In sharp contrast with yesterday and tomorrow's forecast, today was bright and sunny with generally clear skies, albeit somewhat cold. With a Yellow warning for tomorrow, our main aim today was to make as much progress as possible. Andrew moved his car to Brinklow on Monday and he also needs to get home as soon as possible - he had hoped for tomorrow but that may be difficult unless he takes a taxi from Rugby or thereabouts. We, on the other hand, have plenty of time.
The sun was unhelpful for photos and we were concentrating on our primary aim, so not much else to include here! We did start to unmoor just after 8 with a hope of reaching Buckby Locks by 10:30. Both this flight and that at Braunston are on restricted hours, starting at 10am and last entry at 2pm.
In Weedon we spotted the splendidly maintained traditional working pair, Hyperion and Hyades.
There were many more boats moored along the route today which slowed us a little and it was 10:45 when we arrived at Buckby Bottom Lock. Alas it was set against us as were most of the flight. The bottom couple of pounds were full to overflowing whilst the upper half of the flight was very low, in one case we scraped large stones on the bottom quite a lot. It was 12:30 by the time we came out of the top lock.
At the junction we had noticed earlier this year that the 3 bed right half of the canal cottage was for sale at a guide price of £425K. The sign says that it has now been sold and a Google report suggests that it was bought close to that value.
Christine had already prepared a fresh batch of soup so we had that 'on the go' as we cruised through the long Braunston Tunnel. There was a boat just ahead of us so we had hopes of being able to lock share down the next flight. This indeed happened - they were a very competent crew so that Andrew could go ahead to set each lock ready for the two boats to come side by side down the short intermediate pounds.
It proved a very smooth and efficient operation and we emerged at the bottom 50 minutes later - we had arrived at the top only a quarter of an hour before the flight was due to close.
At the bottom, the other boat moored up close to the marina and we continued on, soon turning onto the north Oxford Canal. On this stretch we were also surprised by the number of boats on the move, coming towards us, many of them bhire boats from local bases.
The former toll house that was controversially sold at auction on 2024 for £210K, is now undergoing extensive renovation and work seemed to be progressing apace.
As it was still a bright sunny late afternoon, Andrew was keen to make it as far as possible which we happily let him do. As there are no locks until the three at Hillmorton, level cruising allows good progress. We tied up just on five o'clock, just short of the locks - Andrew did take a look to see if there was room nearer but the only space was not as good as where we moored at the start of the long line of moored boats.
19.5 Miles - 13 Locks
No comments:
Post a Comment