Brrrrrr.......

.....winter coat shows itelf.

It was chilly, no frost but decidedly a nip in the air, and a cold wind too, when I ventured on deck around 9am to access the situation. I had no real reason to move apart from wanting to get near a food store in the next week or so as I am running low and the little convenience stores are pricey.

The sun was bright though so I decided I would stick with my initial thoughts and move up to Stoke Bruerne, and at 9:30 I was casting off wearing my winter coat for the first time since last winter.

I have travelled this section of the GU before, not much new for me to see but it was in the sunshine and still some pleasant views and nice autumn colours and the ‘odd’ interesting boat name.

The Owl and The Pussycat

As you approach Gayton Junction there is a good example of a turnover bridge, these were sometimes built when the tow path changed sides and they allowed the old horse drawn boats to carry on without having to untie the horse to change sides, he simply walked over the bridge still ‘roped’ to the boat as both the ramp up on to the bridge and the off ramp were on one side, imagine a normal bridge were the ramp up and ramp down are on opposite sides the rope would be taken over the bridge and the boat don’t fly!

I stopped at Gayton Junction services for the usual fill and empty, reversing onto the service point which is actually on the very start of the Northampton Arm.

This is where I began my little time lapse video when I travelled down the arm last year, if you missed it you can view it HERE.

Looking from the service point the GU mainline passes the arm on the left in this picture.

I also spotted this rather nice mosaic mural and plaque which I don't think was there last time, fixed to the side of the service building.

 It was then on towards Blisworth where I had a slight holdup waiting for a pair of boats to moor up, the butty was having a problem getting to the side and was diagonally across the canal, they ‘poled’ it over and got a round of applause and shouts of “eventually” from what I took to be friends of theirs watching from the opposite side of the towpath.

Next came Blisworth Tunnel  3076 yards and the third longest navigable tunnel in Britain, again not my first time through here but tunnels are always a bit of an adventure.

Still a bit hit and miss taking pictures inside but never mind.

Hit

Miss

 I passed one boat and he warned me the boat in front of me was towing so it may be slow, it was slow, but I kept well back catching them only as I left the tunnel portal.

Neither 'tow-er' or 'tow-ee' were happy, evidently 'tow-ee' had run out of diesel in the tunnel, not something you should let happen in a tunnel, and the 'tow-er' had managed to damage his tiller by getting it jammed against the tunnel wall, I presume whilst they were getting sorted before commencing the actual tow, he was not a happy bunny at all! I thought it would be rude to take a picture and as I could not be of assistance I carried on past them.

Stoke Bruerne is just a short distance from the tunnel and is a popular canal place for both boaters and tourists, it has a Canal Museum, tea rooms and trip boats, but this time of year it was fairly quiet, just a dozen or so people milling around the top lock, and a young lad (about 8 years old) asked if he could close the gate for me, which he did with help from Dad, before I emptied the lock I checked behind me to see a boat approaching so I went and opened the other gate for them. There are seven Stoke locks in the flight lifting or lowering you 56', we shared the top lock (14) and the next one (15) before I told them I was mooring up, it had just started to rain so my timing was good and there was a fishing match on the moorings but there was space for me before it, so all in all a good result after a pleasant eventful cruise.

Tonights mooring:

Damp maggot drowners.

Looking back at lock 15 

Total today: 8 miles : 2 locks : 1 tunnel