Having decided it was a bit too far to comfortably walk to the beach with stuff, we loaded up the car and drove to a beachside car park where for a fiver, we could park all day. Deciding to explore first, we followed the ferry path behind the beach in Southwold with views across the marshes to the common and the golf course. It led to the estuary of the River Blythe which has Southwold on one side and Walberswick on the other. We explored a little …
… then bought a ticket for the ferry which has been run by the Church family since 1885.
Walberswick has been a favourite venue and inspiration for artists since the beginning of the 19th century and I was interested to read that a friend invited Charles Rennie Mackintosh here. He came to recharge his batteries and arrived with his wife in 1914 as war broke out. He worked on drawings and watercolours, mainly near the river but restrictions were introduced near the coast and artists working en plein air were regarded with suspicion. That didn’t stop him walking in the evening with a forbidden lantern and what with his connection with the Viennese Secession, rumour started and he was arrested for signalling to the enemy and banished from East Anglia for the duration of the war.
We stopped for a coffee, walked into the centre with just a couple of shops and an ice cream parlour and saw people crabbing off the bridge and enjoying the beach before returning to Southwold.
This part of the harbour is called Blackshore as the coal was once unloaded here, and it’s home to a strip of fish shops and cafes which were already open and busy serving lunch. We had to be a little careful, as several fry authentically in beef dripping, but Mrs T had a sign advertising rapeseed oil and Chris tucked into veggie spring rolls with his chips while I had cod … always tasting better at the seaside.
Replete, we walked back to the car and picked our kit and had just a short walk over the road to the beach.
It had got quite warm, so we were pleased for the parasol, just for a while, as we watched the world go by. I’ve been doing a sewing challenge and brought this week’s project with me to stitch on the beach.
We were thinking back to the last time each of us had been on a proper beach holiday in England and we both decided it was when we were around 10 years old. Chris was vague with details, but I remember Woolacombe and Bude in 1973! That might even have been the last time I got in the sea in England too … so braved a dip … and when I realised how cold it was, knew why I’d left it so long! Chris managed little more than a paddle, but did get his swimmers wet!
Continuing in the spirit of the day, Chris had bought me a bucket and spade in the little shop, carefully chosen for its slightly retro styling and eco credentials – no sharp edges and 100% recycled! I now set to work on a stunning edifice, with a central mound, and decorative stonework on the turrets!
Time for a bit of a time out …
Later we packed up, left everything in the car and went in search of ice cream. We walked up Gun Hill which looks out over the beach and Sole Bay. Southwold was headquarters for the English fleet in 1672 and they were attacked by the Dutch in the famously well-known Battle of Sole Bay. They fought all day with about 2000 men were killed on each side, then the Dutch sailed home at sunset after a well-fought draw.
We chose lemon curd and rum & raisin and sat on South Green, surrounded by elegant seaside villas to eat them before returning to the Wagon Store.
Happy with a quiet evening in, we sat in the garden and cracked open the prosecco then had an easy dinner of spiced beans and salad.
We had a good drive to Suffolk, with just a few holdups on the last stretch. Chris surprised me with a comfort stop on the way, at the Anglo Saxon royal burial site at Sutton Hoo. We had seen a film called The Dig recently, all about the excavation in the 1930’s and the discovery of precious artefacts inside. These are now in the British Museum, but replicas are on show including the intricate helmet, as part of an exhibition which suggests the burial could have been for King Rædwald of East Anglia
Outside is a replica of the 27 metre long Anglo-Saxon ship which was made of oak and after 1,300 years in the acidic soil, rotted away leaving only its ‘ghost’ imprinted in the sand.
We walked to the burial site where all that can be seen are some mounds in the grass, the best way to preserve whatever remains.
We headed coastwards to Southwold and found the Wagon Store, a one bedroom bungalow in Reydon which will be our home from home for a week. It has been beautifully fitted out and well equippped, not to mention thoughtful little touches to make us feel welcome.
After a cuppa we walked to the pier which took about 20 minutes. It was early evening and the light made taking a few photos a joy. The pier was built in 1900 to enable steamships dock with visitors from London, a journey that took 11 hours.
One of the features is the water clock, originally meant to be temporary but now much-loved and made of old hot water cylinders, with water regularly overflowing from the bath to water the garden.
There is also the wacky walk of mirrors …
… and a mural celebrating George Orwell who lived here.
We could see Sizewell nuclear power station in the distance.
At the end of the pier we looked back at the sandy beach, lined with beach huts backed with Victorian villas and the lighthouse peeking out behind. Southwold was already attracting visitors at the beginning of the 19th century, but by the end it was a busy resort with three new hotels, a railway station and steamer service.
In North Parade we got a bit closer to the lighthouse which was built in 1897 to reduce the number of wrecks in Sole Bay.
… before cutting done through the centre of town past the Town Hall and back.
We made short work of stuffing some Romano peppers with artichoke and feta filling and sat in the garden with a glass of wine while they cooked, then thought about how we might spend the next day …
A friend had booked a holiday rental in Suffolk and asked if we wanted to go instead when her plans changed. We were grateful for the offer as rentals booked quickly this year and we had pretty much left it too late for a July break.
So we are doing something a little different! We are off on a traditional British summer holiday to the seaside in Southwold, a charming town on the Suffolk Heritage Coast complete with a beach-hut lined promenade, a pier, a lighthouse and a sandy beach. What’s more, it required absolutely no research or planning, all we had to do was say yes and pay the bill!
We have been hoping for reasonable weather, always a big ask in England in the summer, and have packed for every season, but the recent forecast is looking very promising! There are walks around Southwold as well as each way along the coast and inland through marshes and heathland, as well as drives if the weather is not so so good. We’ve even packed our swimmers just in case, but I think that might be a bit optimistic!
I’m feeling just as excited about this holiday as I’ve been about some of our far more exotic travels … and only one more sleep!
We had been staying in Exmouth for the weekend and took turns driving just over 200 miles to Monk Haven in Pembrokeshire, stopping at the services for lunch. The road from Haverfordwest soon narrowed and was often only a single track with passing places so I’m glad Chris was driving at this point! We arrived around 4pm and checked in to our lovely room at Monk Haven Manor overlooking the front of the building, had a cuppa, then went to explore.
The house was once the rectory for the small St Ishmael church opposite and was built in 1830.
We took the footpath for 10 minutes down to a small stony cove and saw the sea. There was chamomile growing between the rocks and I picked up a handful of pink stones to take home. It was all a little grey and the rain started on the way back.
We’d booked a table at The Castle in Little Haven and left early to go and look round. Despite the drizzle, we walked to the point … then back to the town for dinner.
We were shown to our table and the menu choice was easy when I saw the special was oven roasted mackerel with romanesco sauce and greens and Chris picked Sweet Potato Tagine with a side of chips so was completely happy!
When we left, the rain had become strong and steady and we returned to the B&B in time to see Emma Raducanu’s match. She began well lost the first set and retired after 3 games due to medical problem which was rather a shame. We do hope the rain dies out overnight as forecast.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been keeping an eye on the weather forecast and also the puffin cam which is set up by one of the puffin burrows on Skomer. Our dread is that having arrived a little early this year, the puffins might leave before we arrive or that the weather is so bad, that either the boat isn’t running or it’s so wet and miserable we have a horrible day! Well the day has dawned and I think we might be in luck. The puffins are still there as we have seen them this morning already …
As for the weather, we woke to sunshine and enjoyed our breakfast on the patio but the forecast is rain later so we’ll just have to see how soon and for how long!
We are well prepared with fleeces, waterproofs and even umbrellas, as well as suncream. Needless to say our rucksacks also have cameras, spare batteries, binoculars and a packed lunch.
We drove down to Martin’s Haven and parked in the National Trust car park free with our membership. We checked in for our trip and climbed the headland to get a view of a Skomer in the distance, before going to the jetty to board our 11.30 boat.
It was only a 15 minute crossing, and I hadn’t given it much thought in advance, but boy did I feel ill! The boat went up and down across the waves and so did my tummy. Other passengers were exclaiming at the puffins flying overhead, but I sat with my eyes firmly shut until we docked. We immediately saw puffins on the cliff either side of the steps. There were loads of them, everywhere!
We gathered for a welcome talk which helped orientate us and the warden explained how important it was to remain on the path as there are burrows close by which can easily cave in if walked over. She encouraged us to follow the circular trail round the island and said if we were lucky we might see porpoises or seals.
The landing area is one of the two main puffin nesting areas and we lingered taking a few pictures before heading towards the centre of the island. The island is very pretty with lots of red campion in flower and gulls and other birds constantly swooping overhead.
The path took us north to the cliff path and it became considerably windier as we followed it anti-clockwise round the island, but we didn’t spot either porpoises or seals, but we did glimpse an oystercatcher …
So let me share a few puffin facts …
• Puffins are small auks in the bird genus Fratercula, meaning little brother in Latin due to their black and white plumage which resembles monks robes but it is their colourful bill which has earned them the nickname ‘sea parrots’. As for the word puffin, this refers to the fatty cured meat of young shearwater birds, called Manks puffin, once a delicacy, who also nest on Skomer, although we didn’t see one.
• Puffins weigh about 500 grams and are usually about 18cm tall.
• Puffins are strong flyers. They can beat their wings up to 400 times a minute and move through the air at 88km an hour.
• Puffins can dive for up to a minute, although they generally stay underwater for about thirty seconds. When in the water, they can dive as deep as sixty metres and their short wings have adapted a flying technique underwater to swim.
• Puffins are carnivores, living off small fish such as herring, hake and sand eels. They are one of just a few birds that have the ability to hold several fish in their bills at one time and their rough tongues allow them to have a firm grasp on 10-12 fish during one foraging trip.
• There are 580,000 pairs of Atlantic puffin living in the UK. They arrive in spring and settle on islands and cliff tops around our coast to breed. They usually stay with the same mate throughout their life, and can live to up 25 years in the wild. The male puffin build his burrow in rocky cliffs, or on the solid ground between rocks around three feet under the ground. The female lays a single egg, and both parents incubate the egg and feed the chick or puffling. The chicks fledge at night then spend the first few years of their lives at sea, returning to breed about five years later.
When we got to The Wick the puffin burrows were either side of the path with clumps of sea campion in between.
We were amazed at how fearless the puffins were and spent quite a while watching them waddling back and forth, peering into burrows …
… resting in burrows …
… sitting around …
… occasionally flapping their wings …
… or taking off.
We only saw two birds with sand eels in their mouth and Chris was lucky to get this photo as he was so far away.
This chap was busy collecting nesting material …
… and I’m not sure if this pair are chatting or shouting at each other!
We thought we might spot the odd puffling, poking its head out of a burrow but we didn’t. We would have noticed because they have grey faces and beaks.
Also, we wondered what the orange blob was at the corner of their beak, but now realise it’s just where the beak hinges open.
We were lucky the rain held off as long as it did, but about 2.30 we were bombarded by a squall of drizzle propelled by the wind and our legs and trousers were soon drenched although our jackets kept our bodies dry.
We decided we had probably got enough photos and instead of completing the entire circuit, decided to take the path to the visitor centre in the middle and once away from the cliff we were soon out of the rain and we dried out a little. We found a little shelter to eat our picnic, then continued back to boat jetty as we knew we would have a final chance to watch the puffins before our boat left at 4.00.
The crossing back was slightly smoother … but not a lot!
We visited the shop for souvenir mugs and a tea towel before driving back to Monk Haven to dry out, get warm and drink tea.
We had dinner at The Griffin in Dale, a seafront pub with a great seafood menu.
I had a fillet of hake served with red pepper and chorizo sauce and a glass of Merlot while Chris had veg curry, chips and beer! The step counter says we walked 5.9 miles, but we had also been on our feet all day, not to mention the buffeting wind so it’s little surprise we were soon ready to call it a day. One last job – a photo count – I took 200 which pales into insignificance against Chris’s 600 – nearly all featuring puffins so we had our work cut out to choose and edit when we got home.
It was a great day out, and just like any day trip in the UK when you have to plan ahead, you just have to get on with it, whatever the weather. Fortunately a bit of wind and rain didn’t seem to bother the puffins at all.
And since you just can’t have enough puffin pics, here are a few more, after all, they were the stars of the day!
This is just a quick trip, delayed from last year, in search of puffins! I’ve always thought these little chaps look particularly comical and they are a great favourite with photographers so Chris is eager to have a go. More recently, I’ve even painted one in art class and finally we are off to hopefully see them up close and personal.
Having done some research, Skomer seemed to be the easiest place to see them, Monk’s Haven Manor the loveliest place to stay and July the best month to visit … and while 2020 proved not to be the best year, we are hoping this year we will have better luck!
The first day of June and another sunny morning and a quick turn round Waterhall Park. We were surprised how different it looked compared with our last visit in October …
… and even how warm, so decided I should keep Mr Hayes company …
… and there was no time like the present … only to be caught in the act!
We made our way back, enjoying the sunshine. Just a couple of things we noticed … a pipe bridge so bright we don’t know how we haven’t noticed it before …
… and another fuel boat moored up – easy when you know what to look for!
Realising we’d not take many pics of the actual hard work, we took a few at a Stoke Hammond lock as we had it to ourselves.
At Soulbury, help was at hand from David and John, Canal Trust volunteers who man the triple lock to try to save water, so we actually had to wait a while for boats to come down before we could up, but at least we had help with the locks.
I sat at the front for a while, surprised how quiet it was and watched the world float by, listening to the gentle plink of water. We’ve seen lots of people sitting in the front, usually the women, with the men huddled round the tiller, but since there’s just two of us, we usually sit companionably at the back together. I saw a couple of boats from the Leighton Buzzard Navy, as we’ve heard Wyvern boats described, starting out on their holidays, just as we return from ours.
It was soon time to moor up for the night, leaving just a short distance and one lock to navigate in the morning. Dinner tonight is truly gourmet, Tesco tinned vegetable curry with potato wedges and Haloumi! We have a great little freezer compartment in the fridge on Daisy and brought four frozen home cooked stew dinners with us which we’ve mixed up with sausages, pies, pasta and an evening out in the pub. We’ve managed to buy groceries on the way in 7-11 type stores where milk and bread is easy but fresh food is harder to find.
As I was getting this ready, I noticed a well turned calf outside the window, and found Chris recording some video for his next camera club audio visual.
Our trip has turned out just as planned with a total distance of 72 miles, 28 locks and 2 tunnels (since we did them both ways!). We’ve certainly found a pace that suits us, around 6 miles a day, which gives plenty of time to take everything in our stride, stop to explore and walk and not feel we are on a mission. We’re getting better at judging angles and speeds and which bit of bank looks tricky to moor close to. We’ve experienced a tunnel, a flight of locks and a fouled propeller and all were fine, but are mindful getting on and off as while a slip into the canal is unlikely to be fatal, it certainly wouldn’t be pleasant.
All the housekeeping was quite straight forward and we only had a couple of minor bumps along the way. Even though we’ve had the coldest and wettest May in ages, the weather perked up halfway through our trip and the last few days have been glorious. The towpaths are so pretty with the white hawthorn and cow parsley and fields have been full of buttercups, clover and speedwell. I’m not sure another time of year would be so lovely.
I’m sure we’ll give this another go sometime … maybe Daisy south to Kings Langley since our map covers this direction too … or another waterway entirely!
Needless to say, there’s been a fair bit of downtime too and I found some great books to keep me company, a couple of autobiographical accounts, firstly Waterways by Jasper Winn who was sponsored by the Canal & River Trust to travel 1,000 miles round canals by narrowboat, bike and kayak to explore their history and present day life and write a book, then Afloat by Danie Couchman, an account of her six years living on the water, mainly as a constant traveller on a narrowboat but also on a mooring in a wider boat. After that I lightened up a bit and read a couple of novels, Three Women and a Boat by Anne Youngson about Eve and Sally who collide on a towpath and agree to drive Anastasia’s narrowboat to Chester and The Cosy Canal Boat Dream by Christie Barlow which was a feel good romance set in a canal side marina and have just started Murder on the Oxford Canal, investigated by DI Hillary Greene who lives on a narrowboat.
I also brought a bag of yarn scraps and a crochet hook and in odd moments have been making a kaleidoscope of butterflies as a summer makeover for my craft tree once we get home. I’ve got a dozen in the bag and it’s going to look lovely!
We’ve been checking out boat names all trip, and while many are fairly standard, a few have floated to the top of our list
We’re so pleased we’ve been afloat again, seen all we had hoped to see last trip … and more … thank you Daisy!
Retracing our route back into Milton Keynes, we just enjoyed the countryside on such a lovely day and pottered along slowly, stopping for lunch in the sun.
When we got to New Bradwell, we remembered how we were so busy taking photos of the aqueduct, we missed the windmill entirely so we stopped to find it. Samuel Holman built the mill to grind corn and take advantage of the trade possibilities of the new canal to sell his flour, but may not have proved too successful as it had several owners and was abandoned 60 years later as no longer economic. Surprisingly it is almost completely hidden, in a field, surrounded by a housing estate and I’m not sure which of these views I prefer, so I put them both in.
New Bradwell on a bank holiday – cricket, a packed pub garden and the sound of an ice cream van in the distance.
A recent poll found that Milton Keynes has the largest area of parks per person in Britain and since many of the larger areas can be found either side of the canal, we’ve been visiting many of them with the next being Stanton Low Park, a large green space with grazing animals, wild flowers and an atmospheric ruined church. This was once the centre of Stantonbury village but it fell into decline in the C18th and was later destroyed by quarrying. Today it’s just another green space in Milton Keynes, enjoyed by the housing estate the other side of the canal.
We walked around, Chris had a bit of a photo op with a couple of models …
… and I managed to take some pics of a bird on the look out for supper.
We unpacked the little chairs and sat on the canal bank, firstly in the shade with a cup of tea …
… and later in the sun with a glass of wine …
… and then the sun set!
Next day I was awake early, had a wander down the towpath and watched the mist hovering above the canal, but went back to a cuppa and waited for the day to warm up a bit.
In the end, we had a bit of a slow start, made slower by the arrival of Jules Fuels to deliver diesel to the boat behind us. We were fascinated – the boat and butty are both around 87 years old and beautifully painted with castles and roses and despite being working boats.
They can carry 9,000 litres of diesel, 8 tons of coal and 5 tons of coke as well as wood and gas cylinders. The original proprietors have recently retired, leaving the work to younger folk. There are monthly routes and they use text and Facebook to contact their clients who then place an order and know roughly the time and place they can meet up, but they can also be flagged down.
They tied up mid stream against the boats either end of us and refilled the boat behind who had almost run dry yesterday and borrowed a jerry can of fuel to get here.
Then a woman ran up the towpath saying they were desperate for fuel and they were reversing their boat Klara up for a refill, so we waited for that too.
It’s amazing to think these traditional ways are still relevant, especially now that there are more continuous cruisers than ever on the waterways and we were pleased to have seen them and had the chance to chat.
Once we got going, we kept an eye out for some enamel panels we had missed on the way through, another part of the Gyosei Art Trail, showing local birds using a Japanese aesthetic.
We then made a brief stop to walk into Linford Park to find brick kilns which were in use at the end of the C19th. There was once a tall chimney and the fire would have serviced all three kilns in rotation. They are currently being restored so that the brickwork is safe once more. The information panel had details of the two week firing process which heated the kilns to 1150°C.
We had lunch in the sun, and took snaps along the way, stopped to refill with water then made a longer stop so we could visit Caldecotte Lake.
This is another of the green spaces in Milton Keynes and this map from their Parks department shows how many there are, with the Grand Union Canal. curving from top left to bottom right joining many of them up. So far we have been to the Ouse Valley Park, Stanton Low Park, Great Linford Park, Willen Lake, Campbell Park, Cauldicotte Lake and Waterhall Park.
And on a bank holiday Monday with the temperature almost hitting 20°, the park was full of people enjoying themselves in the sun! We walked 3.5 miles on the lakeside path, had Mr Whippy ice creams halfway round …
… spotted a windmill minus the sails …
… and a swan keeping a low profile.
Back onboard, we continued through the lock at Fenny Stratford where a Rod Stewart lookalike who sang more like Tom Jones was pounding out tunes for the busy pub garden audience at the Red Lion. Fortunately a couple of people offered to help with the swing bridge and we were soon on our way, down to Waterhall Park where we’ve moored before.
Another beautiful day dawned and having made so much progress yesterday, we decided to aim for Cosgrove as there are several good walks here if we have extra time and the added bonus that we could visit Daisy’s Bakin Butty!
Today is Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend and already it seems noticeably busier than when we came through a few days ago, with boats moored up nose to tail. We were hoping there would be another boat to go down the flight of locks with, and as we pulled out and set off, the skipper of Requies waved and said they would come down with us. I realised this was the same boat that I’d photographed outside Weedon Wharf the day before and once we all got chatting we found out that is where it lives, owned by skipper Andy’s father. Andy was taking it out for the first time in a couple of years with his wife Lynne and their friends Colin and Jane who were crewing and doing the locks.
We met and chatted with lots of people on the way. There was one chap who had boated all his life but with two new knees, had to take it a little easier, but was still drawn to the canal. He helped with one of the locks and told me several interesting gems such as the lock gates are painted white on the end so from a distance you can see if the lock is open or shut, and also that in days gone by the lock gates were never closed when boats left a lock – that is a new regulation so that lock gates aren’t damaged by surges of water.
He was part of a greyhound walking group, who walked along the canal to access a secure field in which they were able to release the hounds for some exercise. Apparently you can’t just let them off the lead anywhere because they run off and chase little furry things! I also chatted to another member of the group with three dogs who explained they had been racing dogs, but after three or four years, their racing days are over and often owners don’t find it economical to keep them so there are charitable groups that try to rehome them, especially as they can happily live as a pet for another ten years or so. It seems that these dogs are the lucky ones.
Next there were a couple of Canal Trust volunteers, one in training, who was loving getting out at the weekend, helping put, getting some exercise and chatting to people. Over busy weekends it helps to keep the locks moving, and some less experienced or able boaters really appreciate the help.
There were even mosaics …
At the bottom of the flight we waved goodbye to Requies, made a cuppa, and happily chugged along, enjoying the beautiful day and the scenery.
We moored for lunch, and I was tempted by footpath leading off the canal, but a loop would have been a long walk, and we decided to take it easy instead.
That didn’t stop me taking pics though …
Carrying on, we didn’t want to be caught short like yesterday and find we had to proceed further than we wanted to, so instead were over cautious, and I hopped onto the bank as we approached Cosgrove to check out there was space for us to moor. Before I knew it, I was walking and walking thinking it must come soon … but there was another bend! When we did find a spot, we couldn’t pull in close enough, so I headed beyond the Ornamental Bridge and we ended up mooring in almost the same space that we had waited for the engineer before!
Having moored up, we walked down the bank in search of Daisy’s and realised it was a good job we hadn’t tried to go further, as the bank was full of boats. We found the Bakin Butty and had drinks and chocolate chip traybake with mascarpone icing (and extra Victoria Sandwich to go for Chris) then walked down to the aqueduckt and back to walk it off!
Looking over the bridge we noticed Barbie … did she jump or was she pushed?
It was lovely just sitting on Daisy for the rest of the afternoon, with the doors and windows open, listening to the chatter of passers by, who seem to like that our little boat is called Daisy!
Dinner was going to be pasta with broccoli … till I realised I’d forgotten the pasta … so we had broccoli with dhal and potato wedges instead … yummy!
Later, Chris noticed a number of people running passed and found out this was ‘The Long Run’ a 145 mile race from Birmingham Gas Street Basin to Little Venice in London run entirely on the waymarked Grand Union Canal Towpath, regarded by many as Britain’s premier Ultra. By the time they reached us, they’d already run around 60 miles and were continuing through the night and having run marathons himself in the past, he was eager to support the runners as they passed by.
The weather has definitely improved and next morning we started with a short walk across the fields to Wolverton Mill …
… then along the bank of the Great Ouse and back through the horse tunnel and over the aqueduct. This took us passed Daisy’s again, and it would have been rude not to stop and say hi, have a coffee and a yummy iced orange cupcake! Probably a good job we are now moving on … away from temptation. Or we could paddle boarding down the canal to work it off … but I’m not sure I want to take the chance of falling in as it looks a bit murky!
Cosgrove Store solved the missing pasta problem as well as restocking bread and tomatoes and we were off once more, leaving the Iron Trunk Aqueduct behind us.
Today was the first really warm day of our trip, with lots of sunshine and the canal was completely still when we set off, with barely a ripple.
Our first port of call this morning was shopping so we moored where the canal was very close to the road and just a few minutes walk through a field of broad beans to the One Stop grocers in Nether Heyford.
We managed to get milk, broccoli, bananas and a couple of treats – a cheesy pasty for a Chris and a pork pie for me, then walked back. After a coffee sitting in the sun, we set off again to Weedon Bec, checking out the best place to moor – not too close to the railway or the road, not on a bend or narrow stretch, reasonable view and walking distance to our walk start point and the pub for dinner tonight! At Weedon Wharf we had reached the furthest extent of our journey and turned round at the winding point – a kind of three point turn for boats – and Chris did a grand job.
We returned to our chosen mooring beside a big field with a couple of mobile homes parked and had lunch, again in the sun!
The afternoon was spent walking, following part of the Nene Way from Weedon, through Flore to Nether Hayford then back through fields along another path. It was well signposted and we have never walked through so many fields of broad bean plants with their pretty pink flowers!
There were flower filled meadows too …
…and we played poo sticks in the River Nene with fronds of cow parsley (3-1 to Mrs Hayes!) The half-time exotic Soleros from the One Stop were delicious.
In the evening we went to The Narrowboat at Weedon having booked a table in advance, and it was the first time we’ve had dinner our together this year! Since it was still warm, we chose to sit in the garden with a view of the canal as we munched through pizza and chunky chips and a couple of pints for Chris and burger and red for me … but we did clock up 7 miles today, so we deserved it!
Next day we began our return trip and spent the morning enjoying the more rural feel to this section of the canal. As we approached Gayton Marina, we phoned ahead to check they could pump out our loo as the gauge had moved into the red, not glamorous, but necessary and swiftly achieved.
We moored up nearby and had lunch then set out on a walk to explore the Northampton Arm on the Grand Union Canal that branches off at Gayton Junction.
It may only be 4.75 miles long, but it packs in 17 locks and joins the River Nene which enabled goods to travel from Northampton to London and the Midlands. It is also a narrow canal, so each lock only takes one boat at a time and it also has a couple of draw bridges.
Recent restoration has made this a quaint stretch with a mosaic nature challenge which spells a phrase …but this is remains a mystery as we only followed the canal part of the way … guesses welcome!
We saw one boat coming up, and a lady with a novel method of not having to walk round to close the lock gate!
At lock 10, we crossed the canal, jumped over a ditch …
… and continued our walk through fields. It seems like nearly every field we walk through is planted with broad beans so today we had the Guess the Crop Challenge – as we approached each new field I guessed beans and Chris guessed anything else and somehow won 3-0 so after the Pooh sticks, we are even! We have since found out that beans are a major crop in the area but most are field beans used as animal feed, even though they look like broad beans.
There are field margins round all the fields and every walk I’m amazed that I’m still spotting new flowers …
Four miles later we got back to the Grand Union Canal and crossed the Gayton Turnover bridge, specially designed so horses could change sides without detaching the tow ropes – the towpath changes sides in the first place so the horses don’t end up wonky from always pulling the the same side.
Back at Daisy we had tea and cake and then decided to moor for the night a little further on … which became even further on as we missed our last good chance to moor before the Blisworth Tunnel and had to go through. Old hands, we motored more confidently and despite slowing to pass two boats, still got through in just under half an hour, so ended up mooring just after 7pm in almost the same place as three nights earlier.
Dinner was soon on the table and the wine swiftly poured.
We were awake and breakfasted and ready to go by 8.30, but had a slight technical issue, namely a blocked loo. Chris had inadvertently knocked my perfume bottle and while he had caught the bottle, the cap went into the loo and disappeared. We decided to set off, then stop and call the office once it was open. We took a few snaps crossing the aqueduct …
… then headed down to Cosgrove lock. So far, we felt we’d got the hang of steering, but the morning was breezy, and Chris had trouble lining Daisy up for the lock. Eventually he succeeded and fortunately no one was about, either watching or waiting to go as he had several attempts. This had taken so long, we made our phone call, and they said to moor up and they’d send an engineer. I took over steering, and proceeded to make just such a hash of steering Daisy just a short way down the bank to moor, bumping into another boat. The couple onboard realised we had a problem, and the wind had caught Daisy and were incredibly cheerful, saying it could happen to anyone and helped us tie up.
We waited for the engineer, who came and retrieved my perfume cap which had lodged itself perfectly into the pump entrance! All good and by 11.00 we were ready to go, but a little reticent after our steering mishap, but it didn’t seem so windy, so we set off, in theory with 5 miles and a flight of 7 locks ahead!
The canal passed between fields with sheep and cows grazing and we saw the odd church tower peeking out between trees as the canal meandered along. It remained grey and a bit chilly especially as with few moored boats to slow for, we were able to keep a reasonable speed.
At one point a boat had come loose from its morning and the current had moved it across the canal, but then it settled closer to the back and we were able to get by. We also came up behind a pair of swans and they took off down the canal.
After a late lunch we approached the first lock and saw another boat coming up behind us, hopefully meaning a buddy to work the locks with. Carpathian was owned by Colin who had Wes and Meg on a Workaway Break crewing in return for board and lodging. Not only could Meg and I work the locks together, but Wes went ahead and prepared the locks, so we reached Stoke Bruerne within a couple of hours, chatting along the way.
Rather than skirting the village, the canal was built slap bang straight through the middle of Stoke Bruerne, and the locks have raised us up 17m to get here. There was a wharf to serve the nearby quarry and Mill Dock where coal was delivered for the steam powered corn mill, now the museum. It became a popular overnight stop for working boats, where they could stock up with food, use the blacksmith, cobbler and rope maker and catch up with news. It would have been a busy and bustling working environment, quite different from the picturesque view today.
The duplicate lock was built to speed up the traffic when the canals got really busy by allowing boats to pass each other, but once the railways took over it was no longer used.
The Boat Inn remains the centre of commerce, not just a pub but also a small shop selling groceries and we picked up a loaf of bread and a couple of ice creams which we ate watching the world go by, before retiring to Daisy for the evening … and a gourmet dinner!
We woke to sunshine and breakfasted quickly and set off for a walk but got chatting to Lloyd who was moored behind us when we admired his boats. He and his wife Daisy live on Trout and recently bought a butty called Norah which they’ve turned into a coffee and cake business called Daisy’s Bakin Butty! Both boats date to the 1930’s and have been recently restored pretty faithfully to the period with Lloyd doing most of the work. They are heading to Cosgrove for the bank holiday weekend so we will try and stop by on our way back, especially as the couple of red velvet cupcakes Lloyd gave us to try were delicious!
This is the entrance to the Blisworth Tunnel which at nearly 3km long is the third longest navigable canal tunnel in Britain. It was started in 1793, and teams of navvies were to work away by candlelight, using picks, shovels and wheelbarrows for the next three years. Unfortunately they not only misaligned the route, leaving a ‘kink’ in the tunnel, but also hit quicksand, causing a roof collapse which killed fourteen men. In 1802 they tried again, and the tunnel finally opened in 1805, but it had already claimed the lives of some 50 workers. Initially the boats were legged through with a couple of men lying of top of the boat with their feet against the tunnel but from 1871 steam tugs were used to pull boats through, and extra ventilation shafts were installed. Boaters who wanted to avoid the extra cost of using tugs could still leg their boats through, but by the 1930s most people used motor boats.
Further tragedy was to strike in 1861. Entering the northern end of the unlit tunnel – which had been temporarily narrowed due to engineering works – a canal steamer known as Wasp collided head on with a narrow boat being ‘legged’ in the opposite direction when smoke from her boiler reduced visibility to zero. In the ensuing chaos several people drowned or died of fume inhalation and two engineers were horrifically burned as they fell against a furnace. As a result of this disaster a new air shaft was sunk into the crash site to provide better ventilation. Since then some travellers claim to have experienced a sense of suffocation in the vicinity of this shaft or heard the wailing, splashing and choking of dying crew members in the darkness …
Well we will be going through later, but first a walk in the sunshine! We started up Boathorse Road, the track the children used to take the horses over Blisworth Hill while their parents legged the boat through the tunnel. We turned off down a footpath, through crops and fields of grass, this time studded with clover and buttercups …
… and then quite a lot of inquisitive sheep …
…and a study in pink!
The route took us through the village of Shutlanger and back, and we bumped into Julia and James who we had chatted to on the towpath the day before about travels and walking and the countryside. We went our separate ways, with us returning to Stoke Bruerne.
We had coffee and cake in the Canal Museum and a quick look round at the history of narrowboats and the traditional roses and castles and decoration which is still used on boats today and it was time to set off once more … through the tunnel …!
We were bound to be apprehensive, although other boaters said going through was perfectly fine. We knew to turn the spotlight on and wear a waterproof as there is often water dripping from the roof, particularly the ventilation shafts. We also knew there was room for two boats to pass but it was also going to be dark, and take 30-40 minutes to get to the other end … so here goes!
Well it was fine – there was plenty of space, we dodged most of the drips, took some pictures and didn’t hear and ghostly sounds, although it would be a challenge to hear anything over the sound of the engine echoing in the tunnel. But it did seem to take a long time and we did get quite chilly. We saw a boat coming towards us which looked a little surreal …
… but passed them easily and could then see the light at the end of the tunnel!
We moored up for some soup to warm us up, then pressed on, through Blisworth with the old mill building on the left, and up to the boatyard at Gayton Junction where we stopped to refill with water.
It seemed more rural, with fewer moored boats and less traffic as we chugged along … but having got the angle a bit out when approaching a bridge a little fast, some speedy reversing avoided collision but also got something caught on the propeller. Chris struggled to get Daisy to the bank, but a chap on the towpath, also a boater we found out, offered to help and we threw him a rope to pull us in. Chris told me later he had visions of finding something horrid in the weed hatch involving bones or dead bodies, but it turned out to be a piece of plastic sacking and a torn Slumberdown padded pillow protector!
All clear we set off again, but it was almost time to call a halt for the day and find a mooring spot, which on this occasion proved easier said than done as this picturesque stretch of canal was quite shallow and it took three attempts to find a spot we could pull Daisy in close enough to the bank.
After dinner, Chris managed to join the zoomed Yateley Camera Club AGM, with the canal as a backdrop and a bit later, I was out catching the sunset.
Off Travelling Together 