The North Oxford Canal, Hawksbury to Braunston 4th November 2013

The North Oxford canal....Coventry to Braunston

Monday 4th November 2013

This is where we have to do a 180 degree turn round through the bridge that separates the Coventry Canal with the North Oxford Canal and into the Sutton Stop Lock, a lock that's got a foot rise to get up onto the North Oxford canal ......

We turned left towards Rugby, coming from Atherstone direction...

...and went under the bridge separating the two canals

...ready to do the sharp left turn

... made it in one go, waiting at the lock moorings to go up the Sutton Stop lock onto the North Oxford canal

I make the turn under the bridge and onto the North Oxford canal, and immediately swing left again and am facing the way we've just come, only now were on a different canal. 

Pulling over onto the lock mooring we waited for a boat to come down the lock, and we went in. This lock, Sutton Stop lock was only a foot deep. 

Leaving the small lock, the bridge in the distance shows the sharp turn we've just done!

We were soon up the top and heading round the sweeping turn with boats moored on either side and on our way.

Looking back at the canal, not the prettiest we've seen!

There's a huge electric power station here, this is not a pretty part of the canal! We go on a little further and pull over by the Elephant and Castle pub, a pub we stopped in about 4 years ago and had lunch, it was the worst lunch we've ever had in a pub! Now it's closed down, a shambleing mess, overgrown gardens and graffiti on the walls. Next to the pub was a fishing tackle shop, the reason we had stopped, we had stopped in a few times for maggots before but that was also boarded up and no sign of life! Paul was disappointed but hey ho, that's life. No maggots today!

Going under the road bridge, the boarded up maggot shop is just the other side

Three miles later after cruising most of it alongside the very busy and fast train line we arrive at Ansty. It was so muddy and wet everywhere now, the towpaths were a boggy mess. We pulled over in a 'long term permit holders only' mooring space. This was the last place available for miles and, as we learnt last year from gossip on the towpath, it's not been permit holders only for years now, but the signs are all still up! So thanks to 'Nipper 23" we had his spot for the night!

Nipper 23' was no longer about so we took his mooring for the night, thanks!

We tied up and after soup and a sandwich we took Jack out over some lovely horse fields. After a soaking with the watering can, that's Jack not us, we settle in for the night, rain banging on the boat, cold and windy outside but were cosy in our little boat.

The rain didn't stop all night, or the next day, Tuesday 5th November. I took Jack out over some lovely empty meadows and he ran his little socks off, but he managed to find a field full of dead thistles, bringing most of them home tangled up in his hair. His coat was thick with them, it was a long job brushing all the tangled up thistles and soaking wet fir, but over an hour later he was eating his breakfast and drying off.

We leave our mooring just before the heavens opened

We set off a bit later than usual, but it wasn't raining yet, and we didn't really like it here much. 

Most of the day we were peering from under the umbrella

Just after we left the heavens opened again, showers came and went all day, coats on and off, umbrellas up and down. 

The trainline dominates the canal here, cant get much closer!

We follow the busy train line for ages, the canal is wide and straight, lots of cups of soup were consumed! 

The view from under a motorway bridge, concrete pillars everywhere!

We go through 5 and a half miles of open countryside, past the Roses Boat hire where as usual boats are moored right across the canal, space left only for one boat to get through. 

Roses boats are moored everywhere, its carefully does it, but there's a boat up ahead coming this way!

Navigating through this bridge hole could be tricky, but we never nudged a thing!

There's woodland around us now, rocky sides mean no boats can moor up here. 

We make our way through the beautiful woodlands...

... and there's still green leaves on the trees!

So we cruise on a little way looking for some armaco to moor up against. We stopped between bridges 35 & 37, there was no bridge 36 any more but we saw the remains of where it used to be. 

We found ourselves this quiet little spot in the countryside

Brilliant rural spot, no one around, no houses, no people, no cars or train, no nothing! It was lovely! The skies are grey, the wind is getting up but we go in and stoke up the fire and get warm.

Later on we get Jack out for his walk over lovely fields and meadows, and in a little copse we discover a huge badger sett. 

Part of the badger sett in the wooded area, our boat is moored just the other side of the hedge here!

One of the used badger holes ...

... and there are claw scrape marks to show the digging out - so no power tools used here then!

There's massive holes, tiny badger paw prints, piles of badger poo and this was just over the hedge from where we had moored up!

It's a bitter wind blowing now, Paul catches a few good sized fish and we get cosy in the boat. 

We had a beautiful view as the sun set

When it turns dark we can hear the badgers noises, but we went to investigate and didn't see anything. There were fireworks going off in the distance, it was freezing cold, and raining. So we went in! We went in and out several times, but still saw nothing. I even woke up at 3am, listened and heard them, went out in my pjs, saw nothing! On Wednesday it was still raining, forecast was for rain all day. Paul took Jack out in the badger field and I warmed up the boat, got tidied up. 

And sure enough, it rained all day! So a chilled out day was had by all, I knitted some more of my crazy jumper and Paul pottered around, another Jack walk in the badger field and we were home for the day!

It rained all night so we didn't go out on our badger watch, didn't even hear them tonight, maybe they don't go out in the rain either!

Leaving the beautiful spot out in the rural countryside

On Thursday the wind and rain has gone, for now. It's a calm day, sort of bright, and after Jack's walk (where we collected some huge field mushrooms) we set off down the canal towards Newbold on Avon.

At least one of the remaining two lights in the tunnel is purple!

It wasn't long before we got to the short 25 yard tunnel, only two coloured lights remain shining in the tunnel now, but a few years ago the whole of the tunnel was lit up by different coloured lights, looked lovely then! 

Looking back at the short tunnel cut out of the hillside

Looks neglected now. We pulled up on the water point by the Barley Mow pub just after the tunnel and filled up with water and dumped our rubbish.

Moored up on the 48 hour moorings, but just on the next bend it changes to 14 day moorings, so we moved there!

Just through the next bridge there were some 48hr moorings, so we pulled over and tied up for the day. We weren't planning on going much further as Rugby was next on our journey and we didn't want to stop overnight in Rugby.

We had a good explore around, found some great walks over lovely fields and meadows.

Our walks took us high up in the hills, Rugby on the skyline is never far away

Im sttanding above the tunnel entrance looking down at the canal and all the steps up here!

There was a sign outside the Barley Mow saying they take in laundry so we sorted out some washing and took it to them. Sorted! We had delicious garlic mushrooms on toast for lunch, collected that morning from the badger fields! We found a great little Co-op to get a few bits from before raiding Tescos in Rugby in a few days time.

On Friday we found the bus stop and after walking Jack I got on the bus and went shopping in Rugby, had a lovely day although it rained most of it! There was a great little market, a lovely shopping centre too! I left Paul at home nursing a bout of the 'man flu'. He did manage to pick up the washing though, £20 for three huge loads, washed, dried and folded!

Saturday we caught the bus again into Rugby, got kitted up for the winter with waterproofs, warm stuff and boots from the Millets sale! When we got back we decided we liked it here, so we moved the boat up 50 yards to the 14 day moorings and got settled in once again!

We moved just around the corner to the 14 day moorings, deciding we liked it here in Newbold

Sunday I baked my first ever Victoria sponge, it came out lovely considering I've only got two heat settings in my oven, on and off! 

My first ever attempt at a victoria sponge!

But it was only slightly burnt on one side, and it did rise a bit! We didn't go far today, or Monday, the rain was constant, the wind and cold went straight through you. Paul still had his man flu, we only ventured out to walk Jack, he didn't mind the rain and wind! We ate lots of cake, watched crap daytime telly!

We're ready to move by Tuesday, the sun's shining and its a beautiful day

By Tuesday 12 th November we were ready to move again. We'd had a brilliant time here, getting to know the area but we were ready to move on, find somewhere different for our view out of the windows. The boats covered in autumn leaves, it's been pretty windy but today it's cold but there's no wind. 

The long straight canal and various bridge structures make this typical of the North Oxford canal

Tesco mooring, plenty of space here

We cruise just a mile and we came into Rugby and moored up on the Tescos moorings. after a cuppa we set off the 5 minute walk to Tescos and do our shopping. Back at the boat we put all the goodies away and have lunch before setting off again. 

We weave our way passed the moorings at Rugby....

Its really quite pretty here, considering we're going round a large town!

We have a lovely cruise out of Rugby, you don't see a lot as the canal goes north around the town, but the canal looks beautiful today. 

Navigating the narrow bend by Clifton Cruisers base

We cruise past Clifton cruisers where the boats are moored three abreast, as usual for the hire boat marinas. The suns out, it's a beautiful blue sky but it's still mighty cold. 

Posh graffiti under a bridge as we leave Rugby!

Just before the locks at Hillmorton is where we decided to stop, it's a nice little spot, a few boats are moored up here so we tied up and I took Jack out straight away. 

It's a cold afternoon as I set off with Jack to find a field to play.
Hillmorton masts litter the countryside in the background

I knew if I got in the warm I wouldn't want to go out in the cold again today! Paul's cough has got pretty bad now so he stayed in the warm. After Jack ran around several empty horse meadows we got back to the boat we were cosy and warm, settled in for the evening. It was lovely and quiet here, no traffic noise, no train noise, silent nights.

On Wednesday we woke up to a cold and frosty morning, our first real frost of the Autumn. 

Walking Jack around the misty icy meadows, horses graze under the trees while Jacks onto a trail!

After walking Jack again around the misty frosty horse meadows we set off to the water point, it was really cold but beautiful and bright. 

We filled up with water and made our way round the corner to the first of the Hillmorton locks. 

... Just so we know where we are!

Theses locks, for anyone who doesn't know, are single boat width locks, but there's two of them together, side by side. So there's every possibility that one of the two locks would be in our favour, ie. empty and ready for us to go straight in. 

There's inscriptions on most of the lock gates here, up ahead you can see the locks side-by-side

We came up trumps! At all of the three locks there was an empty one and we went straight in, filled up the lock to the top and straight out again!

Going into the last lock, Paul opening the gate for me, Jack on guard

On our way once more, the canal is long and straight here, open fields and nearly bare trees surround us. The day is bright and cold so we had lots of cuppa soup and chocolate to keep us warm to the inside. 

Big, big landscape all around us now and the masts from Hillmorton

And more of the usual, long straight canal with loads of different design bridge, as I said before typical of this canal!

We cruise on further, concrete boulders line the canal towpath side at an angle so no mooring here.Barby moorings were lovely and as we went past the marina we spotted a boat we met with a guy called Dennis at Stratford on Avon, all moored up for the winter.

Barby Marina, our friend, Dennis's boat is the turquoise one, second from the right!

The countryside was big and open, lovely fields full of sheep with different coloured bums all around us. 

What a view as we get closer to Braunston, the canal is so pretty here

Going under the bridge we see the church spire and the village of Braunston

We go under Bridge 89 and pull over on the 14 day moorings just before the junction with the Grand Union Canal. 

The view from the boat, and what a view! We love it here so much we decide to stay on a couple of weeks|!

We've got the most amazing view across the canal, the beautiful fields backing on to the tall spired Braunston church, it was the best! We had our lunch and in the sunshine we set off to explore the area. 

One of the many footpaths over the canal leads to more and more beautiful meadows of grass

We walked up the hill towards the church, and this was the view down the hill! Happy Daze is centre.

We went towards the junction and the towpath opened up by a gap in the hedge revealing a humungous beautiful field with hills and dips and trees and a stream and lots of fat sheep noshing lush grass. 

Ah what a lovely place to walk a dog!

It took ages to walk round the field, Jack must have lapped us several times the amount he was running! back at the boat we cosied in the boat for the evening.

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On Thursday we woke to a beautiful sunrise coming up right behind the church sillouetting the church and everything in front of it, such a pretty picture. What a wonderful part of the world we live in. after another amazing walk with Jack we went into Braunston, found a great little village shop, it had everything you could want, and more! Opposite the village shop was a great butchers that sold all local sausages, pies and meat, bread, cheese ..... all the fresh stuff you can imagine.

We decided we wanted to stay here for a while, we love it here. There very few boats out and about now, not much movement. Three other boats joined us on our stretch of the towpath so we all chatted for a while. Dave in front, Leon in front of him and we had Michael behind us. We all stayed neighbours for most of the time we were there.

On Friday I tried my best to make my very first chocolate cake .... Paul's mate Steve was coming to pick him up to go to a gig in Nottingham and I wanted to give him cake!

We had shepherds pie to start, that was yummy. But we renamed the cake chocolate fudge cake as it was so gloopy it stuck to the top of your mouth. It was supposed to be light and moist, I guess I'm better at moist than light! But it did reminded you of warm fudge cake, we just needed the ice cream to go with it. Paul and Steve had a great night, said the gig was amazing.

My great buddies Lyndz and Anna came to see us on Sunday, it was only for a few hours but it was brilliant to see them, we all toddled off to Midland Chandlers to have a mooch around stuff we want but can only dream of buying.

We did move on Tuesday though, just up the canal 300 yards to the water point, but after filling up with water and dumping our rubbish we decided we wanted to stay in Braunston longer so I reversed the boat back to the place we just left as we loved it so much there! I was glad there was no wind as I had boats either side of me, a bridge hole on a bend and a narrow bit with boats moored on the towpath side! No worries! Happy Daze did as she was told and we glided back into the space we'd just left.

Weve decided were staying here at least till the weekend, maybe longer! We've legally got another week so as long as we move by Wednesday, were fine here.

On Wednesday Paul went off to get the car from its little spot in Milton Keynes. This involved catching a bus to Daventry, another bus from Daventry to Long Buckby, a train journey from Long Buckby to Bletchley and another bus from Bletchley to Newton Leys, MK. Phew! He was gone several hours, but got back in one piece, with car!

Thursday we all went over to Paul's mums in Great Brington for lunch. We had a lovely time, lunch was warming soup and rolls, we had a lovely but very cold walk with the dogs. The afternoon was finished off perfectly with a hot cuppa and home made fruit cake!

We went up to the village pub, The Plough, in the evening to sample the 'pie & pudding for £6' night. It was good food, full-of-meat pie, yummy puddings too!

We went into Rugby on Friday, nothing exciting, just food shopping. And a KFC! we also went up to The Plough again to see a guy called Dave Pepper who apparently was brilliant, travels around on his 70' narrow boat stopping at local pubs along the way to sing, one man and his guitar sort of thing.

Well we didn't have a very exciting time really, dull music, everyone knew everyone else in the pub and he knew everyone else too! except us! Very much a local village pub, we got bored very quickly. Put up with an hours worth of drool, then went home. Jack was happy!

Milly and Jack (sister and nephew) came to visit for the weekend. We had a lovely time, went out walking the lovely meadows, chatted non stop, drunk wine and moaned about rubbish Saturday night telly! We all snuggled in and had a great night.

On Sunday 24th November we moved the boat just a little way so little Jack could have a little cruise. It was a really cold dull day, but we set off wrapped up and headed off, turning right down the Grand Union canal towards Napton. We only went a little way, 20 mins or so, and turned round and headed back towards the junction again. We went right at the junction of the Grand Union and the North Oxford and moored just up on the 14 day moorings opposite the Waterfront pub, still in the heart of Braunston, just a little further up from where we'd just left!

But we're on a different canal once again..... this time it's back on The Grand Union.