Miserable Anglers

We pulled pins at Welford on Sunday and with the temperature at 3 degrees c and the sun shinning it was perfect winter cruising weather. We decided to cruise until we had had enough.

 

 

 

                                                          The only lock of the day was the Welford lock which only drops you down 3 feet and 6 inches.

It wasn't long before we came across this fishing match. Yet again most of them were so miserable. Carolyn said hello to every angler we passed and a lot of them just a gave a grunt. One or two did say hello .  I have heard it said that they are so miserable because they all have ugly moaning wives at home so they have to go fishing in the freezing cold to get away from them…Of course i don't believe that !……….Come on all you Anglers, I slow down to tick over and keep to the centre of the canal , a simple thanks or Hello would be nice !!

                           Plenty of spaces in the marina we passed . I did offer to pull in for a few days of mains electric and water ,but Carolyn declined the offer.

                                                                                               Crack hill on the outskirts of Crick.

We cruised on through Crick and through Crick tunnel which was very wet and cold and on towards Watford locks. After 6 hours of cruising we were too late to drop down the locks as the locks are closed at 14.30. We moored for the night about half a mile before the locks . It was a good mooring with Armco and a good towpath . The only downside was the drone from the M1 motorway which was just a couple of hundred yards away. Still it was only for one night.

On Monday morning we pulled pins at 09.15 and headed straight to Watford locks. As we approached the volunteer lockie set the top lock for us so we went straight into the lock. The lockie said “have you been here before”. “Yes” we replied and that was the last we saw of him. As you can tell from the expression on Carolyn's face she was not very happy with him.

We then cruised down to Norton junction and reversed back on to the moorings by the water point and headed straight to the New Inn for a pub lunch.

On Tuesday we pulled pins at about 10.00 and headed down to Braunston . At Norton junction we met up with Pete and Dawn off of nb White Atlas who we first met at Foxton and arranged to travel to Braunston and share the locks on the way down. Above is Pete at the helm as Dawn and Carolyn work the locks.

 

On our way to Braunston we struck gold…... Well boaters gold. Look at all that wood on the roof of Inca. A couple of hours with the chainsaw and axe and we will have a few weeks worth of free heat….I love it !

                                                                                                        Inca on our mooring at Braunston.

After mooring we had a walk down to Midland Chandlers and soon spent over a hundred quid. We have had trouble with our terrestrial TV for some time and Pete suggested getting a new aerial from Midland. He said the one he had worked very well and at only 16 quid it was worth the money. It is only a small aerial but after fitting it the difference in the signal is considerable better..thanks Pete.

With the weather not good for tomorrow (Wednesday) we will stay at Braunston and then move out into the country on Thursday. Jules and her coal boat should be through tomorrow so we will fill up with diesel and buy a few bags of coal.

                                                                         Happy Days

Wild Wet and windy Winter Weather in Welford

After some awful weather we are still up the end of the Welford arm.Even the walks around the village are now becoming quagmires . Its not so bad for us but the dogs having short legs and being white get caked in mud. If ever we have another dog we will make sure its a dark colour……I was just wondering if they do a brown dye for dogs…. ?

                                We had a dry spell on Tuesday and made the most of it by taking Molly and Hamish for a walk around Welford reservoir.

                    There are two reservoirs separated by this dam. There is then a valve in the middle to control the flow from one to the other.

  This is Sulby reservoir the higher of the two reservoirs . They were both built to feed into the summit level of the Grand union canal and keep the levels up .

                                                                     

                                                             I know what she's thinking………………..That's a good plot for Gary !.

                                                                                        This pair reminds me of some people i know.

                                A lot of churchyards we walk around have headstones all around the outer walls , but we are not sure why.

   This is the most aggressive swan we have come across. He pecks on the side of the boat then when you open the side hatch to feed him he attacks you.

These two chaps came by in their little boat. One of them walked along the towpath with his tape measure while the one in the boat measured the depth of the canal across its width. You would think in this day and age they would have some hi-Tec piece of kit to do the same job.

Today (Friday) after our Tesco delivery we had lunch in The Wharf Inn which is very handy as its only a hundred yards from our mooring. And surprise surprise it was very good food and a very good pint….Just the ticket.

We will try and move this weekend as we feel we have been here too long and also there is now no wood on the roof . We have a couple of days worth of wood in the boat but after that we will be burning coal in the day which we don't like doing because it costs us money, and remember after all…..  I am just a young age pensioner !!!

                                                                    Happy Days

Wet Welford

We spent last Wednesday night moored at the junction of the Welford arm. While moored out in the country we made the most of the wide towpath and logged up the rest of the wood on the roof. Our wood stock is getting down and there doesn't seem to be a lot around at the moment perhaps a good storm is needed to blow some trees down.

On Thursday morning we pulled pins at 10 o'clock and headed up the Welford once there and picked up this mooring just before the end. Its a 14 day mooring but i don't think we will be here that long….But you never know.

          On our first walk up to the village we came across this old Traction engine. The driver was busy lubricating the moving parts..

                                                                 “Look” said Hamish…..”Spring is here”……….. Don't count on it

                      One for my old work mates ….. We came across this, its the Welford STW… It has 8 rbc’s…. with reed beds….WOW !!!!!!!

      For some reason it is ok for this boat to moor on the water point . He has now been there for 24 hours…Naughty naughty!!!!!!!

On Saturday afternoon we had an almighty thunder and lightning storm followed by a hail storm. The skies turned black and all the marina lights came on and the noise on the roof was unbelievable. You can see the hail hitting the water then settling on top.

                                                                                                 The hail building up on the back of Inca.

We are in no hurry to move at the moment. There are loads of walks although very muddy and we have all the facilities we need. The weather is not that brilliant but we have been out during breaks in the rain. We don't have to be in Braunston until mid February when we have our hull inspection and our Bss (4 yearly boat mot/safety check) Oh! and to check what happened to the rudder when i had my dopey moment and caught the cill on Buckby top lock. Could be an expensive job..

ps   The boat on the water point did eventually move.

                                                    Happy Days

DIY AT FOXTON

We left Market Harborough on Wednesday morning and headed back to Foxton. The temperature was just below 1 degree C and with the sun shinning it was ideal cruising weather. Just outside of the town we came across the canal completely frozen over so we pulled in to let it thaw a bit before continuing. After about an hour a boat came in the opposite direction and cleared a channel through the ice. So off we set again.

After a couple of hours of cruising we arrived at the bottom of Foxton and picked up a mooring with good TV and Internet. Being a weekday the locks at Foxton were very quiet. We went for a walk at 15.00 and had it all to ourselves Above is Inca on her mooring at the bottom of Foxton.

                                                                                 The sun going down over the Foxton Inclined plane.

       On the lock flight the paddles are painted in different colours and when operating the locks they have to be operated in the correct order or else !!!! There is a saying that goes “Red before white and you will be all right”…”White before red and you'd wish you were dead”. But you always have lockkeepers on the flight to watch over you and the locks are padlocked when no keepers are on duty so there should never be a problem.

 

This is in interesting boat, its an ice breaking boat. As the canals were the highways of their day they had to be kept open at all times. This boat had up to 15 men in her rocking from side to side and it was then towed along the canal by 12 horses. What a sight that must have been.

On Wednesday morning we pulled pins at 09.30 and headed for the locks. On route we stopped to fill up with water and got rid of all the waste at the services. Carolyn then went up the locks to book in with the lockkeeper but he was nowhere to be found. She came back down and checked in the shop and the pub, well you never know he might of liked a drink. After going back up to the top again she found 2 CaRT workers who said “No lockkeeper today you will have to do it yourself”

So off we went with Carolyn remembering which order to do the paddles and she soon had it sorted .Half way up we had help from the crew on nb Harnser which speeded up our ascent.

When we got to the top we were surprised to see 4 boats waiting to go down. Last week they only had 4 boats all week using the flight. It must have been the good weather today that has got boats moving.

The next place we want to visit is Welford. It is up the end of an arm that was originally built to supply the main canal with water.We have been told its a good place to spend a few days as it has a shop , Pub and all water and waste facilities and plenty of good walks.

                                                 Happy Days

Down we go

We woke on Monday Morning to a very hard frost and the temperature at minus 2 degs. We pulled pins at 08.50 and had the first problem which was trying to untie frozen mooring ropes. We headed for the water point at the top of the Foxton flight but it was frozen solid and we were told by a fellow boater that the one at the bottom never freezes ,so we put the hose away and headed to the lock. Carolyn contacted the lock keeper who booked us in and prepared the top lock for us.

 

                                                            A cold and frosty Inca on our mooring above Foxton locks.                                       

                                         With a hard frost on the top of Inca and the temperature still at minus 2 we enter the top lock.

                  The view from the locks is not so good today due to the early morning mist .The 10 locks drop you down 75 feet from the top to the bottom.

                                                                                                                     Carolyn just loves locking.

           The flight is made up of 2 staircases with 5 locks in each staircase. This is Inca entering the pound for boats to pass between the two staircases.

At the bottom of the flight we turned right after filling with water and went through the swing bridge at Foxton and headed towards Market Harborough. After a short distance you come to another swing bridge but at this one you have to stop the traffic. Earlier we met another live aboard couple who helped Carolyn operate the bridge.

             After cutting through some thin ice at the bottom of Foxton it soon cleared and we had a good cruise all the way to Market Harborough.

At the end of the canal arm you come to the basin where there are several hire boats and lots of private boats moored. We winded (Turned) and picked up a mooring just outside of the basin. With the town just 10 minutes away Carolyn was soon off for some retail therapy.

      When Carolyn returned from shopping we had a walk around the basin with the late afternoon sun casting some great reflections onto the water.

                                                                                                                        A piece of canal art.

The basin seems like a good place to moor and i think you can book winter moorings here. There is a lot more room between the boats than we had when we were in Crick marina making it a lot lighter inside the boat. You never know one day we may decide to take the soft option and moor in a marina for the winter. I must admit there are times when it would be good not to have to be constantly looking at how much water you have and watching the state of the batteries all the time, and not to forget all the waste as well.

We managed to get good TV reception on our mooring but no Internet so i think we will spend the night here and then move back towards Foxton in the morning.

                                                        Happy Days