Hillmorton

We were joined by our friend Penny and her children Toby, Izzy and Roseanne for the day. We quickly reached the back of the queue for Hillmorton locks. Tenth in line, with only one half of the twinned narrow locks working. The Hillmorton flight consists of pairs of narrow locks in tandem to permit more traffic to pass. Over the winter BW have been repairing half the locks, so capacity on this busy stretch has been halved. After about an hour and a half we reached the head of the queue. Down the locks to the winding hole and then back up again, dropping our guests off by their car at the Old Royal Oak before returning to our mooring near Braunston. It started raining as we turned at the winding hole.

Penny saw me lugging the toilet cassettes along the towpath and said "Now there's a Daddy job!" Must ask Cathy if she's ever emptied a cassette.

Moored at Bridge No 89
Total distance is 13 miles, 7 furlongs and 6 locks.

Village at War

We went to Stoke Bruerne's annual Village at War event, organised by the Friends of the Canal Museum. I was excited at the promise of a Hurricane flypast (subject to weather and mechanical fitness). In the event the Hurricane did not turn up but this did instead:
















Yes! The observant among you will have recognised the Westland Lysander. As it happens, the first Airfix model I completed to my satisfaction (i.e. that looked like the picture on the box). A little research reveals that this is one of only two flying examples in the world, flown from Duxford; the other being based in Canada.

As always the event was great. This year the battle reenactment was replaced by a demonstration of firepower, as I believe the Germans couldn't make it.

Personalised Plate

Seen in Leighton Buzzard:
















This is a the bottom of a garden in Leighton Buzzard. Normally the Grand Junction Canal Company's mile posts show whole numbers of miles. On this particular stretch, the datum is Braunston.
Here is a "proper" milepost:



















Although this is not an original either, you can just see the plaque (horizontal) below the post that records the name of the donors whose generosity allowed it to be restored.

Out for the Week

This week we're out in convoy with friends who have hired from Gayton Marina. It's quite a novel experience for us to be travelling with another boat. It makes working the wide Grand Union locks easier with more crew. After the introductory talk at the marina we took on water at Gayton Junction and then turned left to make our way south on the Grand Union main line.

Moored at Bozenham Bridge.
Total distance is 5 miles, 5¼ flg and 7 locks.

Home Again

Back to Blisworth after a pleasant few hours spent at Cosgrove with the Buckingham Canal Society.
Last night was spent enjoying a fish and chip supper and some live music by the lock side. We tested a new Freesat satellite receiver in the evening, found it to be superior to the Sky receiver it replaces. I've been becoming less and less enamoured of the Sky service since they recalled all the Free Sky cards and replaced them. Ours never did work properly so we were unable to view any of the encrypted free channels. None of the Freesat channels are encrypted, so there really is no further purchase than the receiver.
We left relatively early in the day as I had decided to get Syncopation back to Blisworth by tea time. We passed throgh Stoke Bruerne in toiem for ice cream at the Boat Inn.

Moored at Mill Wharf, Blisworth.

Total distance is 9 miles, 5¾ flg and 8 locks

Lock Ransom

We've made our way down to Cosgrove for the Buckingham Canal Society's annual festival, or Lock Ransom.

For one weekend every year the members of the society take over Cosgrove lock. They operate the lock for everybody who passes through it in the hope of receiving donations for the society's coffers.

Moored below Cosgrove lock.

Total distance is 9 miles, 5¾ flg and 8 locks

Owl

At the school fete the man with the owl said you should never put your face near a raptor, then suggested a photo opportunity.

Crick Boat Show

At the boat show again. The weather has been threatening all morning but the rain did not materialise.
There were no less than two steam narrowboats at the marina: President was there but behind Kildare, I spotted another funnel:
















It was Laplander:




































Here we are in the Bell boat, paddling up and down the marina.

Home again

After a leisurely start we made our way up the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union again.

The dark concrete tunnel under the M1 is a slightly incongruous section in an otherwise green and picturesque rural arm of the canal.






















































Moored at Blisworth.

Total distance is 6 miles, 3 flg and 17 locks

IWA Festival

We've been in one place all day. That's unusual when we're out in Syncopation. We are attending the IWA Campaign Rally here in Northampton, celebrating 250 years of the Nene navigation. To be honest I was slightly disappointed by the failure of the programmed events to materialise, but the surroundings are very pleasant.


















We are moored in the new Beckett's Park Marina. I decided to take advantage of a special deal the IWA arranged with the marina to get access to a shore line, rather than run the engine at the mooring most of the day to provide us power for cooking and worry about the state of the batteries all evening.

The marina is so new it's not entirely finished as there are no water points or facilities block yet. The first was no issue as we filled the fresh water tank at Gayton Junction. The second is more of an issue as the nearest place I can empty the toilet cassettes is a ten minute walk away. Not too far really, just tiring on the arms as the cassettes weight 16kg when full.

Northampton

Syncopation was still where we left her on Wednesday, although the pin at the front was on the verge of pulling out. A pleasant trip down the remaining three locks brought us to the Nene. We had booked a place in the new marina with a shore line and so we've no worries about keeping the batteries charged until Sunday when we leave (as many cups of tea in the evening as we want). Plus the satellite dish doesn't have to be set up every evening.

Moored in the new Beckett Park Marine, Northampton.

Total distance is 3 miles, ¼ flg and 3 locks

All Clean

We've finished cleaning Syncopation. We made our way to New Bradwell in Milton Keynes before turning and heading back North.

We stopped for lunch at a busy Cosgrove where I carried out some repairs to the damaged hatch. With the aid of a 4lb lump hammer I was able to straighten the hinge back to near its original position. The hatch can now be closed with difficulty. I need to trim some of the lining away. It was always a tight fit, but now there is a clash of hatch liners and the hatch needs persuasion from outside to close.

Barbecue.






















Moored near Stoke Bruerne bottom lock.
Total distance is 9 miles, 2¼ flg and 1 lock.

Port Side Clean

I cleaned the port side this morning, then applied wax polish. This was after we had scrubbed the roof clean of algae and duck poo. They seem to have enjoyed perching on the cratch cover and the front end of the roof during the winter.

At lunch time we stopped near Thrupp wharf to wash the starboard side. Unfortunately we left the side hatch half open when we set off. It was at about 30 degrees. This was enough projection to catch on the side of nb Far Far Away as we left Cosgrove lock. Narrowboats don't travel very quickly but 18 tons have a lot of momentum even at 2 mph. Both boats rocked noticeably and there was a bang as the bottom hinge on the hatch door gave. We didn't notice the hatch was open until the iron trunk aqueduct as Wolverton and didn't realise it had been damaged until some time after that. The hatch would not close in the evening so we left it open (with the glass inner door closed).

Moored at Stantonbury.

Total distance is 9 miles, 2¼ flg and 1 lock.

Going South

After a winter laid up Syncopation is on the move again! We're out for the weekend. The aim is to have the boat in a fit state to be seen in public next week at Northampton.

Total distance is 3 miles, 5¾ flg and 7 locks.

Back in Blisworth

We made our way north to Bugbrooke wharf where there is a winding hole, turned and made our way back to the moorings at Blisworth for lunch.

A Weekend Afloat

At last! A weekend afloat. Or at least parts of it. Siobhan has asked for her tenth birthday celebration afloat in the shape of a sleepover on Syncopation. I'm so pleased! It's an excellent reason to clean everything aboard and check all the systems out. Syncopation is coming out of her winter hibernation. We moved aboard last night as a family and after a couple of hours the stove had warmed everything through. We got up this morning and spent most of the day cleaning inside and out.

The guests arrived by 3:30 PM and we moved North from Blisworth, stopping at Gayton junction for water and to empty the toilet cassettes. I tested my lastest innovation - a tap on the end of the hose so that I didn't have to dash to turn the water off as the water level reached the top. The extra weight of the valve also prevent the hose from popping out of the water filler point when there is good pressure.


















The spout end is interchangeable withg a car wash brush so I also washed one side of the boat with the hose and hot water from the boat. The other side was facing the canal and I thought it prudent to leave the job until it was on the towpath side. It usually takes two buckets and more time. With the brush on the hose it's quicker.

Ewan and I then retusned home leaving Cathy, Siobhan and her guests to spend the night of the sleepover on the boat. We'll return early in the morning to drive the boat to the Bugbrooke winding hole.

Note to self: Start saving for a new set of batteries. The ones we have are showing seriously reduced capacity. The Smartguage was showing 33% capacity in the morning.

We were hoping to make it to Bugbrooke Winding hole before dark but only made it as far as Wright's Lane Bridge.

Moored at Wright's Lane Bridge No 45

Total distance is 2 miles, 2½ flg and 0 locks.

Village at War

As Syncopation is moored in the next village I decided to go for a day trip to the 1940s. Stoke Bruerne's Village at War event was held this weekend. Arriving by boat saves the car parking charge. There's a daily re-enactment with lots of gunfire, plenty of old military vehicles to look at and a funfair to take rides on. Oh, and the working boats on the canal around the canal museum.
We watched nb Victoria and butty Angel moving up through the top lock.

The number of locals in period costume was impressive, both military re-enactors to civilians.


















There were contingents of the Home Guard:


















I was impressed with the full size replica Spitfire,


















Complete with replica pilot


















Even the Yanks were represented.


















I think the guy sitting at the front has watched too many war movies.


And I spotted bloggers Jo and Keith Lodge with their narrowboat Hadar, in traditional costume here chatting to an LDV volunteer.

Ashmolean

We went to the Ashmolean musem today. It's the Oxford University Art and Archaelogy museum, the oldest public museum in the country. It contains a lot of archaelogical exhibits - we went to the Egyptian gallery first to see a mummy. A nice young lady warned Ewan that the museum doesn't approve of five year old boys touching the 3000 year old sculptures as the heiroglyphs wear off.

There is a wide range of exhibits, including curiosities like Guy Fawkes' lantern, said to the the one he was holding when he was caught under the Houses of Parliament with a quantity of gunpowder that proved fatally impossible to explain away. I was also intrigued by Powhatan's mantle (Powhatan was Pocohontas' father) and an outfit that belonged to T.E. Lawrence that he wore between 1916 and 1919.
















Powhattan's Mantle

Home Again

The pound I moored in overnight was drained somewhat overnight and we were aground this morning. I had to push Syncopation back into the water as she was showing about three inches below the waterline.
I thought I was going to pick up a partner for the rest of the Buckby flight but it wasn't to be as the next people following down the flight from our start position were travelling as a pair, so the morning was quite hard work. I had lunch opposite Whilton marina and didn't go in and buy stuff. I have a weakness for chandlery stores, I fear. It's like nautical DIY shopping. After an uneventful cruise back to Blisworth we tied up about 4PM and made our way home. Blisworth is filling up with boats here for the Blisworth Canal Festival. I saw a few working boats and the Cheese Boat, among others.

Edit: I nearly forgot. I passed Tuesday Night Club's boat Earnest, launched in 1999. Earnest was heading north towards Buckby.

Moored at Blisworth.

Total distance is 13 miles, 2¾ flg and 6 locks.

Anchored at Anchor Cottage

We were woken by a boat wishing to pass us as we were across the cut because one of our mooring pins had come out of the bank. Luckily the pin was not lost as they are the type with a loop at the end that I always pass the mooring rope through the loop for just such a contingency.

We bought some diesel at Napton Narrowboats. Only about 30 litres as it seemed expensive at the advertised rate of £1.02 a litre. However as it turned out this was closely comparable to the advertised rate of £0.71 a litre we paid at Sovereign in Banbury. I'll digress a little here. Experienced boaters can skip to the next paragraph. Once upon a time red diesel for pleasure boat use was free of the government duty you all pay when you fill up your car. The EU decided to harmonise the duty situation and now we must pay duty on fuel used to move our boats. However, as a concession we don't have to pay duty on fuel used for heating and generating electricity for domestic use in our boats. But we all move our boats and heat and generate using different proportions of the fuel we buy. Most narrowboats use their engine for all three, in different proportions according to whether their owners are continuous cruisers, holidaymakers, residential or even gas free holiday boats like Syncopaion. As a rough guide somebody dreamed up the proportion of 60% propulsion, 40% heat and electric. When a boater buys diesel they must declare the proportion of their purchase that will be used for propulsion and thus attract 48.5 pence per litre duty payment. This is a legal requirement. I reckon we probably use about 50% for propulsion as we cook with electricity generated by the engine and this is what I declared at Sovereign wharf a couple of days ago, which brought the cost of diesel at 71p per litre to an average cost of £1 per litre for the 20 litres I bought from them. Napton narrowboats assume all boaters will declare 60% propulsion and this comes to £1.02 per litre. I'm not sure it is legal for a seller to compel all buyers to declare 60%. But they are probably within their rights to simply refuse to sell at a different rate.

After a collision with the day boat from the Mill House pub in Braunston (not our fault) we passed back through Braunston where half the crew jumped ship and headed home for a doctor's appointment tomorrow. The rest of us continued with me single-handing up Braunston locks. Luckily for me we met up with nb Hyperion whose ample and expert crew took us with them through the flight.

Braunston is a great place to see working boats as they often congregate here. Ilford and Ibex arrived just as we were passing through.




















We stopped just below Buckby top Lock, near Anchor cottage, site of the shop that sold the original Buckby can, still selling them today although I think today more of their turnover is due to ice cream sales.

Moored at Buckby Lock No 8

Total distance is 11 miles, ½ flg and 7 locks