Car and boat leapfrog

After my few days at Napton it was time to move on.
I drove up to Marston Doles in the evening and walked back down the hill in the dark. Doesn't it get dark early!
Next day it was 'up the Napton flight' to Marston Doles. I had planned to stay in the short pound just below top lock but the tide level varied dramatically with each passing boat and lock fill/empty also the movement of the boats was causing Constance to bang on the Armco bank - so...

One of the first narrow locks that I have ever done on Constance

You can just see the tops of narrow-boats in the Engineering House Arm of the canal

It amused me!

The entrance to the Engineering House Arm of the canal

A different kind of paddle gear - with a stone support

 I decided to move on. This would be a giant leap as the canal follows the contours to Fenny Compton and circumnavigates Wormleighton Hill. Back into the car to drive to Fenny Compton. Parking was very easy not far from the Wharf Inn. Then it was the long walk back to Marston Doles. With the aid of the OS map I was able to cut off many of the corners and get back in time to move a couple of miles...

Napton top lock at Marston Doles

A beautifully remote spot for a night stop

 ...out into the remote part of the countryside. This was the morning wall-to-wall sunshine that greeted me next day.

Rural Warwickshire - miles from anywhere

The aptly named 'Ladder Bridge'

Napton-on-the-Hill in the far distance

So peaceful among the trees

 Eventually arriving at Fenny Compton in time for lunch. In the afternoon I went for a walk  as it was far too hot to work!

A few days of work at Napton

The weather forecast was set fair, just what I needed for a few days of painting and other outdoor jobs on Constance. Bearing in mind that Constance was built in 1980, the most recent hull survey found that the vent in the bottom of the gas locker was not at the bottom of the gas locker and constituted a failure of the Boat Safety Scheme. At that time it was impossible to tell how far from the bottom this hole was, just that it was not at the bottom.
So I removed the gas bottles and all of the bricks that made up the ballast and built the bed for the gas bottles to sit on and eventually go to the bottom of things. In a way it is a good job that I did because if it had been left much longer it would have been a very severe rusting problem.
With the gas bottle locker now completely empty I could see that the vent was about two-and-a-half inches up from the bottom. I removed as much of the loose rust as possible. The locker was (fortunately) absolutely dry, so I painted it with a very generous layer of 'boat blacking' and left it to dry.
The nest day I went to B&Q in Coventry to buy some sand and pre-mixed concrete. The sand was laid on top of the (almost) dry boat blacking and the concrete poured over the sand and smoothed down to make a reasonably level top with a drain-way to the drain-hole.

A nice peaceful place to work

A layer of concrete setting in the bottom of the gas locker

 Once the issue of the gas locker was sorted it was time to get on with painting. First there was some rubbing down to do. Getting rid of some of the little rusty pock marks that boats have. All suitably treated...

Rust removed and treated

 ... it was on with the undercoat layers. So far, two layers.

A grey-sided Constance

The next job is to get the Isopon and fill some of the worst of the pock marks, then more undercoat and see what she looks like before applying gloss.

Napton-on-the-hill

We left Braunston and turned left on to the Grand Union/South Oxford canal. As we went past the marina entrance we admired the old iron bridge.

Braunston Marina entrance

Napton Junction signpost

And on we go towards Oxford

We are not going to Warwick this year, maybe next?

Down the Oxford, passing Napton Marina

We stopped for the night near to Napton. I had to catch buses - first to Daventry, then on to Northampton and then a train to Wolverton. From Wolverton I had to walk the two-and-a-half miles to Cosgrove to collect the car. It feels as if we are on the homeward stretch now...

Braunston!

The Tuesday after the (very wet) Bank Holiday Monday was drier! We moved on through Blisworth Tunnel (3057 yards/2795m).

Blisworth Tunnel South Portal

It seemed to take forever as we had to slow down many times as boats came towards us needing to pass.

Blisworth Tunnel North Portal

We went on towards Gayton and looked very briefly down the Northampton Arm on our way to Bugbrooke, where we stopped for lunch and for a shower.
Then it was on through Weedon Bec and up the Bucky Flight of locks.

Whilton Marina entrance at the foot of the Buckby flight of locks

Again we briefly looked down the Grand Union Leicester Arm of the canal before stopping for the night.

Left to Braunston, right to Leicester

As the signpost says...

Our peaceful mooring for the night, away from the railway and the M1

On Wednesday morning we woke to sunshine and blue skies. Our first action was to pass through the Braunston tunnel (2042 yards/1867m), so not as long as the Blisworth Tunnel and we met fewer on-coming boats.

Braunston Tunnel

The Admiral Nelson on the Braunston Flight

Nearly at the bottom!

And into a hectic Braunston!

Down 6 locks and we were in Braunston in time for lunch and a little bit of food shopping.
We had a look around Braunston Village, the marina and the canal junctions.

The right arm is the start of the old Oxford Canal before it was re-positioned

Double iron bridges - Coventry to the left, Braunston to the right

Judy on the double bridges

A wet day in Stoke Bruerne

My Mum and my Sister Heather stayed on Constance for a week in Cosgrove. They were able to drive about the area and visit places they would not normally see and used the boat as a base for day trips.

Bridge 65 - Cosgrove

We came back on August Bank Holiday Sunday and joined Mum & Heather for lunch in the Barley Mow Cosgrove. This meant that we all crossed the canal via the Horse Bridge, or should it be the Horse Tunnel?
Later we moved on up to Stoke Bruerne and were lucky to find a mooring for the night not far from the museum and before the tunnel.

The bit about Elderly Ducks amused us as we passed Yardley Wharf

Stoke Bruerne bottom Lock

Our mooring at Stoke Bruerne

In the evening we walked up to the tunnel entrance then back to Stoke Bruerne Top Lock.


Blisworth Tunnel South Portal

One of the concrete sections used to repair the tunnel

Stoke Bruerne Top Lock

At Stoke Bruerne Top Lock the have kept an example of the double lock system. We passed many double bridges and filled-in narrow locks so it was nice to see a little of how it would have looked.
On Bank Holiday Monday it rained! Did it ever? During a pause in the rain we went to the museum and spent a couple of hours in the dry. In the evening we had a take-away curry from the Indian Restaurant by the lock - it was excellent!

And on to Cosgrove

We moved gently on to Wolverton and then on to Cosgrove.

The new aqueduct

 Just as you enter Wolverton, before you get to the station there is this wonderful mural. Sorry if I have overdone the pictures a bit, but the detail is fantastic. No two coaches are the same. It must have taken ages to paint.

 After you have gone through Wolverton you head north over the valley of the River Great Ouse. At first this is made of a big embankment, not that you can see much because of the trees. Then you come to the Iron Aqueduct which takes you high over the River Great Ouse.

The iron trough over the Great Ouse

 Approaching the iron aqueduct over the River Great Ouse.

The River Great Ouse

And again

Not much of a 'wall' on the right hand side!

The Buckingham Arm

 At Cosgrove is the junction of the now defunct Buckingham Arm of the canal. The first couple of hundred yards are used as mooring space then there is a dam under what was the first bridge.

The Buckingham Arm after the dam

 After that you can follow the course of the old canal. It would be nice if it could be brought back into use someday.

Artwork at Cosgrove Lock

 Under the trees beside Cosgrove Lock is this sculpture.

I guess he's punting, not what I first thought...

 Cosgrove village was split in half by the coming of the canal. The Horse Tunnel allows you to pass under the canal and get to the Barley Mow pub. We did and had an excellent meal!

The Horse Tunnel - Cosgrove