Narrowboat Maid of the Mist Blog - May 2011

We hope you enjoy reading about our travels around the British Inland Waterways

Grand Union Canal cont ...

1st - Moved onto the Tesco 24hr moorings so that we could get our heavy shopping (wine etc.). We also had a full English breakfast before shopping.

2nd - Travelled 3.5 miles and 3 locks. Moored opposite Fosse Wharf. The old Roman road Fosse Way crosses the canal here.

3rd - Only operated one lock (No. 20) today as we broke down in the lock. Graham turned the engine off as we shared the lock with another boat. Unfortunately, he could not start it again when he wanted to exit the lock.

As luck would have it we have RCR membership, so after Graham determined he couldn't fix the problem himself, we called them out. They arrived about 2hrs after our call and it took the engineer 3 hrs to find and fix the problem. It turned out to be an earth fault as a connection had corroded. The engineer left us about 5pm, so we decided to stay put for the night.

4th - Today we did 3 miles and 6 locks. I know this doesn't seem very much, but I find these big locks very heavy and I am not keen to do too many in one day. We moored between Bascote Bridge 27 and the railway bridge.

5th - A big day today as although we moved just 3 miles, we did do 10 locks (which included the 8 Stockton Locks). Moored between bridges 20 and 19. A nice quiet spot.

6th - It's a lovely day today. We have been through the Calcutt locks (3), where we filled up with fuel. Calcutt Marina is one of the few fuel suppliers who allow self declaration of usage.

We then moved through the countryside and onto the Grand Union/Oxford Canal. Everything is so green and peaceful. Not many boats on the move, which is surprising for such a lovely day.

We have moored opposite The Boat House pub in Braunston as our plan is to lunch there tomorrow. We will not be moving tomorrow as we are expecting visitors.

7th - Had a lovely afternoon with Lea, Matt and the children. We lunched in the pub and were very happy with both the service and the food. They have a two for one offer on at the moment.

8th - Moved on today. 4.5 miles and 6 locks. Now moored for 48 hrs at Norton Junction. The locks today had the standard paddles rather than those awful hydraulic ones which require in the region of 25 turns each. Planning a 48 hr stop here.

10th - We arrived at Weedon today, travelling 5 miles and 7 locks and moored south of bridge 25. You probably think we are not moving very far very fast, but isn't that what boating's all about. We like to enjoy our cruising and if we do too much every day it would soon become a chore.

11th - At Gayton Junction. Today I investigated getting my shopping delivered by Tesco. Being on a boat is often a problem when you want to shop and there isn't one within easy walking distance. We like to use the local shops where possible, but when it comes to bulk shopping you need a good supermarket on the canal side. I saw a delivery being made to a boat earlier this week and spoke to the driver to find out how it was done.

Basically you moor alongside a property (obviously on the towpath side) to where the delivery van can safely park and unload. Find out the postcode of the property and enter this postcode as an alternative to your home address. In the section for delivery notes you advise Tesco you are on a boat and that the driver should telephone on arrival so that you can meet him. Simples.

I have registered with Tesco and am expecting a bulk delivery tomorrow between 11-12 am. If this works, I shan't worry about my shopping again. I am just a bit concerned I have over done the order and am now worring about where I am going to put it all.

12th - It's 10am and we have already received a text from Tesco to advise us our shopping will be delivered according to the slot booked.

It arrived bang on time. Will definitely do that again. Cruised into Northampton and moored up outside the apartments on the canalside near the bridge leading to the Nene Valley Retail Park.

13th - Despite it being Friday the 13th, we have had a lovely day in Northampton. I had a good walk round town and Graham went to the museum.

14th - Had to stay put again today as we were expecting a client visit which didn't materialise. Still baked some flapjacks and Graham found the first draft of the winter stoppages for this winter the link for which I have put in the righthand column. I will keep this link on each month's page so that you can get the updates as they come in.

15th - One final trip into town to pick up some tablets that were not available until today.

River Nene

16th - On the move again. Moved onto the River Nene. This is a beautiful river. We purchased the navigation booklet to help us on our journey, but we have only travelled a few miles and found the book to be incorrect on a number of things.

Firstly, the moorings shown after the boat club are actually before the bridge on the approach to the boat club. If you do not want to moor there, the next moorings are just before the guillotine lock . These are unofficial moorings where you can peg into a farmers field at Cogenhoe. I am writing this at 7pm and we have not yet been charged.

17th- Moved to Wellingborough. Nice moorings alongside the park. At the other side of the park you can see a 24hr Tesco - you just need to negotiate a roundabout to get to it, but it isn't difficult.

18th - Still travelling through countryside. Saw a dead horse in the river today just past the railway aqueduct. There are a lot of gypsy horses in the fields either side of the river and we think one must have fallen in and been unable to get back out again. We were able to notify the environment agency who will retrieve it to avoid a hazard.

Today we moored at the Diamond Centre official moorings. Nice quiet spot next to the football ground.

19th - A really lovely day's cruising today. The sun shone all day and we have arrived in Thrapston. We saw a red kite which is rare treat. W

We operated five locks, three of which were manual. On the manual locks, the guillotine was raised and lowered by a large wheel. Lowering the guillotine was quite easy, but raising it took every ounce of energy I had.

20th - Travelled from Thrapston to Titchmarsh and moored opposite the boating club, which is the headquarters of the Middle Nene Cruising Club (MNCC). There is to be a rally here next weekend.

21st - From Titchmarsh to the Kings Head at Wadenhoe. We had a lovely meal here to celebrate our birthdays.

22nd - This was our busiest cruising day on the Nene, travelling 9 miles with 7 locks ending up at Fotheringay, by the EA waterpoint. The moorings here are chargeable.

23rd - What a windy day it was today. I thought yesterday was bad enough but today was wicked. We have quite a powerful engine so cruising straight was no difficulty, however on approaching the locks we had to be very careful as the wind was blowing across the river pushing us towards the bank. We shared the locks today with another boat and they had a terrible struggle getting into the locks.

We are now moored at the EA moorings at Wansford Railway Station adjacent to the Nene Valley Railway. Travelling towards Peterborough from the west the moorings are immediately after the railway bridge.

24th - 29th Spent a lovely five days in Peterborough on the Wharf. We telephoned the Environment Agency to gain permission to extend our stay as we wanted our daughter to forward our post to us.

We had a good look around the town, visiting the Cathedral and the Green Festival which was held in the town square yesterday. Unfortunately the Museum was closed for refurbishment, and is likely to be so for at least 12 months according to the notice posted.

Today we had a little excitement. Whilst shopping in Asda, just a short distance from the Wharf, we noticed a runaway dog in the car park. We managed to capture the dog and with a little detective work, with the help of a couple of Asda employees and Pets at Home, we managed to trace the owners. So a happy ending - and a bottle of gin to the good for our troubles.

We have booked our passage through Stanground Lock for 1.30pm tomorrow to get us onto the Middle Levels. It is our plan to cover as much of the Levels as possible, and looking at the Navigation notes we may have to remove some of our plants off the roof to enable us to get under some (if not all) of the bridges.

Middle Levels

30th - A bit of a rainy day today, but as Stanground Lock is manned, we didn't have to do much. We purchased our Middle Levels windlass and key (£9 for both) and were given a booklet about the Levels.

Our first day took us as far as Whittlesey (also seen it spelled Whittlesea). There was limited mooring and we had to tie up with our centre line and leave the stern out. Nevertheless we stayed the permitted 36 hours and spent a few hours walking around the town. It is a lovely market town with plenty of amenities.

See next month for our continued journey.

Author: Jean Beven

Jack relaxing on a nice sunny day.

Graham in his usual mode, sitting down on the job.

The Boathouse, Braunston

The first draft of the proposed 2011/2012 Winter Stoppages programme is now live at www.waterscape.com/winterstoppages and British Waterways is welcoming feedback via the website until Friday 3 June 2011. All comments will be taken into consideration and a revised programme will then be published in July, with the final programme following in early September.

High Street Northampton - 13th

Grosvenor shopping mall - Northampton

Market day Northampton - 13th

Arched guillotine lock on River Nene

Me enjoying a lovely rump steak at the Kings Head, Wadenhoe - 21st

High Street, Thrapston

Ashline Lock at the start of the Middle Levels.