We set off in good time, with about an hour to go before we arrived at Napton Top Lock (Marston Doles). There was no delay going down, but a steady stream of boats coming up.
The remains of an old concrete pill box is a reminder that during the last war, canals were still considered a strategic resource and had to be defended just in case an invasion should try to use them for transport!
The pound where the repairs are being done is quite short at the best of times but the works - new piling at one of the lock landings - mean that two boats cannot pass easily and the workmen had been regulating traffic. Some boat crews told us that they had waited one and a half hours just to come up two locks. However, by the time we reached the bottom lock the queue had disappeared and we even had to refill the lock after another boat had gone down ahead of us.
We dealt with rubbish and then filled up with water before going just around the corner to moor up for lunch.
In the afternoon we continued along the Oxford canal to Napton Junction, after which it shares the route with the Grand Union Canal, constructed at a later date. However, the wider guage meant that we progressed rather faster! Before long we arrived at Braunston Junction with its splendid three-way set of cast iron bridges where we turned left to continue onto the northern part of the Oxford.
In order to be more competitive, this part of the Oxford was improved by straightening out many of the bends which are so characteristic of the southern section. It was also widened in places with some of the bridges allowing boats in boats directions without having to wait. By now rain had returned and we moored shortly after passing under the M45.
The remains of an old concrete pill box is a reminder that during the last war, canals were still considered a strategic resource and had to be defended just in case an invasion should try to use them for transport!
The pound where the repairs are being done is quite short at the best of times but the works - new piling at one of the lock landings - mean that two boats cannot pass easily and the workmen had been regulating traffic. Some boat crews told us that they had waited one and a half hours just to come up two locks. However, by the time we reached the bottom lock the queue had disappeared and we even had to refill the lock after another boat had gone down ahead of us.
We dealt with rubbish and then filled up with water before going just around the corner to moor up for lunch.
In the afternoon we continued along the Oxford canal to Napton Junction, after which it shares the route with the Grand Union Canal, constructed at a later date. However, the wider guage meant that we progressed rather faster! Before long we arrived at Braunston Junction with its splendid three-way set of cast iron bridges where we turned left to continue onto the northern part of the Oxford.
In order to be more competitive, this part of the Oxford was improved by straightening out many of the bends which are so characteristic of the southern section. It was also widened in places with some of the bridges allowing boats in boats directions without having to wait. By now rain had returned and we moored shortly after passing under the M45.
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