Oxford Summit to River Nene

As set out in our last posting we are now heading for Cambridge which means going on the East Anglia Rivers.  Last Thursday (19th) we left the summit level of the Oxford Canal, navigating the zig zags of the top pound to reach Marston Doles and head down the 9 Locks at Napton.

Once down the two locks (probably these should be referred to as the Marston Doles Locks), we have a view ahead to the houses in the village of Napton stretching up the side of Napton Hill which has a windmill on the top which can be seen from here but is not very obvious in the picture.

Once down the locks (and on Friday after an overnight and another good meal in the Folly Inn at the foot of the locks) you can see the windmill properly.

A couple of miles below the locks we passed Napton Junction.  In fact this photo is taken looking back after we passed the junction.  We originally came from Warwick which is where the red boat is coming from.  Since then we've been to the top of the Thames and back.

For a few miles the  Grand Union and the Oxford Canals follow the same channel and you begin to see ahead the spire of Braunston Church shown here.  The old windmill can be seen to the right of the church spire.

Braunston Junction is a delight with two fine cast iron bridges carrying the towpath over the left and right branches as the canal reaches the junction.

Here's the sign at the junction.  We had come from the canal labelled 'Birmingham and Oxford' and we turned right to 'London'.  Left is the North Oxford Canal heading for Rugby and Coventry.

On Friday afternoon we had a walk up to the village of Braunston and then back down to the interesting bits of the canal here at the centre of the canal system.  This stern warning was on one of the boats in a boatyard.  We didn't see anyone to explain more.

This fine looking steel vessel is a sea going sailing boat with a retractable keel and can be cruised up the Grand Union Canal from the Thames.  It was for sale in Braunston Marina and has hardly been used from its launch.

It is always worth stopping in Braunston as so much is going on.  We visited the old Stop House (where canal tolls were collected) and there are some interesting old maps and photos on display.  The original course of the Oxford Canal heading south was actually through what is now Braunston Marina.  On Saturday we went up the six Braunston Locks and through the tunnel which is about one and a quarter miles long.

Here is Leo waiting for Lock 4 of the flight.  Somehow we managed to change partners here as we came up the first three locks sharing with one narrowboat and finished the flight with another.  A boat which was on its own 'stole' our original partner, but there were no hard feelings!

Here is the west portal of Braunston Tunnel which proved to be remarkably dry inside, though we have had a drought which might explain it.

Here is a metal rubbing strip to protect the corner of a bridge that has been carved by ropes over many years as the horses towed their boats through.

This is part of the floor in Welton Church seen on one of our afternoon walks from a mooring to the east of the tunnel.  The green stone is Malachite and was a gift from the Tsar of Russia to a local lady.

And in the same church was this alms box carved by a local man.  The slot for coins is in the palm of the hand, a nice touch.

We read about this and went back to find the headstone.  A sad story of a six year old who went wandering in the fields and died.  Given it was January we suspect he may in fact have died of exposure rather than starvation, but it is a sad story.

On Sunday we came down the 7 Buckby Locks with a nice couple, Martin and Carolina, in a hire boat and then carried on to moor at Weedon.

Here we are just coming to Norton Junction.  You turn left here for a narrow canal to reach Leicester and the north. We carried on turning south towards London.

This view is looking down the Leicester Branch under the footbridge.

Here Leo is waiting for Helen to set the top lock of the Buckby flight.  The New Inn is to the right but it was not opening time.

We had a walk round Weedon which is a lovely village, especially Lower Weedon by the church and the infant River Nene.  We came under these two road tunnels.  The near one is under the railway and the far one has the canal over the top.  The canal here is on a high embankment crossing the Nene valley.

Our walk took us across the tiny River Nene and through this field of corn to Flores Church. It was again very hot so we curtailed our walk here, returning along the main road but fortunately there is a pavement.

Yesterday (Monday) we did not go far but moored near Gayton Junction ready for our descent to Northampton today.

This is a small marina which used to be called High House but is now called the Willows.  It is where Leo spent the winter of 2013/14 and we still have friends there.  As we were passing we stopped to chat with Penny and later friends Paul and Gail arrived too.  Paul and Gail introduced us to High House as we came up the Grand Union with them that year.  It was good to see people and catch up.  What with socialising and filling with water the day seemed to disappear and we spent the rest of the afternoon moored near Gayton Junction in the shade following what is now our regular pattern to try to avoid the worst of the heat.

There are 17 locks down from the Grand Union to Northampton and the River Nene.  So we set off early for us (about 8.30).  The photo is of Gayton Junction where we turned left towards Northampton.

We passed Gayton Marina and then around a few bends we came upon distant views as we reached the top lock.

This picture is looking back to the top lock as we start our descent.

The scenery on the Northampton Arm is delightfully rural though it does get noisier with a lot of busy roads close by.

Here Leo is waiting for the lock which is actually sited under the M1, one of the busy roads.  At least this lock was cool and shady.

It's another very hot day and we didn't make it all the way to the river.  We've stopped short in this pleasant shady spot above Lock 15.  Tomorrow will do for tackling the last locks and doing a big shop at Morrisons in Northampton.

So our next posting will be from the River Nene heading towards Peterborough.  At least we should be able to have a swim most days as we did on the Thames a couple of weeks ago. The water is already beautifully clear and we are seeing loads of fish.