Up Hill Down Dale

Thursday 12th July
The warm and dry weather continues and, following the disappointment of the night before seeing England leave the world cup, we were up early to continue our journey along the Grand Union.
Traversing the edge of the low Shuckburgh Hills overlooking the plateau stretching to the north we progressed westwards towards Napton junction, the canal twists and turns here through pleasant countryside, with the now straw coloured  crop fields below us and the grass fields on the hillside now also straw coloured with sheep and cattle scratching around looking for green grass.
The maturing of the crops seems to have come early this year and we saw our first combine in action fading behind a cloud of dust.

Early harvest

Arriving at the junction, overlooked by Napton on the Hill, we turned left into Wigrams Turn marina to take on fuel, the chap operating the pump inquired as to our destination and having being informed that we were heading for Stratford via Warwick he gave that sharp intake of breath of regret, saying we had got our work cut out.
Leaving the marina behind we headed straight up the canal opposite the entrance, the Grand Union effectively takes a sharp left hand turn away from the Oxford Canal but as we had left the marina it was straight on for us.

Napton Junction

A mile or so brought us to the start of the descent into the valley of the river Leam, a tributary of the river Avon.
The first locks we arrived at were the short flight of three at Calcutt, as we approached we noticed a boat entering the top lock so we hastened to join them in the descent. Our partner boat was a hotel boat call Jamesons Irish Whiskey, I enquired about the name and the owner informed me that they liked the colours of the box the whiskey came in so painted the boat in those colours and, being unable to think of another name they used the name on the box! The boat operates as a self catering operation, the owners turn up to move the boat during the day but otherwise leave their guests to themselves on board. The two current guests were a couple of ladies from Seattle, they enjoyed helping doing the locks too.
The locks from here on used to be narrow locks, they were rebuilt in 1934 and widened  in the process, whilst the building work was being undertaken the old narrow locks were kept in operation, the chambers are still evident at the side of the newer locks but are now used as a by wash.
the locks have unique paddle gear with large sluices making for a quick passage through.
We were soon through the flight and on our way traversing the plateau we had previously seen to our right. The level pound was short lived, however, because we soon arrived at the next flight at Stockton consisting of a further 10 of the large locks. We were following our partner boat down to the flight and just before the locks another boat pulled out in front of us, they then took on the role of partnering the hotel boat leaving us to descend on our own and doubling the work load.
This is just one of those things that happens and, as there was nobody else behind, we had no alternative to proceed making for a long hot afternoon and I was beginning to sympathise with the fuel pump operators view of the work ahead.
We soldiered on and were relieved to finally arrive at the bottom of the flight and found a mooring at Long Itchington. We moored just outside the Two Boats pub on moorings that could probably take eight boats!
We had a walk around the village finding the reasonably large Co-op. Like a lot of the villages we have visited, this had the air of a dormitory village but could boast five pubs and some lovely old buildings, particularly the large medieval building as you arrive at the village green. We were surprised to see a large widebeam boat standing in the yard of a factory, as we passed by we discovered this was the home of Cole Craft, a famous boat builder.

Long Itchington

Long Itchington

Long Itchington Church

All the pubs in the village appeared to be closed during the day so we retraced our steps back to the moorings deciding to call into the Two Boats for a drink, as we had had a hard day working down the locks we decided to explore the menu, quite extensive but typical pub fayre we made our choice and settled back outside on the canal bank and watched the world pass slowly by.

Friday 13th July
The fine weather continues, and having received a notification from CRT that the Leeds Liverpool canal will be closed along the 30 mile summit section at the end of the month, thoughts began to turn to the impact the long dry spell may have on our journey, so far apart from a few low pounds here and there, little effect had been noted and in this part of the world things were still, thankfully, ok.
We got underway reaching the four locks of the Bascote flight after a mile or so, amazingly we arrived just as our friends aboard Jamesons were preparing the top lock so we joined forces again to continue down to Leamington Spa.

The Staircase pair at Bascote on the GU

The first two locks of the flight were a staircase pair making an interesting change from the normal single configuration. We soon got through the flight and made steady progress down to Leamington through the remaining six locks before reaching the town.
Jamesons carried onto Warwick but we opted to stop at the long moorings just to the Warwick side of the town near the large Morrisons supermarket.
We decided to stay put on Saturday and go and explore the town, it has a split personality, the old, original town close to the canal and the newer Spa on the banks of the river Leam. Like most spa towns there is a lot of regency architecture and the town has a very relaxed atmosphere. We explored the old town first passing the original town hall, now a Polish Centre.
We made our way down to the river and on into the large park and gardens situated along the river bank, these are the Jephson, named after the Victorian physician Dr Henry Jephson who promoted the healing properties of the Spa waters as well as providing housing for the poor of the town.
The park boasts a boating lake and a large tropical house, all very busy in the warm sunshine. Leaving the park we explored the spa side of the town, the main street contains many shops as well as the large new town hall and church, the many side streets have the samller and often more interesting shops. Making our way back to the boat we passed through the park on the other side of the road from the gardens, there was a street food and music festival underway overlooked by a large funfair and stage, the beer tents were doing a roaring trade in the heat and a good crowd were enjoying the entertainment on stage.

Scenes of Leamington Spa

Sunday 15th July
We decided to move up a couple of miles to Warwick, the two towns virtually merge together here, divided only by the railway and the river Avon, now a much larger affair than the trickling brook we crossed at Welford.

River Avon approaching Warwick

We moored on the visitor moorings close to Kate Boats hire base and they kindly allowed us to use the facilities there.

Warwick is a lovely town with lots of old buildings, the town centre lies about a twenty minute walk from the canal  and was surprisingly quiet even though it was Sunday, however walking down to the large riverside park, the reason was revealed, the whole of the town and a lot more had gathered there to enjoy the fine weather, the small funfair, paddling pool and other attractions were bursting at the seams.

Warwick

Mill Lane Warwick

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle, now run by the large corporation responsible for Madame Tussauds and Alton Towers, is a major attraction, however, as they are not dog friendly we did not visit.
The earls of Warwick had played a major role during the wars of the roses, Richard Neville nicknamed the "Kingmaker" was one such who played an instrumental role in the conflict, backing first the Yorkist side before switching his allegiance to the Lancastrians.

Monday morning brought an early start for us as we had 23 of the large locks to climb, the first two, in the town, we did on our own, before arriving at the foot of the daunting 21 locks of the Hatton flight.

Looking down the Hatton flight towards Warwick

Halfway up the Hatton

As we approached the bottom lock one of the boats moored there shouted over asking if they could join us through the locks, this was an offer we gratefully accepted, and we were soon ascending the flight with Lucia and the lady off the other boat getting into a efficient routine bringing  us to the summit in three hours. Our partner boat moored at the top as they had planned to turn round and descend back down the following morning (madness!!), we continued onto the lovely moorings at Turners Green and the very welcome Tom O The Wood pub.

Great Pub - Tom o' The Wood

Farmhouse at Turners Green

Tuesday 17th July
We had a choice this morning, do we carry on up the Grand Union to the centre of Birmingham, turn onto the Stratford canal and head up to Birmingham that way or turn left down the Stratford to is terminus on the river Avon. We opted for the third choice mainly because there had been a stoppage on the Grand Union, this was supposed to have been reopened at the beginning of the week, but there hadn't been a confirmation so we played safe and left that for another day.

Approaching Kingswood |Junction

We very soon arrived at the picturesque Kingswood Junction, situated partway down the Lapworth locks, here we immediately began our descent down towards Stratford upon Avon, we passed through the seventeen narrow locks, before arriving at the long pound at Wootton Wawen.

A typical bridge on the Stratford with a gap for the ropes to pass through

During our trip down we took a break at Lowsonford to visit the Finwood Hill farm shop up the road from bridge 40. It is well worth the walk up the hill from the canal, their beef products are from their own herd of grass fed Dexters and the pork is from the Gloucester Old Spot pigs roaming around the farm, they also sell duck and hen eggs from their free range birds. You could really tell the difference from the normal supermarket stuff. Just below the bridge is the large Fleur De Lys pub however we resisted the temptation and carried on past.

Bearley Lock

The trip down passes through some beautiful countryside with the unique lock keepers cottages with their unusual rounded roofs, and at lock 34 (Bucket Lock) we crossed the first of three impressive aqueducts. This one , Yarningdale, leads straight into the lock so that the abutment for the aqueduct forms part of the lock structure an amazing feat for early 19th century civil engineering.

Yarningdale Lock and Aqueduct

The canal scenery becomes more and more magical as you descend  down the frequent locks before entering the level pound below Preston Bagot. Here the trees diminish and views open out across fields of wheat and barley, as we went by the farmers were busy gathering in the crops.

Field of Gold

We arrived at Wootton Wawen to find space on the long moorings just before the hire base and marina.

We took a stroll down into the village noting the small shopping village and the two pubs, The Navigation and The Bulls Head. 

The Bulls Head

The latter is a 10 minute stroll to the opposite end of the village to the canal it is situated on the small green and is as typical an English village pub as you could find anywhere. We called into the small bar to the rear of the pub and enjoyed an evening chatting to Steve and Dave, a couple of locals from the village, among the may facts they told us about their home was regarding the famous Fleur De Lys Pies that used to be made and sold at the pub we had past earlier in the day, apparently they were so popular hoards used to descend from Birmingham to sample them, the name was bought out and is now part of the Pukka Pie brand, I had noticed when passing the pub that they still sell what are now know as Lowsonford Pies.We chatted on until late in the evening and had to walk back in semi darkness.

The following morning we got chatting to Geoff and Lynn on the boat in front of us, Geoff suggested we should do a spot of fishing as he had landed some good fish the night before.
We spent the day exploring the village and its many offerings, our first port of call was to look at the second of the aqueducts, this crosses the Stratford road and is a classic cast iron trunk aqueduct, unusually though the tow path follows the bottom of the tank rather than the level of the water.

Wootton Wawen Aqueduct

We then visited the shops, mostly craft and antiques as well as a farm shop and cafe, before walking past the large hall, this is now owned by Allens Caravans who specialise in up market static caravan parks, one of which is situated behind the hall. There is a useful post office as well as a small grocery store all available to the general public.

Wootton Hall

We continued on through the village before arriving at St Peters church some of which dates back to 1035 with Norman additions. It is a fascinating building and has a Saxon Sanctuary exhibition.

St Peters at Wootton Wawen

We continued past the Bulls Head again resisting the temptation to visit and followed the waymarked walk along to the river Alne, the river was quite low but slowly meandered its way down to its confluence with the river Avon.

That evening our fishing match wasn't particularly successful, I only managed to land a couple of small Roach but it was enough for me to be declared the winner of our impromptu match.

Thursday 19th July 
We awoke early to get an early start for our trip down to Stratford we had been warned that the town basin was very busy so we planned to get there early. Our trip down was 7 miles and a further 17 locks.

We made use of the Elsan disposal at the hire base before crossing over the aqueduct, the canal appeared quite shallow and we scrapped the bottom for a few miles before arriving at the very impressive Edstone aqueduct, again this is a cast iron tank with the same arrangement for the towpath, on the non towpath side there is just the 2 inch thick side of the trunk between the boat and a drop of getting on for 100 feet. The aqueduct straddles a small valley  passing over two roads a railway and river, the views as you cross are amazing.

Crossing the Edstone Aqueduct

We pressed on through a pretty wooded section noting that the water seemed shallower as we descended, we also noted, and this is a warning to other boaters doing this route, ensure all fenders are stowed away as the tail gates in a number of the locks do not open fully, we got stuck two or three times and had to enlist the muscle of a couple of passing cyclists, at one lock, to push the gate hard so we could get through!
We had another struggle through the last lock into Stratford however, we finally arrived in the basin to find there were only three other boats in giving us plenty of choice as to where to moor.
Stratford Upon Avon
There is not much I need to add here about this lovely medieval town, with its timber framed buildings and of course its famous resident one William Shakespeare. Whilst in town we visited the Rohan shop on Sheep Street, the owner of the shop, Samantha, couldn't have been more helpful in assisting us to buy some gear we need for later in the year, she prides herself on being more than a shop and they kindly let Scruff park herself in the middle of the floor under the air conditioning she sprawled out across the floor grateful for the opportunity to cool off.

We stayed in the marina for our allotted two days before purchasing our licence for the river Avon,  £50 for 7 days or £60 for 14, this navigation is run by the Avon Navigation Trust and CRT licenses are not valid on the river.
The basin provides a safe if busy mooring but you do have to be prepared to be examined closely by crowds of overseas visitors who seem fascinated by the concept of a narrowboat.
Rain was forecast for the evening on Friday but it didn't amount to much, a shame as it is beginning to look very parched around here.
On Saturday we descended the town lock onto the river turning upstream to visit the facilities at the area known as the  old bathing place, this used to have an outdoor swimming pool before its closure due to fears of Polio, the reason many of our old outdoor pools closed.
We winded here to retrace our steps to the extensive moorings opposite the RSC theatre, we intend to stay here until Monday morning when we will commence our trip downstream towards Tewkesbury.

Scenes of Stratford

Foxton and beyond

Sunday 1st July
Our friends Tore and Kirsten arrived in Leicester today and we had an enjoyable evening sat on the pontoon enjoying a few beers whilst watching Denmark, unfortunately, leaving the world cup. They were staying in Leicester for a few days but we planned to leave the following morning.
Monday brought more fine weather as we left early during the morning rush with people hurrying to and fro to get to work. We slid gently along the straight mile through the old part of Leicester under the many bridges and a left bank steeped in history.

Leaving our mooring in Leicester

We arrived at the first of the twelve locks we had planned to pass through today, this lock is overlooked by the impressive King Power Stadium, home to Leicester City FC. Rejoining a now tiny river Soar we progressed on through the locks bypassing the wiers until arriving at Kings Lock where the navigation leaves the river for the last time. We were joined by another boat here, making our progress up the remaining locks easier, having an extra pair of hands to assist in moving the large gates. Above here we encountered many shallow pounds making our progress slow having to be careful of the debris hiding in the shallow muddy waters.
This stretch of canal leaves the city to the south but turns eastwards continuing to cling to the suburbs for what seems like forever. The views here are limited but as we approached our destination at Kilby Bridge the scenery began to hint at what was to come over the next few days. We tied up opposite the Navigation Pub unable to resist the temptation of a cold beer on such a warm day.

Low Pounds

Tuesday 2nd July
We had arranged to continue our journey up the locks towards Foxton, with the boat we had travelled with the previous day. We soon got under way only to find the three boats that had set of before us queuing at Bumblebee lock,  our first of twelve, scheduled for the days cruise. As we left Kilby we noted that the water level had reduced by almost 9 inches overnight. The lack of water was the reason for the queue we had just joined, the lock keepers had closed all the locks up to Foxton to enable them to refill the low pounds between the locks we had travelled through the previous day. The lock keeper estimated a wait of four hours before we could proceed so we settled back to enjoy the hot sunshine. After a couple of hours we were given the nod to proceed being warned that they may have to close the flight again if the water levels didn't fully recover. As there were now five boats in the queue  one of us would have to negotiate the twelve locks as a single boat. We volunteered to do this as everyone else seemed to be in a hurry. We eventually got under way making steady progress through some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen outside Yorkshire! Our progress was helped by lock keepers who were still around adjusting the water levels. By late afternoon we had reached the top and passed through Saddington tunnel to arrive at a remote mooring for the evening where we settled down to watch England progress to the quarter finals by winning their first ever World Cup penalty shoot out. The nearest village was a combination of two at Smeeton Westerby, to the south east of Leicester we could hear the cheers as England scored, drifting across the fields.
After all the excitement of the night before the next morning was beautiful, warm and sunny with the now straw coloured fields providing a contrast to the clear deep blue of the sky. Our journey took us past the marina at Debdale Wharf and onward towards our first glimpse of Foxton where the mainline climbs away to the right ascending the famous lock flight, for us,  all this canal history would have to wait for another day as our path took us along the few miles down the arm to the canal terminus at Market Harborough.
The canal builders had intended to continue on to Northampton but the last section was never completed.
Market Harborough
The basin at the terminus proved to be a busy spot containing a marina, hire base and bookable visitor moorings, we opted to turn around after using the facilities to moor just outside the basin on the visitor moorings.

Market Harborough

There was plenty of room in a welcome shade from the searing heat. I had been contacted via Facebook by a fellow boater, Michael Ball, whom I had been put in touch with by David Beard, a colleague from my days at SLI Lighting, who sadly died a couple of years ago. Michael and his wife Christine arrived a few hours after us, and moored up next to us. It was great to finally meet up after following each others adventures through the last few years. We had a spot of maintenance to do on the boat but later joined them in a couple of the many fine pubs to be found in the town for a few beers and a catch up.
We were pleasently supprised by Market Harborough, it has many of the usual shops as well as many quirky small shops and cafes.  We also visited the market and replenished our supplies of meat at the stall of a local producer.
The following morning we set off to further explore the town, one of its famous families are the Symingtons, one branch famed for the making of corsets in the building that now houses the museum. The other branch of the family went on to produce soups etc and are still doing so with famous brands such as Ainsley Harriot, they have a large factory in Leeds and were recently noted for selling dried noodles to the Chinese!
Later that evening I decided to try a spot of fishing, landing a couple of small Roach. Michael joined me with a welcome glass of whisky, replenished several times as we chatted late into the night.
I had enjoyed our stay here but as the mooring rules are strictly enforced it was time to move on so the following morning we cast off and made our way back up the arm to Foxton.

Foxton
Foxton is one of those places on the network that seems to attract hordes  of visitors and boasts many attractions for tourists and boaters alike, fortunately we were able to find a mooring right at the bottom of the flight in readiness for our ascent in the morning. We were also reunited with Tore and Kirsten who were moored on the adjacent spot.
Once we tied up we were treated to a Jazz concert in the pub opposite the mooring as well as a Ukelele band in the other pub close to the mooring.
We decided to have a walk around the junction to explore the many interesting things to see.

The junction was created to provide a link from the Grand Union at Norton to Leicester, arriving some 75 feet higher than the earlier canal below.
It was decided to build a flight of locks to cover the difference in level, however,  due to water limitations it was decided to make these narrow locks as are the ones at the the other end of the twenty mile pound at Watford Gap. The locks are cleverly designed as a pair of staircase locks with 5 locks each. Every chamber had its own side pound, this halves the amount of water used and facilitates a speedy and efficient passage through.
Although efficient, the locks took 45 minutes to get through and even with a crossover point in the middle only one way traffic through was possible. The Grand Union company decided to try and improve the situation and in 1898 began the construction of an inclined plane.
The structure was designed around two caisions each capable of carrying two narrow boats or a widebeam. The boats were floated into the caisions and then the ends closed off trapping the water inside the tank, the weight never varied as the displacement of the boat equalled the weight of water.
One caision would be at the bottom of the plane whilst the other was at the top, a steam engine was installed to move the caisions, again the two balanced out so the steam engine was required to start the motion.
On the opening of the lift two boats could be moved in both directions in 12 minutes, a significant time saving.

The "Boiler House" Museum

Incline top

Looking down the incline

The inclined plane opened in 1900 but was only in operation for 11 years then closed due to a combination of competition from road transport, the inefficiency the steam engine and a failure to widen the Watford flight. Little of the structure remains now but there is a small but interesting museum in the restored boiler house, the plane itself can still be seen along with the docks at the top and bottom where the bats were marshalled into the system. The site is now in the care of the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust, they have an interesting website  http://www.fipt.org.uk/  this has a lot more information about the area and is well worth a look.

We had a walk down into Foxton village on Friday evening calling in at the Black Horse en route. We made our way back along the canal towpath and hoped to catch up with Michael and Christine Ball but we could see them just leaving in the distance as we approached, we were sorry to have missed them but wish them well for their onward adventures. We arrived back at our boat just in time to avoid a short downpour of rain, however it was short lived and offered little relief to the parched landscape.

Saturday 7th July
Yet another beautifully sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky, we made ourselves known to the lock keeper and took our position of third in the que to go up, there were no boats coming down so we were soon underway, reaching the top in an incredible 45 minutes. The views looking back northwards are a backdrop of typical english countryside with fields of cattle and hay bales all around.

Top of the Foxton Flight

View from the top

We cruised on for a couple of miles beyond the top lock to find an idyllic mooring in the middle of the sublime countryside. Fortunately we had a good TV signal and settled down to watch England beat Sweden in the World Cup quarter final.
Following the game I decided to do a spot of fishing managing to land a few young bream and a couple of Roach.
Waking up to another glorious day we set off to explore the Welford arm a few miles further on, the arm is just under two miles long with one lock and terminates just outside the village.

Welford Junction

As we cruised along one glider after another was been towed above us, into the air by a fleet of around six planes, further investigation revealed that it was a national competition getting underway and looking up into the sky we saw spirals of gliders searching for thermals under the clouds.
The trip along the arm was sublime with the verdant backdrop of vegetation speckled, Monet style, with Cabbage White and the bright blue Damsel fly.
The arm was originally built as a feeder to the summit level from two reservoirs above the village, we took a walk up to them and were pleased to see there was plenty of water, in spite of the stifling heat. Poor old Scruff was suffering in the heat too so we took her into the water to cool off, she took a bit of coxing to get her out again! Our route through the fields took us  over a tiny brook, this was the tiny river Avon with whom we will be hopefully be reunited with later.

Monday morning brought slightly cooler conditions and we decided to make our way along to Crick, home to the large boat show held at the end of May each year.
We found a good mooring opposite the Moorings restaurant and bar (closed on Mondays) we took a walk into the village to the small Co-Op at the far end from the canal, we also noted the two pubs on the main street as we planned to eat out on Tuesday.
My sister Carole and husband Jim came up to see us on Tuesday morning and we decided to have a coffee in the bar opposite the boat, before calling at the Red Lion for lunch. The Red Lion has a large and varied menu at lunchtime, all meals priced at a reasonable £5.95, the food was good and is certainly good value for money. It was nice to meet up with Carole and Jim again and we returned to the Moorings again before returning to the boat.
Later in the evening we were joined by Tore and Kirsten finishing off a great day with a few more beers.
Wednesday morning was cloudy and a little cooler, and we got an early start . The 1500 yard Crick tunnel, was our first point of interest, strangely there was a warm draught in the tunnel, there was also a lot of water pouring in along the first half of our passage through. We soon arrived at the other end  and progressed along to the top of the locks. We passed under the M1 just north of Watford Gap services to arrive at the first of the seven locks.

Watford side pounds

Watford Locks

We tied up and made a brew as the lock keeper informed us that they were letting six boats up the flight before we could start our descent. This flight of locks is similar to those at Foxton in that there is a staircase of four locks along with three singles. We had to wait an hour or so, by which time the sun had burnt through the clouds finally we began our descent, there were six boats in the queue waiting to descend  Tore and Kirsten were first with us following, as with Foxton we were through in less than a hour and heading down to Norton Junction, a few miles downstream.
Arriving at the junction we turned right heading northwest towards Braunston with its 1 1/2 mile tunnel and 6 locks.

2nd Lock down the Braunston Flight

We shared the locks down to the village with Tore and Kirsten, the village is another honeypot for canal enthusiasts and boaters, and we arrived to find most of the moorings occupied, we decided to press on a little further waving goodbye to our Danish friends, their route takes them down to Oxford, we will continue on the Grand Union heading west to Warwick before climbing the 21 one locks of the Hatton flight to join the Stratford canal.

Looking back to Norton Junction

Yorkshire Lock gate at Welford