream Advice is still in place. Apparently, it won't be lifted until the whole river has settled down for 36 hours! Very frustrating since conditions, where we are and towards Northampton, are normal.  If it wasn't for Doddington Lock being reversed, the Environment Agency's method of water control on the Nene, which is situated two locks up river from us, we would be able to move on.

More heavy rain is forecast for Sunday so the stoppage will not be cleared over the weekend and we just have to wait and see the effect of the rain on the water levels. More rain next week as well. Fed up!

Meanwhile, we have water here and can empty Elsan and rubbish so we are much more human now.  There is a Tesco,  Lidl, Halford,  Dunelm, B&Q and various other retail shops close by so no problem with provisions.

Debris brought down on the strong current

Our neighbours in Wellingborough 

This is just some. 

There are loads of them!

Mainly good tempered and well fed

The biggest down side of this mooring is the noise. Whitworths Mill works 24/7 and the  massive extractor fan is right opposite Hunters Moon. There is are very light flour dust in the air and Hunters Moon may well end up inside a  Wellington crust!

Stranded!

Well, as we have said before our plans are what makes God laugh!

We were making good, if rather slow progress, against a strong flow of water, especially on the approach to locks, never expecting to see an ominous red warning board at our selected overnight mooring. It was a Strong Stream Advice , which basically means it is dangerous to navigate any further!

After many phone calls, the number on the board being the wrong one, Sid eventually managed to speak to a human being who strongly advised us to stay put and who couldn't say how long we might be here, obviously, because it all depended on how much more rain fell!

Having not seen this possibility and planning to get to Wellingborough, where we could fill with water, get rid of rubbish and empty our Elsan tanks, we were caught out completely.
Never mind, not much we can do but make the best of it. Water rations and bucket and chuck it (back to our early sailing days) will see us through, we hope.

Fortunately,  there is a new Aldi store a short walk away so we have been able to stock up on provisions and bottled water.

We are  warm and cosy and on a safe mooring, not in any hurry and in good humour, at the moment!

Overflowing lock

Lock landing stage under water

Fast flowing rising water

Looking across to Irthlingborough

Meeting up with more 'old' friends

Yet another peaceful mooring with great panoramic views meant we slept well and we're looking forward to catching up with our very good friends, Sue and Pete. They found our mooring tucked behind the mound and remains of Fotheringhay Castle.

Our mooring from the top of the mound

We enjoyed much chat and laughter over coffee before heading off to The Falcon for lunch, which was a short walk away and to Sue ' s delight the magnificent church, St Mary the Virgin, was open so after a delicious lunch, served in the pub's conservatory which overlooks the church, we had a look around. From the outside it looks huge but on stepping inside it seems to shrink! It is a bright interior with no stained glass. Apparently, Elizabeth I had all the stained glass removed and the cloisters and a large part of the church destroyed!

St Mary the Virgin Church, Fotheringhay

Sue and Pete had planned to take us to Oundle, a pretty little town dominated by a public school, for a stroll and tea but unfortunately, the showers had turned to torrential,  heavy rain so a brief drive through was all we could manage. We did manage a cuppa but in Waitrose rather than a pretty tea room.

It was great to see these lovely people again and they departed with promises of not leaving it so long 'til we meet again.

Saturday morning and time to start our up river journey. Strong winds and waters against us meant that our 6 hour journey downriver took 7 hours of battling but Hunters Moon did well and got us safely to Thrapston and a safe and secure mooring to spend, what was forecast to be, a wet and wild night.

Thrapston

Both in need of a day off the heavy rain and gusty winds of Sunday kept us put in our dry and cosy boat.

Fotheringhay

After another wet morning the skies cleared and we enjoyed another day on this picturesque river. The sun came through and for a while we travelled past more spires under clear blue skies. The wind was strengthening all day and the rain showers, that had been forecast, soon blew through. Sid only got a little wet!

We had planned to moor overnight at moorings marked on our maps just above Ashton Lock but on our arrival we were greeted by large No Mooring signs positioned all along the bank. So, we ventured on!

An infinity lock!

We had arranged to meet good friends, Sue and Pete, at Fotheringhay on Saturday but ended the day getting there in very blustery conditions a day early. Hopefully, they can make lunch on Friday because we are keen to start our return journey upstream on Saturday. The river is running very fast and with more rain forecast it is not likely to improve. Our journey upstream is bound to take longer with the current against us and the guillotine lock gate requiring raising after we have left the lock.

We are moored beside the mound of Fotheringhay Castle, where Richard III was born and Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded.

Our mooring at Fotheringhay

Let's hope the rain stays off tomorrow long enough for us to explore a little.

Meeting 'old' Friends

Heavy rain greeted us on Tuesday morning so we had very slow start. We were due to meet 'old' friends Matt and Wendy in Wellingborough later in the day so once the rain eased a little we made our way through 3 locks just hoping the rain would keep off. It didn't!
We found the moorings in Wellingborough almost empty, which, was hardly surprising as we had seen very few boats during our trip from Northampton.

Tesco is close by so a quick top up of provisions took place before Matt and Wendy arrived.  Much chat and catching up took place having not seen each other for over 5 years, before we were driven, by Wendy, to the Stag in Great Doddington  for a most enjoyable meal with a few beers.

It is always so good to see friends on our travels.

Wednesday was a day for making progress downriver in order to meet up with more friends towards the end of the week.

This really is a lovely, relatively, narrow river which winds it's way through the county of  'squires and spires' named presumably because lots of squires live here, which we can't  attest to, but  around every bend of the river a different church spire comes into view. In fact it is reputed that from the hilltop at Wollaston 27 churches can be seen, on a clear day!

Some of the spires

On the stretch of river between Wellingborough and Thrapston we encountered our first manual guillotine locks. The lock works in exactly the same way as the automated ones except, someone, namely Jenny has to lower and raise the guillotine gate by hand, to be precise by turning the lifting wheel 90 rotations to lower the gate and another 90 rotations to lift the gate. Muscles Jenny managed the 3 manual locks encountered today  and the other 6 automated ones before we found yet another beautiful mooring for the night .

The wheel on the manual guillotine 

Heading down river from Northampton

 After a wet and miserable Sunday, when we decided to remain in Northampton and explore a bit. However, it was do miserable we didn't do much exploring but hunkered down and got cosy on Hunters Moon.

The Guildhall, Northampton

Christmas Church, Northampton

Town Lock, Northampton

Monday morning we were raring to go. The sun was shining again and we made quick work of the first three locks on the river which take us out of Northampton. Then we were faced with the first of the many  guillotine locks. These look imposing but, being automated, they are quite straightforward if a little slow.

The sun came and went and the wind picked up but we made good progress along this winding and picturesque waterway. We had joined The Friends of the River Nene before leaving, being advised that it was useful to be able to use their moorings as moorings on the river are few and far between generally. We were delighted to have received this advise when we came across a lovely mooring just upriver of Doddington Lock.

Hardwater Farm  Friends of the River Nene mooring

A good first day on the river.

Best Made Plans

As we have known many times before the best made plans can go tits up in our world on the canals !

We left our mooring opposite Gayton Marina on another bright but cool Saturday morning to face the 17 Locks, which take us down to Northampton planning to be there by lunchtime.

Waiting!

On arriving at the top lock we are met with a smiling Ben, the CRT man, with the news that one of the pounds on the flight is empty and he was closing the flight until he had managed the water. So, we made coffee, Sid did some tinkering, Jenny did some cleaning and we waited in the warming sun. It is a beautiful spot overlooking the Northamptonshire countryside in it's autumn glory.

Top Lock

Through Top Lock at last.

A picturesque flight of locks

under beautiful blue skies

About an hour and half later, Ben reappeared, having filled the flight and telling us we should be good to go but to be aware that the infamous Leon was about and would offer to help us down the flight but would ask for payment.  He is known to fleece boats of £10.00- £30.00,  which is used to fuel his evident liking for cider. Just say no!  Jenny added Thank you! He was fine about this and even closed the bottom gates of lock 2 for free!
The sun shone and it got very warm as we made steady progress down the a flight and we made good time 'til we got to lock 12! Here, on a lock sighted under the M5,  the bottom gates were open and as Jenny went to close them the nose of a boat appeared around the bend.  The skipper, having difficulty  seeing against the low sun,  dithered and was not sure whether to proceed despite Jenny waving him in. Eventually, he slowly proceeded to the awaiting open lock. He dropped his crew off to assist with the lock a made his way in. The crew informed Jenny that this was her first outing on a narrowboat so was am novice! We all have to start a some time! Although not confimed,  it also appeared that the skipper was also a novice.

Great art work by local school children

and churches, under the bridge carrying

the M1over the Northampton Arm.

Whilst all this was going on, and unbeknown to Jenny, the water in the pound, where Sid and Hunters Moon were waiting, was getting lower and lower and, when we started to fill the lock, even lower resulting in Hunters Moon getting stuck on a ledge!  This was where the main problem had been earlier, so there is obviously a problem in this pound. We had to wait for some water to be brought down from the lock above to lift HM off the ledge so she could proceed.

All in a days boating and the sun continued to shine, but time was now ticking on as we  approached lock 13 where the locks are more spread out. The final 4 locks seemed to take  an age, 2 hours to be exact and we eventually arrived in Northampton tired and very hot a lot later than expected.

The Carlsberg Brewery heralding our arrival in Northampton

We found the marina where we could purchase our licence for the River Nene so are all  ready to go.

Autumn Sunshine

Glorious, warm, autumn sunshine accompanies us as we make our way along the Grand Union Canal from Wigrams Turn, up the Baunston Locks, down the Buckby Locks and through to Gayton Junction. With cool mornings and evenings sleeping is no problem and during the first few days of our travels we feel rested and renewed.

Leaving Braunston

We paired up with Roger and Liz (from Twickenham!) and their friends, on nb Mameduke, to ascend the Braunston Locks. So with plenty of crew this was an enjoyable climb. They decided to stop for lunch at Norton Junction but having had a nibbles type of lunch on route we had made the decision to continue down the Buckby flight before stopping for the day.

A shared ownership boat had just finished taking on water and joined us for the decent. On board were the owners, an older grey haired couple, much like us, their two sons with their partners, their 18 month old grandaughter, and two beagles. Quite a boat full! However, it did mean there was plenty of muscle to work our way through the heavy locks on this flight. Jenny took advantage and did as little as possible! It was a jolly, sociable afternoon.

A busy Buckby flight

We now find ourselves, once again sitting in beautiful early evening sunshine, enjoying a gin and tonic at the top of the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union, ready to make our decent of the 17 Locks which will take us down to Northampton and then on to the River Nene (pronounced 'Nen' in these parts).

Cheers!

Narrowboats approaching on the Grand Union

Otter spotted

Travelling along a sunny Oxford Canal today we were alerted to an otter playing on the waters edge amongst the reeds.  The first we have ever seen on the cut. Sadly, he was too quick for a photo! Great to see though.

Autumn 2019

Monday 16th September

Here we go on the autumn leg of our travels.

We have had a glorious spell at home with grandchildren, family and friends keeping us busy as well as a great few days in France visiting our old narrowboat chums, Sara and Pete, who now own a Dutch steel cruiser, which they took over the Channel at the beginning of the season to cruise the French waterways.  Sadly for them,  their season has been cut short due to lack of water on many of the French canals. They made it as far as the Loire region, rather nice! However, we had a great time on board Marina and also getting to know the surrounding area under stunning blue skies and hot sun. We also sampled far too much of the local wine.

Marina moored in Briare

Back on board Hunters Moon, however, we find ourselves with overcast skies and spells of drizzle as we left Fenny Marina on Monday afternoon. The morning had been spent preparing the boat for our trip and  stocking up with provisions before setting off towards Braunston. From there we will head to Gayton Junction and on to the Northampton Arm. We are then hoping to make it as far as Peterborough.

Earth moving for HS2 alongside the Oxford Canal

As our readers know from the past these are our plans but sometimes they do not work out quite as we intended.

ps

I apologise for there being no conclusion to our summer travels on the blog. I am not at all sure why that was but rest assured we did make it back to Fenny safely after passing through Hawkesbury Junction, which appears to be the last post. The tablet on which it is typed is getting rather old and grumpy now so it might be a case of the writer also getting old and grumpy when the machine stopped working efficiently.

Hawkesbury Junction

It is Saturday afternoon at Hawkesbury Junction and we are sitting on Hunters Moon in the rain! May not even make it up to the Greyhound for a beer and the bbq is off!

A good afternoon for reading.

Meandering along

A short first day  took us to a favourite mooring outside Rugeley. We had stopped for lunch and decided to stay put. The Trent and Mersey is really busy now. It seems that there has been a great departure of boats from their marinas and moorings since we were last travelling. As we sat in the sunshine, yes that's right, sunshine, we watched boat after boat pass by in both direction.

These busy boat movements started very early the next day as well. For us it was a brief stop in Rugeley to visit Tesco  then, in the warm sunshine,  on to an offside mooring by the Armitage Shanks factory for a lunch stop.

With these very pleasant cruising conditions we chugged along to Fradley  Junction,  where we were hoping to moor. Above the locks it was chock a block, so through the locks and past the Mucky Duck, turn right onto the Coventry Canal, through the swing bridge we travelled hoping to moor along this stretch. No such luck. There were boats moored, even two breasted up, right up to bridge 91. We have never seen it quite so busy. We ventured on and we're rewarded with a pleasant sunny mooring a short way on and enjoyed our first gin and tonics this year on the back deck in beautiful, warm sunshine.

Fazeley Junction and onward tomorrow.

Return to normal.

Well, we have had a great week back home in glorious warm sunshine when we have had bbqs,  picnics, enjoyed sports days, an outdoor swimming gala, caught up with all the grandchildren and most of the children, got the garden looking reasonable and enjoyed a great, if rather hot wedding. A full on week, so returned to Hunters Moon for a rest and hopefully to enjoy the good weather, at last! Not to be it seems. The forecast is for overcast skies, and rain! We are not having much luck this year with the weather.

Anyway, we had a good journey back to Great Haywood Marina and had arranged to meet up with Dave and Val again for a meal, and a few beers, at the Clifford Arms. We caught them between their caravan trips to Wales, last month and then Norfolk in a few days time. It is great that they enjoy their caravanning as much as we enjoy our boating.

We had an extra night in the marina so Sid could do an engine service and will be off on Tuesday, heading south.

Summer at last!

Saturday 22nd June

Summer is here at last!

The sky is blue and it is warming up as we slip our lines and head for the Stourbridge flight, 16 locks. We start slowly with locks against us but at lock 8 we are met by the smiling face of John, who we came across volunteering at the Dudley Tunnels on Thursday, who had seen us coming and set the next lock and then helped us with the remaining locks. We are always so pleased to get some help and especially this morning as it was getting positively hot. There were lots of cyclists, dog walkers, families and runners enjoying the towpath today brought out by the good weather.

Entering Netherton Tunnel with 'the light at the end of the tunnel'

John helping on the Stourbridge Locks

Glass kiln on the Stourbridge Canal

We finished our day mooring just above Hinksford Lock where, for only the second time this season had a bbq in the beautiful evening sunshine.

On Sunday we are meeting daughter - in - law', Kaye's sister, Vicki and her two girls, Olivia and Georgia who live nearby at Kingswinford.

Sunday 23rd June
Summer didn't last long, cloudy skies have returned with the threat of rain.
Vicki and  the girls joined us near Swindon and we had and little chug up the Staffs and  Worcs Canal through Bumble Hole Lock and the Bratch Locks, where we moored and and went to Vicki ' s house where we spent a lovely family afternoon and bite to eat. A good day!

Monday 24th June
Rain, humidity, the threat of thunderstorms and steady progress along the Staffs and Worcs to Gailey.

Another rainy day!

Tuesday 25th June
Rain, rain and more rain! Still, we did have one day of summer and as we head back to Great Haywood Marina,  again, the temperatures are set to soar towards the end of the week. Great for the wedding we are returning home for and getting out and about to catch up with family. Let's hope it continues for our return and our last leg of this part of our travels as we head back to Fenny.

Beautiful wild flowers

A pot of grease and an oil can - the remedy to tough lock gear??!!