Cruising on Narrowboat Leo

 This blog post is published having completed our journey for 2024. We've looked back and see that this year we have travelled 721 miles and been through 554 locks. This is the ninth longest distance and the fifth greatest number of locks in our 13 years of spending summers cruising on Leo. In that time we have covered nearly 11,000 miles and been through almost 7,000 locks!

 So much for statistics, what of the future? Well we have been agonising over this decision for much of the summer this year, but we have decided to put Leo up for sale. We have a broker coming to see us tomorrow to put this into effect.

Why the decision? There are a number of reasons, but the fact is that we've been doing this for 13 years and we both believe that it is time for a change. We have visited nearly every corner of the connected waterways, most of them several times. Leo is getting older and the same must be said of us too. So we feel that now is the right time to move on. There are also some waterways that we can't readily reach on Leo, such as the Monmouth and Brecon and even perhaps the Caledonian Canal and we will have time to explore them on a hire boat. We will undoubtedly miss canal cruising and the people we have met on the waterways.

Thank you for following our adventures over the years.

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!

The North Stratford Canal

 Having turned onto the Stratford Canal at King's Norton we travelled south going down the Lapworth Locks to reach a junction where a short link canal joins the Stratford to the Grand Union. This is the story of our few days on the Stratford:

Soon after making the turn onto the Stratford we came through this strange contraption. The Stratford used to be kept one inch lower than the Biirmingham level and this guillotine lock used to take boats down the extra inch. This was to prevent the Birmingham canal company's water from leaking into the Stratford canal. Nowadays both canals are maintained at the same level so we just motored through the open guillotine gates.

Soon we came to Brandwood Tunnel which is only 350 yards long. The bas relief over the entrance is a representation of William Shakespeare, presumably because this canal leads to his home town.

The Stratford has quite a few lift bridges. This one is called the Shirley Drawbridge. It is electric but some of the ones further on are lifted manually with a windlass.

It has been a bit chilly lately so we have got round to lighting the fire which makes life on Leo so much pleasanter.

Our friends Maurice and Sue came to visit us on Saturday. Sue is working one of the paddles on the first lock in the Lapworth flight and it looks as if Helen is paying close attention. Maurice is standing at the downstream end of the lock.

Maurice and Sue took us to Packwood House which has some wonderful topiary using yew trees.

And this is the house itself built in 1570.

On Sunday we set off down the rest of the Lapworth Locks. This is a rare recording of Ian working the locks! The picture also shows that duckweed carpeted many of the lock pounds down this flight. We came down 2 locks on Saturday and followed this with 17 on Sunday making 19 narrow locks in all, probably the last of our narrow locks this boating season.

The pound between locks 13 and 14 has a canal shop and cafe. We've never previously visited the cafe because it is impossible to moor the boat in that pound.

But this year we found a mooring one lock lower down and walked back to sample the fare at the cafe. The cakes were excellent and were made by Catherine the proprietor who told us she had been there 38 years! Well worth stopping.

Further down the flight we passed first a motor and then a butty shown here. Together these two form linked hotel boats and the  guests were helping the two boats through the locks, though it was the staff who were man-hauling the butty.

Below lock 19 is Kingswood Junction. This is an unusual junction with parallel locks. Lock 20 to the left leads to the link to the Grand Unioni Canal while lock 21 to the right takes boats straight on towards Stratford a further 35 locks down to the River Avon. As the picture shows we are going towards the Grand Union.

Here is the view looking back below lock 20 which you can see to the right. A channel to the left links directly to the Stratford Canal below lock 21. The cottage in the picture, originally a lock house, is on an island surrounded by canals on all sides.

This cottage beside the Stratford Canal is typical of the canal. The barrel shaped roof features on many of the lock houses on the Stratford.

 So now we are on the Grand Union Canal heading back for a few more days to our winter mooring as we conclude the boating season for this year. We will do one more posting when we get there and then publish a summary of the year, so keep looking.

Worcester and Birmingham to King's Norton

 Another junction so another posting to conclude our passage on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and turning onto the North Stratford. So this posting  covers our journey from Oddingley on the way north from Worcester, up the Tardebigge flight of locks towards Birmingham but turning off a few miles from the centre of the city at King's Norton Junction:

This is the entrance to Dunhampstead Tunnel. It is only 230 yards long and you can see the far end of the tunnel in the picture. Like other tunnels on the W&B it is two way so you can pass another narrowboat in the tunnel.

Some of the W&B is very overgrown as here where reed beds are present on both sides of the canal with just a narrow channel down the middle.

This picture is taken at Hanbury Wharf. The W&B is a narrow canal so what is the blue broadbeam doing on this canal and how did it get there? The answer is that they build them at Hanbury Wharf but when they are sold they have to be transported on a truck to somewhere that accommodates broad beam boats. Very curious, as that boat cannot go far in any direction from its present mooring before meeting a narrow lock.

Here is Hanbury Junction looking back. We had come under the bridge to the left in the picture. Under the bridge to the right is the narrow Droitwich Canal leading down to the fine moorings in Droitwich town and onwards on a wide canal to the River Severn above Worcester at Hawford Junction (see the previous posting).

On Tuesday (10 September) we climbed the Astwood and Stoke Locks (6 locks in each flight) and moored close to the Queen's Head for lunch. Our mooring was at the foot of the Tardebigge flight, the longest in the UK at 30 locks. On Wednesday morning we started early at about 8 am to tackle that flight. The picture shows us in lock 1 in early morning sunshine.

And here is Leo heading for lock 11 of the flight.

By lock 21 shown above we could see the dam of the Tardebigge Reservoir ahead. The reservoir provides a water supply to the flight and, by means of a pump, to the summit level which is on a level with Birmingham at about 450 feet above sea level.

Helen took this photo of Leo in lock 22 by standing on the reservoir dam.

This is  the top lock of the Tardebigge flight. While the depth of the other locks in the flight is around 7 feet each, this one is about 11 feet. Originally there was a boat lift here, but this was later replaced by a deep lock. At present there is a problem with the walls of the lock moving inwards so full width (7 feet) working boats are not allowed. Leisure boats like Leo are only 6 feet 10 inches wide so they are OK.

Here is the plaque recording the boat lift - note that the lift was man powered!

The bricks where the lock has narrowed have been scraped by boats using the lock. Ian tried to keep Leo forward of this area of the lock wall, just in case.

We moored at the top of the Tardebigge locks on Wednesday after a hard day. On Thursday morning we summoned up the energy to climb up to St Bartholomew's Church at the top of the hill. The view from here certainly shows that we are at the edge of a hill.

Here is St Bartholomew's Church, though it was closed when we visited.

On Thursday we had an easy day cruising to Alvechurch. Our route took us through two short tunnels - Tardebigge and Shortwood. The picture shows the boatyard at Alvechurch where a narrowboat has just been lifted out of the water.

On Friday we came past the two Bittel reservoirs. The picture shows the Lower Bittel reservoir. This too provides water to the Birmingham summit level. The mooring along the reservoir look great but unfortunately for us they are private moorings.

Soon after the Bittel reservoirs we came to the south portal of Wast Hills Tunnel shown in the picture. This is the fifth longest currently in normal use in the UK at 2,726 yards. It also marks a divide betwen rural Worcestershire to the south and the conurbation of Birmingham and its suburbs to the north.

A mile beyond the exit from the Wast Hills Tunnel we came to King's Norton Junction where the Stratford Canal turns right off the Worcester and Birmingham. The house in the picture is the old canal house at the junction. The plaque above the front door shows the tolls for the canal. The house has been vandalised in the past but now looks very smart and we have read that it is presently available to rent.

We think that, having restored the house, CRT now need to look after the signpost at the junction which is looking rather sad. We have turned right towards Stratford but intend to go only part way down to there, turning off onto the Grand Union Canal at Kingswood Junction. But that is for the next posting on this blog, so you must be patient.