11th April
'05 - 0630 hrs
Leaving
Graham Price's place close to Uxbridge on the Grand Union Canal
at 6-30 in the morning. My first solo canal lock was just ahead.
I'd have to pause and work out what to do! |
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11th April
'05 - 0840 hrs
Denham Deep
Lock just above Uxbridge. I'm in my stride lock-wise now. I
thought this one very deep at the time, but I have since been
through the top lock at Stoke on Trent. Now that is
deep! |
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11th April
'05 - 1240 hrs
Having had
an early start I was lured into an early stop by this sunshine,
the lovely meadow and the horse, one of many horses to appear
later, drinking from the canal. Tied up just below Lock 82,
Stoker's Lock, south of Rickmansworth on the Grand Union Canal. |
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16th April
'05 - 1408 hrs
In Lock
4 on the way down the Aylesbury Arm. 16 locks in six and a half
miles. Seemed hard work at the time but I have since been over
the Huddersfield Narrow Canal! I am now a member of the Aylesbury
Canal Society, who looked after me well whilst I was in the
basin at Aylesbury. |
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18th April
'05
What I think
is a Red-Crested Pochard in the basin at the end of the Aylesbury
Arm, in the middle of Aylesbury. I offer page 30 of Collins'
'Complete British Birds - Photoguide' as evidence! My father
came to visit me in Aylesbury, it being only about 30 miles
from Abingdon where he lives, and a place where he worked for
about 12 years in the late 1960s-70s. |
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22nd April
'05 - 1254 hrs
Soulbury
Three Locks. A short flight of locks next to the Three Locks
pub between Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes. The locks lift/drop
the canal 20'3" (6.17m). There were people outside the
pub eating lunch and drinking in the sun as I wrestled with
the flight. Actually it went well and I was soon through. Good
job too - no-one offered to help! |
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26th April
'05
The delightful
Stoke Bruerne just before the entrance to the Blisworth Tunnel.
An important canal centre of old, a Canal Museum is housed in
the building on the right next to the poplar trees. I spent
time in there and was enchanted. In the evening Andrew Lansdale
joined me from London and we ate in the The Boat Inn (on the
left), itself a significant canal centre, which has been in
the same family since 1877. |
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27th April
'05 - 0948 hrs
The southern
entrance of the Blisworth Tunnel, celebrating its bicentenary
this year (2005). It is 3057 yards (2795 m) long and is the
third longest in Britain. It took Andrew and I, on board FRILFORD,
about 45 minutes to go through. I thought it very impressive.
It is - but I have since been through the Standedge Tunnel on
the Huddersfield Narrow Canal...! |
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27th April
'05 - about 1415 hrs
Andrew Lansdale
'navigating' near Whilton Locks and Whilton Marina where I bought
FRILFORD in October '04! There are no locks for 17 miles between
Stoke Bruerne and Whilton Locks so Andrew, as crew, had an easy
time of it... En route we had passed Gaydon Junction where the
Northampton Arm turns east off the main Grand Union Canal; an
arm I had decided not to take. I was aiming for the Leicester
Line at Norton Junction above the up-coming Buckby Locks. |
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29th April
'05 - 1536 hrs
Norton Junction
- after just over three weeks on the main Grand Union Canal
I was to turn right here and set off up the Leicester Line,
part of the GUC but a separate entity. It felt like a watershed,
and perhaps it was. |
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29th April
'05 - 1807 hrs
Exiting
Crick Tunnel. Partially built though quicksand this tunnel had
to realigned during construction and has suffered many roof
collapses. It is still pretty wet today and there is talk of
boaters filling their kettles from one of the leaks! Prior to
this I had come up the Watford Staircase (locks back to back
with common gates). The lock-keeper worked me through and I
said I was not used to such service. "Don't worry - it
probably won't happen again!" he joked. I slipped him something
for a drink or two. "Thanks," he said. "Hey -
it probably won't happen again!" I replied and we had a
bit of a laugh. Good stuff... |
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2nd May
'05 - 1326 hrs to 1407 hrs
A few miles
on from the Crick Tunnel, and having passed through lovely
countryside I came down the famous Foxton Staircase on the early
May Bank Holiday Monday. There were people everywhere and I
stayed on the boat whilst two lock-keepers and young the daughter
of one of them locked me through. The picture shows the small
pound between locks 8-12 and 13-17. |
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2nd May
'05 - 1620 hrs
Union Basin
at Market Harborough. I tied up on the bank to the right of
the picture. I was next to a 57 footer owned by Wes and Sharon.
They said 'join us for a drink...'. I did. Various other people
got sucked into the little party atmosphere. We started off
on the grassy bit in the picture then repaired to Wes and Sharon's
boat. It was gone midnight when I got back to my boat. It took
some time to find it - it was all of 20 feet away! I rented
a car here on 5th May and drove to Henley to vote in the General
Election. A good day out albeit the wrong result in the election! |
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10th May
'05 - Sundowners...
Felicity
and Father joined me here for a couple of night's trip through
Leicester. This is Kilby Bridge and I'd come up here the day
before, followed a few hours behind by Wes and Sharon in their
boat. Here, over sundowners with Wes and Sharon, we swap ever
taller stories with Father as Felicity takes the pictures. |
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14th May
'05 - 1425 hrs
A major
canal 'crossroads' junction. Here the River Sour, which had
been the Leicester Line canal, running north-south, joins the
River Trent, running east from here, and the Trent and Mersey
Canal, running west from a few miles to the west of here, with
the Erewash Canal, into which I was moving, going away to the
north. This is, literally, one large, crossed, waterways junction
and quite exciting! I was aiming for, and made obviously, the
bridge just to the left of the sailing dinghy on the port bow
of FRILFORD. The bridge is at the entrance to the Erewash Canal.
|
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17th May
'05 - afternoon
Tied up
next the top lock, Lock 74, at the Great Northern Basin at Langley
Mill at the top of the Erewash Canal. That the canal and particularly
the basin is open again is due entirely to the tremendous work
of the Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association
back in the late 60s and early 70s, key members of which I was
pleased to spend time with including at their AGM, when they
let me say a few words in praise of what they have achieved
and continue to develop. Eastwood, the birthplace of DH Lawrence,
is just up the road. I did the tour! |
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21st May
'05
Tied up
outside the Malt Shovel pub at Shardlow, a delightful village
on the Trent and Mersey Canal. Everyone used to moor here. It
was only as I was preparing to leave after a couple of days
that I saw that British Waterways had put up signs saying No
Mooring Between The Signs! Several boats, as well as me, had
ignored the signs, but there was no malace aforethought! Several
of us boaters had drinks together in the pub. I watched the
FA Cup Final - did the right team win?! |
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22nd May
'05 - 1908 hrs
Along from
Shardlow and en route for Burton on Trent I followed a couple
of large cargo narrowboats, one towing the other, to Swarkestone.
There were several other boats around and since the locks are
wide and deep I allowed others to lock me up through Swarkestone
Lock with another boat, prior to tying up for the night. |
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27th May
'05 - 1556 hrs
In Lock
17 at Fradley Junction, to the west of Burton Upon Trent, where
the Coventry Canal turns away to the south. The pub along on
the right is The Swan and reckoned to be one of the most photographed
pubs in Britain, being, as it is, in such an attractive and
active canal centre. The five locks through here raise the canal
36 feet (11 m) and introduced me to what might be the most attractive
piece of canal I'd seen to date. |
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29th May
'05 - 1550 hrs
Canalside
cottages near Burston on the Trent and Mersey Canal, en route
between Great Haywards and Stone, about 10 miles to the south-east
of Stoke on Trent. |
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30th May
'05 - 1723 hrs
Entering
Lock 40 below the junction of the Trent and Mersey Canal and
the Caldon Canal at Stoke on Trent. This is the last of a series
of locks which lift the canal into Stoke. They are all 'interesting'
and deep. This one appears to be the deepest. The photograph
does not do it justice (photographs of locks never do) - this
is a deep lock! |
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2nd June
'05 - 1231 hrs
The Harecastle
Tunnel to the west of Stoke on Trent on the Trent and Mersey
Canal en route to the Macclesfield Canal. It is a single tunnel
so runs a one-way system. It is controlled by a tunnel keeper
who logs you in and logs you out the other end. You have to
go through in a convoy. There are electric fans at this end
to help vent the tunnel of diesel fumes. To help the fans there
are doors which they close behind you as you enter! The tunnel
is small and get very low in places. Very low. I'm a bit prone
to claustrophobia in tight, deep, places but there was much
to do driving FRILFORD through this tunnel and there was no
time for apprehension! |
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2nd June
'05 - 1352 hrs to 1435 hrs
Inside the
Harecastle Tunnel. Again the photograph does not really show
how low the roof is, but suffice it to say on a numer of occasions
I had to crouch down next to the tiller of FRILFORD to avoid
scraping my head on the roof. I was crouching when I took this,
and making FRILFORD hit the side of the tunnel with my lack
of concentration... The tunnel, like all tunnels, is cool and
damp inside. I was in a convoy with about six other narrowboats
so had plenty to do holding station! |
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2nd June
'05 - 1443 hrs
The entrance
to the Macclesfield Canal at Hardings Wood Junction. Well, strictly
speaking, no! This is the Hall Green Branch of the Trent and
Mersey Canal which runs alongside the main arm of the T &
M then turns north across the Red Bull Aquaduct which passes
over the T & M. It then becomes the Macclesfield Canal at
Hall Green Lock a mile or so away from where I took this picture.
Interesting stuff! |
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2nd June
'05 - about 1600 hrs
The Macclesfield
Canal is delightful. Wooded with splendid views across open
countryside. The weather was pretty awful as I made my way up
it, the grey skies in this picture being about as good as it
got for several days. I was aiming for the Peak Forest Canal
which branches off as an arm to the south-east from the top
of the Macclesfield Canal. |
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4th June
'05 - about 1630 hrs
On the Peak
Forest Canal en route to Bugsworth Basin at Buxworth at the
end of the canal. The skies are still grey, obviously, and it
had been raining for most of the day. The Peak Forest Canal
hugs the side of the valley and affords (an ex-estate Agent
writes!) spectacular views across the valley to the rolling
Peak District beyond. |
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5th June
'05 - in the afternoon
FRILFORD
tied up in the newly re-restored (they've had to do it several
times) Bugsworth Basin at Buxworth. The Navigation Inn, a pub
of past glory and much potential but now, perhaps, in need of
some restoration of its own (there's the Estate Agent again...),
not least of the present management, is just at the end of the
railings. The tent is a newly-acquired 'annex' to FRILFORD into
which I shall move, or others can move, were the acccommodation
on the boat to be found short. It took Bill, a fellow boater
who'd come down the canal behind me, and I about an hour to
put it up! |
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7th June
'05 - Sundowners again!
My 50th
birthday. Bill is there (that's his boat behind mine) together
with Wes and Sharon, who'd come up by car from Braunston, near
Northampton to be there, and Father, Felicity and my brother
Will are there too. The weather suddenly turned good for a couple
of days so a quiet, but pleasant, day was enjoyed by all. |
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15th June
'05 - 1311 hrs
The 16 locks
of the Marple flight drop (in my case, moving north) the Peak
Forest Canal 214 feet (65.2 m). The morning I thought about
going down the flight it was raining. I walked down to look
at a few of the locks. I saw a boat coming up. This meant the
locks would be the right way round for going down - i.e. they'd
be full, or at least the ones that don't leak will be. I decided
to get going. As I got going the rain stopped and I worked hard.
Two and three-quarter hours later I had come through all sixteen
locks and I was released en route for the junction with the
Huddersfield Canal, my next destination. |
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16th June
'05 - 1552 hrs
The first
few yards of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. It is not very edifying.
Next to the first lock there is an outfall. The water is a very
dark grey and the smell is one of sewerage. Never mind - the
Huddersfield Narrow Canal becomes wonderful. Difficult, hard
work - very hard work - but wonderful, and includes the Standedge
Tunnel, the longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel in Britain,
maybe in the world. |
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