Piglet: Newbold to Hawkesbury Junction 22nd May 2013

Set off from Newbold early at 7:48 am in order to make certain we reached our destination of Hawkesbury Junction at a good time.

Nearing the junction all the visitor moorings seemed to be full but whilst passing through the stop lock, Becky got talking to a CRT employee who said there was plenty in the Coventry direction.  Turning left at the junction there didn't seem to be that many spaces. There were a couple of boats moored between the junction and the water point with at least one beyond it.  Past the last boat there was a grassed area to the left which looked ideal, so we moored up tight to the last boat which meant we were sticking 6ft into a no mooring area but I think we can live with that. I still can't work out why it was no mooring as the entrance to the basin opposite was a fair way away.

We'd booked a meal at the pub on the junction, the Greyhound, and arranged for Joanna to leave her car there overnight so we got on with a few jobs while we waited for her to arrive.

After she'd arrived we went to the Greyhound for lunch which was absolutely lovely with so much choice!

We finished our meal and went back to the boat for a bit before returning to the Greyhound and waiting for our taxi which arrived on time and not long after we were at the Ricoh Arena.

Concert

After the concert we arrived back, had a quick nightcap and were soon off to bed!

11 Miles 5.25 Furlongs
1 Lock

Piglet: Piglet Meets Ice, 3rd March 2013

Once again the diesel heater came on as it should, but shut itself off after about 90 minutes which was annoying.  However this wasn't a problem as we were on landline electrics so the immersion heater was heating the hot water.

I got up and went to light the fire in the front cabin to get this area warm.  Opening the curtains something didn't quite seem right.  The water around the boat wasn't moving!  This was the first time I'd been on a narrowboat in ice.

Anyway, it was nice being able to have a hot shower at last now the water tank was full.

Becky got up, had a shower and we both had breakfast discussing what to do that day.  One suggestion was go to look around Daventry and go out boating for the day tomorrow.  I went to look at the canal and found that the ice was thicker there than in the marina.

Shortly afterwards a crashing noise was heard coming along from the direction of the bottom lock and a boat appeared breaking its way through the ice.  I figured as the locks were shut, the stretch past the marina would be little used so to see a boat on it breaking the ice suggested to me that the canal around the Turn would have more traffic so would already have a path through the ice.

We decided to go and head out to the Folly at Napton.

While I was getting the boat ready a boat left its marina mooring and broke a path through the ice.  There was no excuse now.

I ran the engine in forward gear while still on the mooring and this broke the ice behind us so we could reverse out.  I will mention that to the owners of the boat next to ours as they had difficulty in January reversing out in ice.

We set off at 11am and reversing out wasn't a problem.  As we took a slightly different line through the marina to the previous boat you could hear the ice scraping against moored boats as we passed.  It was quite odd to see ducks stood on the ice either side of us as we went down the narrow path carved by the previous boat.

Turning on to the main canal wasn't a problem and we followed the path through the ice past the marina entrance.  Here we saw the boat that had come past earlier so unless something else had moved the ice would only have been broken up to this point. Crunch crunch crunch could be heard as we encountered our first bit of properly frozen canal.  Past Braunston Road Bridge and the Boat House pub the canal was free of ice which was a relief.

Turning on to the Oxford Canal it was obvious no boat had been before us that morning as the ice was right across the canal and as far as I could see into the distance.  It was too late now to turn back so we continued crunching our way forward.  The noise was quite loud from the back of the boat and at the front it was amazing.

As we approached the cutting at Wolfamcote the ice got thicker but we still had no problem breaking it.  Had it got much worse I planned to turn around but it got easier when we got to the more exposed section where the wind was breaking the ice up a bit.  We met a couple of boats coming the other way so knew from here the channel would be clear.

Eventually the ice cleared altogether.  Before Wigram's Turn (the junction where the Grand Union Canal splits from the Oxford and heads north) we met Nick Wolfe's 'Aldgate'.

Approaching the junction we saw 2 boats come out of the Grand Union and turn right in front of us.  I hoped these weren't going to moor at Napton as the visitor moorings there are busy at the quietest of times.

As we approached the Bridge Inn the lead boat winded round so we held against a boat on the moorings until they had finished turning.  Once they had turned, the 2nd boat did the same.  Once the 2 boats had moored up we continued on our way but still couldn't decided if the Bridge Inn was open or not.

As usual there were boats on the moorings at Napton so we winded and backed up towards the locks a bit to moor in a space next to the wooden ice breaker 'Pelican'.  Having moored up we decided to go for a couple of drinks then head back just in case the ice was bad the next morning.

We arrived at the Folly and could see it was busy with Sunday lunches so we bought our drinks and sat down on a pew in the lower room.  We could see the lunches looked really good and once the landlord had wafted a few under our noses on the way from the kitchen we decided to stay moored at Napton that night and have lunch in the pub and we weren't disappointed.  Becky had roast beef and I had roast pork and it was lovely!  We even managed to have desserts.

After a couple of hours we returned to Piglet and watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Piglet: Braunston, Saturday 2nd March 2013

A welcome noise to be woken up to is the sound of the diesel heater starting up and more importantly keep running.  Thankfully this is exactly what happened this morning and by the time I wanted to get up the boat was feeling quite cosy.

I turned the heater off and went to light the fire.  It took a few goes this morning but I was quite out of practice but after a while it was roaring away nicely.

Breakfast consisted of a few slices of toast as we'd not been to get any supplies so far.

From November 2012 the fresh water system on the boat had been drained down to stop any freezing of the pipes if the temperature got cold enough so the first job of the day was to go and fill the tank up with water.  I replaced the shaft, boat hook and plank on the roof as these had been stored in the front cabin over winter and they were quite in the way!

I started the engine and while that warmed up we decided whether to use the tap in the marina or one of the ones out on the Grand Union Canal.  We decided to use the one on the canal as then we could go for a short trip.

We reversed out of the mooring and through the marina to the second entrance and turned left.  Turning right would have taken us to Braunston locks which were shut for maintenance and there isn't a tap down there anyway!

We moored just in front of the Gongoozler's Rest café boat and ran out the hose to the tap.  I closed all the taps on the boat (left open over winter) and started filling the tank.  Meanwhile Becky went to the café boat and bought a couple of coffees.  After a while I opened the taps and turned on the water pump and thankfully water appeared out of all the taps after a bit of spluttering and splashing.

Narrowboat 'Amy' arrived from the 'Turn' direction and moored in front of us wanting to use the tap when we had finished.  They had been in Braunston for a week or so and were heading off up the Grand Union once they'd filled with water and turned around.  The stoppage at Calcutt Locks was meant to have finished on Friday but I recall an email from Canal & River Trust amending the stoppage until 8am on Monday and checking on my phone I was correct.  The owners of 'Amy' didn't mind a few more days in Braunston and the guy was quite happy as he could get a decent pint in the pubs.

After an hour the tank was looking nearly full so we stopped filling as we knew we weren't going to use much water and wanted to leave the tank with some space in it as we wouldn't be draining it again when we left the boat.

We cast off and headed up the canal to Braunston Turn where the Grand Union meets the Oxford Canal.  This isn't the original site of the junction however, that was where the entrance to the marina is but in 1830 the Oxford Canal Company straightened their line a bit and built an embankment known as Braunston Puddle Banks cutting off 5 miles of winding canal which caused the juntion to move to its new location.  

The Oxford meets the Grand Union at 90 degrees like a lot of junctions but here there is a triangular 'traffic island'.  Winding at the 'Turn' involves turning left onto the shared Oxford/Grand Union section down one side of the triangle, reversing down the other side of the triangle and returning the way you came which makes up the 3rd side.  This isn't too problematic but I have seen it done with a motor and butty which must be interesting!

We arrived back at our mooring in the marina just after midday (Becky having vetoed my suggestion of a pint in the Boat House).

We plugged the landline electrics back in and turned on the immersion heater to give us hot water now the tank and calorifer was full.

Locking the boat up we took the short walk into Braunston village and headed for the butchers who asked if we'd come by submarine!  Here we bought our supply of meat and veg for the next few days before heading to the store to get a few bottles of wine, etc.

Dropping the shopping back at the boat we took a walk up the locks to the Admiral Nelson for lunch.  We'd first gone to the Nelson the previous October and loved it however we learnt that it was to close again as it had been sold.  Thankfully the tenants were able to raise the money and buy the pub themselves so it is now a Freehouse.  

We took as seat in the bar as the restaurant was full.  Becky ordered a Cajun Chicken Burger and I had Gammon, Egg and Chips.  There was a bit of a wait as they were short staffed but the beer and wine were as good as always so we didn't mind and we certainly didn't mind when the food arrived!

We left feeling very full and walked up the lane, across the field and footpath back into the village thinking we'd have a drink in the Old Plough.  The last few times we'd been there it wasn't brilliant but it looks like it has new management and the pint of Doom Bar I had was quite nice.  The landlady, obviously taking time out from cooking, came and engaged us in conversation and was very pleasant.  Unfortunately we were the only people in there but I hope she makes a success of it and it goes back to how I remember the pub during the Braunston Boat Show days.

We returned to the boat, lit the fire and watched TV only having the Pasties we'd bought from the butchers at around 8pm when we felt hungry again.

Piglet: Under the cover of darkness. 1st March 2013

This was to be the first time we had travelled to Braunston after work on a Friday evening.  The journey didn't really take any longer than it did normally which was good to know.

When we arrived, everything was in darkness and it felt like the middle of the night even though it was only just gone half eight.

Apart from a couple of hours in early February, Piglet had been shut up since December so was looking very cold and dark.  We turned on the 12 and 24 volt electrics (the 240 volt was already on to power a couple of heaters) and the gas and pressed the 'go' button on the Webasto diesel heater.  This thankfully burst into life in a plume of water vapour out of the exhaust.  We lit a fire as well to help bring the temperature up and soon heat inside was climbing past 15 degrees.

We had brought some Chilli with us so while that was warming up on the hob we made the bed up and stowed a few other bits away.

After eating we watched TV, had a few glasses of beer and wine and headed for bed.

Newbold to Braunston

In no hurry to start moving on our last morning moving we set off the latest we had done all trip.

Passing through Rugby we were then on to the 3 locks at Hilmorton.

These took us about 30 minutes with a very nice CRT volunteer helping us through the top lock.

Above the locks were a few working boats coming back from a festival at, I think, Stoke Bruerne.

The Barby Straight was bitterly cold with a headwind which was quite fierce.  We caught up a boat and then shortly afterwards our two boats caught another boat up.  To say the front boat was going slowly would be an understatement with me having to take the boat out of gear on several occasions to stop running into the boat in front of us.  This probably went on for a couple of miles all the way to Braunston.  Thankfully the lead boat turned right at Braunston Turn and went up the Grand Union / Oxford section.

We passed the Stop House, turned right into the marina and back into our mooring at 13:30.  The minute we tied up it started pouring with rain.

We took a walk up to the Admiral Nelson for a few drinks and to book a table to eat the following evening.

Hartshill to Newbold

An earlier start this morning, setting off at 8:20.

Today was an easy run through Nuneaton, with what seems like miles and miles of canal-side allotments, past Marston Junction and the Ashby Canal (one for the future I think) until the outskirts of Coventry and Hawkesbury Junction.

Once again the 180 degree turn was done in one go.  I'm not sure if this is a normal thing or not but I was happy with it!

Just before the junction it was obvious we were catching another boat up and we eventually caught them on the Oxford Canal just past the village of Ansty when they waved us past.  However having passed them it seemed to take a long time to pull away from them.  Much longer than it took to catch them up!

We reached Newbold Tunnel at 14:30 and shortly after emerging from the other end we moored up in a similar spot to the week previous.

After sorting a few things out we went and visited the Boat Inn.  The Boat staff were very friendly and had only been in a few weeks.  The 2 Dalmatian puppies were quite a handful but well behaved.  A few pints of St Austell Tribute went down very well next to the log fire!  

We enquired about food but they weren't doing any yet so we went next door to eat in the Barley Mow.

Compared to the Boat, the Barley Mow was unfriendly and we were not made to feel welcome.  Not because of any one thing but probably because the barmaid spent a lot of time talking to the loud group of builders in the other bar, even when pouring our drinks.  Even the drinks were average, with cheap wine and probably one of the worst pints of Greene King IPA I have ever tasted.  We only had one drink before leaving.

Next stop was the Co-op to stock up on a few bits then we visited the Newbold Crown.  I'd been here before and stayed to far to late into the morning but this time it was just for a pint of St Austell Dartmoor before getting some fish and chips and heading back to the boat.

Polesworth to Hartshill

We wanted to make an early start so as to beat the boats in front of us on the mooring to Atherstone Locks. However by the time we left there were already 3 gone.

We needed to fill up with water somewhere so thought about the water point at bridge 48.  As we approached there already was a boat filling up but they looked to be moving off so we held back and moored up when they left.

We filled up with water and emptied the rubbish and set off again.  Only to reverse 2 minutes later as we'd left the adapter for the hose on the tap!

Atherstone Bottom Lock was reached and we had to wait for 'Bletchley' to come out.

We were following a boat up and they were helping us by emptying the lock they just left if nothing was coming the other way.  We passed quite a few boats coming down and reached the top just before 1pm.

We decided to call it a day in the countryside at Bridge 33.

We had lunch then took a walk along the canal to where we had moored on the way up to visit the Anchor pub where we had a lovely couple of hours before returning to the boat for dinner.