Long Buckby

Before leaving Blisworth village, Mike walked up to the village shop for a paper. He then set off as we had a long stretch ahead of us without any locks.

It was grey and overcast all day but at least it was noticeably warmer - still need plenty of layers though! The scenery is not unpleasant but as we have been this way several times in recent years not much came as a surprise. For the most part it was matter of ticking off bridge after bridge. The main railway line from Euston crosses the route several times and remains close until Long Buckby when the canal takes a more westerly route towards Braunston.

Gayton Junction Turnover Bridge

Soon we were passing Gayton Junction where the line down to Northampton begins. after here we met a few more boats than earlier but that only lasted until lunch time.

Another sad sight - it must have been a recent event even though it did not look in very good condition, it did at least have a current CRT licence on display.

We passed a full length restored working boat just as it was preparing to set off. Despite its size it made good speed and soon caught us up - discretion suggested we let it pass by! Of course, its engine is designed to push it along at 4mph with a full load and much deeper draft.

As a further addition to his database of photos of key waypoints along the canal, Mike was this time making an effort to 'collect' as many of the distinctive milestones. About half are original and more modern replicas were created to fill in the gaps. They are surprisingly difficult to capture whilst on the move: a long zoom is needed and they pass very quickly. Sometimes they are infuriatingly hidden behind moored boats!

A helicopter noisily arrived and began to hover close to us. We gradually deduced that it was inspecting the power lines as it moved from one spot to another. We were relieved that its pilot managed to avoid becoming entangled.

Flore Lane Wharf

There are some more picturesque corners such is here at Flore Lane Wharf.



Stowe Hill Wharf

There seemed to be a lot more boats at Stowe Hill, moored on both sides and double banked. Not easy to negotiate - even worse if something comes the other way or, as in this case, a nervous boat owner was just re-tying his mooring ropes. Perhaps this is a sign of success at Rugby Boat Sales who are reported as doing better than many other brokerages.

We moored up for lunch and a third portion each of Christine's chicken soup - plus toast and sandwiches. after an hour's break we set off once more, heading now for the locks at Long Buckby, also known as Wilton Locks, about a further hour to go.

Just below the locks we spotted this interesting craft - could not see its licence however!

As we were entering the bottom lock in the flight, Christine spotted another boat just coming into view down the long straight. We waited and they accompanied us through the flight. They left us at the top as they were making for the Admiral Nelson, part way down the Braunston flight.

At the top we stopped to use the sani station and water point. As soon as we set off we spotted a mooring slot vacant, just a few metres further on. As we did not want to go down the Braunston locks tonight we opted to pull in here - we have found it sometimes quite difficult to moor close to the bank in the stretch between Norton Junction and the tunnel. Also, we have arranged to meet with Martyn from TravelSat tomorrow as our dish needs parts replacing (or perhaps a new one altogether, we shall see) Our current aerial came from him about three years ago when we were still at Lower Heyford.

13.2 miles - 7 locks