Immediately after the tunnel is the Braunston flight of six wide locks. We were accompanied by another boat that had moored where we stopped on the way out. This was a sponsored Kate Boat with its owners out for their first trip since it was completed in June - since when it has had good usage as part of the Kate hire fleet.
We planned to walk up to the village and opted to moor in the longer pound above the last two locks, so bade farewell to our lock companions. Braunston has a mixture of old thatched - or once thatched - houses and cottages, interspersed with modern buildings. According to an information board, the thatched roofs had, or have, a much steeper pitch than slated ones.
The village has a couple of shops: a comprehensive butcher and a good-sized Londi village store. We did not want very much but milk, paper and yoghurts were the main needs which we found readily - although we had to settle for green rather than red top milk.
On the way back to the boat we took a look in the chandlery shop alongside the bottom lock. We found a tarpaulin to cover the stern over the winter but needed to check if it was a suitable size. Back to the boat for lunch. Spotted the following old poster beside the lock shop:
The afternoon began by completing the last two Braunston locks - as Mike worked through the last one, Christine went back to the shop for the tarpaulin and some Elsan Blue, returning just as the boat was ready to leave.
There was nothing much to report about the cruise for next three hours - although the sharp bends needed care as there was a steady flow of boats coming the other way, most of which seemed to arrive at a bend or bridge!
We made the briefest of stops at the bottom of Napton flight to use the sani station, because a boat was ready to come down and keen not to waste a lock full of water. We were able to find room at the short term mooring between the next two locks - we had already reserved a paper from the Folly shop by phone.
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