Still at rest

This is the well known Gongoozlers rest cafe now back on its mooring in Braunston, but still not open for business. There have been so many people asking about when it is going to re-open after they have travelled here and been disapointed that its closed.Their face book page says the end of January to open . I am also getting a bit desperate for one of their rather large breakfast fry ups.

Spotted this boat in Braunston marina. The boat belongs to actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales (Basil). Believe it or not it doesen’t look that bashed up especially as his motto is  “Its a contact sport” .

With us spending so much time in and around Braunston we have started looking at a bit of the history around here .The tall chimney at the bottom of the locks at Braunston with the date 1897 in the brickwork was part of the pump house used to pump water back to the top of the locks. I would love to know if the original engine is still in there. No doubt it would have been some type of beam engine. With Braunston being the so called centre of the canal network its surprising that it's not been turned into a visitor attraction.

On August 13th 1923 the boatmen working for FMC went on strike over a proposed 6.5% cut in their poor wages. They stopped all boats passing through the locks at Braunston. They worked very long hours of 12 hours a day 7 days a week earning an average of only £1and 5 shillings (£1.25p) a week. After 14 weeks of striking and blockading the canal at 7 am on Monday 19 November and with FMC agreeing to talk to the boatmen some boats started to move, but the boatmen were on the same terms as before the strike.

Burning the midnight oil again and this time on Rich and Sharon’s boat nb Oakapple. With Gary and Della nb Muleless also onboard we had another great evening together. It got even better when Rich brought out the Irish Whiskey…Just the ticket !. With some of us now going our seperate ways lets just hope it’s not too long before we meet up again…                                                                                                
                                                                

                                                                            Happy Days