End of Leo's Journey for 2024

 Well, all good things have to come to an end and today we have reached our winter mooring and thus the end of canal cruising for this year. Here is the story of how we got here, starting from the link with the Stratford Canal at Kingswood Junction just over a week ago. Another posting will follow this one giving stats about our journey this year and this has some news about the future which might come as a surprise to many.

This is the signpost at Kingswood Junction. We had come from the link which leads to Stratford and then turned right onto the Grand Union Canal towards Warwick.

As you can see it was a fine day. Leo is on the Grand Union having come out from under the bridge now to the left.

Soon we came to Shrewley Tunnel which is short at 433 yards but was surprisingly wet with lots of curtain stalactites down the walls.

About a mile and a half from Shrewley Tunnel we came to the top of the Hatton flight of locks. It was the first time for quite a while that we were tackling full width locks, taking two narrow boats side by side. We were lucky to team up with David and Anne on Otter seen here coming into one of the 21 locks and pursued by Leo. In this photo you can also see  that we have passed two boats going up the flight.

Here we are further down the flight, again having passed two boats going up. Notice the unusual lock paddle gear where the cogs are completely enclosed. This sort of paddle gear is used all the way down the Grand Union as far as Napton Junction.

The Hatton flight has the nickname "the stairway to heaven" and this picture gives an idea why. The bump on the skyline is a church in the centre of Warwick at the bottom of the flight.

We moored on Monday (16th September) at a favourite spot after coming down 17 of the 21 locks. On Tuesday we came down the last four locks and a couple more at the pub called the Cape of Good Hope where we had eaten on Monday evening. This brought us into the Avon valley and here between Warwick and Leamington we are crossing an aqueduct over the Avon.

We stopped to have a look round Leamington Spa and this photo is taken inside the Pump Rooms where people came to take the waters. The naked girl on the other side of the central seat seems to be missing an arm.

After lunch in the cafe in the Pump Rooms, we had a walk through Jephson Park where these magnificent fountains can be found.

And this photo is taken looking across the River Leam to the parish church.

On Tuesday we carried on until we were  outside the built up area of Warwick and Leamington and moored near Radford Semele. This photo was taken that evening at sunset.

We had received advance warning that there  was a sunken boat just beyond where we moored and we came past it the following morning. This looks to be a fine historic boat and we hope it can be recovered. It is quite a hazard to passing boats being sunk in the middle of the channel.

On Wednesday we came up quite a few locks and passed this construction site. Any guesses as to what is going on?  Well this is where HS2 will cross the canal. Quite a lot of work remains to be done and, in particular, there is no sign yet of a bridge.

This photo is taken at Welsh Road Lock and the lock cottage reminded us very much of those on the Thames. We think they must have used the same architect. This might have been in the 1930s when the canal was widened.

At Bascote there are four locks of which two shown here form a staircase.

On Wednesday after coming up 10 locks we moored at Long Itchington and paired up with Belvoir Fox the following day to go up the Stockton Locks. There are 8 of these as part of the climb out of the Avon valley. With help from a CRT employee we went up the Stockton flight in record time.

A couple of miles above Stockton we came to the Calcutt locks of which the second of three locks is shown here.

Once up the Calcutt Locks (this time on our own) we came to Napton Junction shown here. We have come from under the bridge, while to the left the Oxford Canal branches off on its way to Oxford.

The five miles of canal from Napton Junction to Braunston gave rise to a lot of disputes. It was owned by the Oxford Canal but was also used by boats coming up the Grand Union Canal from London heading to Birmingham which had no choice but to use this short section of the Oxford. Not surprisingly the Oxford charged extortionate fees to use this five miles. We moored near Flecknoe and saw this combine harvester bringing in the harvest. Unfortunately it was flinging chaff into the air while Ian was trying to do some painting!

On Friday we did just a short hop into Braunston. The picture shows Braunston Junction. The boat going to the left is heading for the North Oxford Canal and we turned right here to stay on the Grand Union.

We came up two of the six Braunston Locks and moored in a favourite spot on Friday afternoon close to the Admiral Nelson pub shown here to the left. We had lunch there and also met friends Neil and Karen Payne for a drink in the evening. We only know Neil and Karen through our son David who alerted us to their blog (this is at https://nbchalkhillblue.blogspot.com/ ). It was good to meet them in person, we got on well and I hope we shall see them again.

On Saturday we carried on up the remaining four Braunston Locks (our last 'up' locks this year) and the picture shows us leaving the top lock.

Half a mile above the locks our way led through the Braunston Tunnel. The picture shows us about to enter the tunnel which is about a mile and a quarter long. Narrowboats can pass in the tunnel and we did pass a couple.

At Norton Junction we carried on along the Grand Union but to the right here looking back is the Leicester branch of the Grand Union. Unlike the mainline this is a narrow canal having flights of narrow locks at Watford and Foxton which create a barrier for wide beam craft heading north.

Very soon after Norton Junction we came to the first of seven locks heading down at the Buckby flight. The picture shows us sharing the top lock with Midnight Cruiser and its owner David.

This picture shows Leo and Midnight Cruiser in the last of the Buckby Locks. There is a strange coincidence here. David was taking his boat to Whilton Marina at the bottom of the locks in order to sell her. Why is this a coincidence? You'll have to read our final posting on this blog which comes next.

Our last couple of days on the pound below the Buckby Locks has given us pretty dismal weather but we were lucky today in having a fairly dry spell during the day to move Leo to our winter mooring before we were back to the deluge! Perhaps this is a sign that now is the time to go back on land!