From quiet to bustling canal life - Blisworth to Braunston

The first day of this part was a route with no locks, which I did in lovely sunny weather. Quite uneventful and relaxing. But the main features of this part of the journey are the Buckby (7) and Braunston (5) locks and the Braunston tunnel. Yes, another long tunnel. Hopefully the last one for quite a while. I tackled the Buckby locks on one day and the tunnel and Braunston locks the next day.

Shortly before the Buckby locks there is a section where the canal is flanked by a high speed trainline on the left and the motorway on the right. I always find it curiously satisfactory when the slow route meets a fast route, like I know something that they don't. This time it was even more satisfactory, as my progress on the canal was actually faster than the traffic on the M1.

I am faster than the lorries!

Then I arrived at the Buckby locks. I saw from a distance that there was a boat in the lock mouth and it seemed stuck there. I had been hoping for another boat to share the locks with as the Buckby locks have big and heavy gates, but this didn't bode so well. So this is who I found:

Her: at the tiller, young, very pretty south-east Asian woman, in a long tight red dress with a flowing scarf, not dressed for getting off the boat or working locks. Also she spoke no English, not even the simplest sentences.

Him: middle-aged English, slightly choleric, barking single words at her ("MOVE!" "STOP!") while working the locks. (His one redeeming trait for me was that he let me stay on the boat and he did all the work in the locks)

Oh my, and I had to go through seven locks with them. The poor woman was terrified. I think it was also her first time at the tiller and definitely her first time going through locks. She had been instructed how to go backward and forward, but not very well how to steer. She took ages to get the boat into every lock in a manner that I fitted in also, while constantly being shouted at by her husband from the top. When I was in the locks with her I tried to encourage her saying you're doing well, everybody has to start somewhere, etc., but she didn't understand a word I think. It was a very awkward situation. I felt so sorry for the poor woman, but it was really not my business, so I had to act as normal as I could. The most awkward thing was that after shouting at his wife he would turn round and speak to me in a totally normal manner. The seven locks took over two hours and I was relieved to leave them as they turned toward Crick.

I wanted to moor by the top lock as there is a very nice pub directly at the lock (always good to gawp at other people's efforts), but there was no space. A bit further on I grounded myself three times trying to get to the bank. Eventually I was able to pull the boat in and it was actually the most beautiful mooring I have had on this trip. The canal is banked high there and one side overlooks the green fields on the rolling hills. So relaxing after this stressful time at the locks. I decided to spend another lovely sunny day there.

A shady mooring with a view

Sunset on the lovely mooring

Then it was time to move on to Braunston. After only a few minutes I arrived at the tunnel entrance. Braunston tunnel is also a wide tunnel (relatively speaking!) where two narrowboats can pass each other. There was another solo boater just getting ready to go into the tunnel and I asked if he wanted to go first as I quite like to have somebody in front of me illuminating the tunnel so that I can see ahead a bit better. The Braunston tunnel is not as straight as Blisworth, so I wanted to try and steer in the middle to stay well away from the bendy walls.

So we both chugged on slowly into the tunnel. The first moments are the worst, as your eyes are not adjusted to the darkness and you literally can’t see anything at all. As soon as I was fully immersed in the dark I saw a bright white light ahead of me. Oh no! There’s a boat coming towards me already! I swerved to the right hand side to let the boat pass and banged the wall for the first of many times. I staid closely at the wall and watched the light ahead. I find it impossible to judge distances in the tunnels. It took me a long long time to realise that the light didn’t come closer, as it was actually on the stern of the boat ahead of me. It was the first time I’d seen a stern light. Not sure if this is common, but it sure confused the hell out of me. So back to the middle it was. But not long after, a boat appeared in the distance for real. I swerved and banged again. We passed without incident. Then another one with the same procedure. Shortly before the end I met a third boat. At that spot the tunnel wall had a little curve so that somehow I had a hard time to steer clear. This time I didn’t bang the wall for a change, but the boat coming towards me. It was more a touch than a bang, but it should really have been possible to pass without this! Finally we were out. This was so much worse than the Blisworth tunnel, which had given me more problems on my trip last year. I’m glad I don’t have so many of these ahead.

Shortly after the tunnel, the Braunston locks start going down toward Braunston. The nice man on the boat ahead in the tunnel shared the locks with me. He was a lovely man from Yorkshire, also a solo boater and full of good advice. I like sharing locks with other solo boaters as they usually have a routine that works well. In this instance we combined our routines, so that one of us did the lock we were in, while the other one set the next lock so that we could go straight from one into the other. We were through in no time.

At the bottom lock the hustle and bustle of Braunston starts with a boatyard and a hire boat base. Then on to the marina with its shops and facilities. Braunston is really at the heart of the canal life. It has specialist boat outfitters and shops, pubs, and lots and lots of boats. I just love it there. 

Some impressions of Braunston:

Near the bottom lock

Braunston Marina

The Marina shops

I found a very good visitor mooring just outside the marina, only temporarily marred by a crazy guy on the boat next to me, who hurled abuse at me as I arrived, but he fortunately left not long after. As things like this happen so rarely, I didn’t really take it all too seriously in the end.

Spot Willum amongst the boats outside the marina (no not the one across in the distance!)

In the evening I wandered up to the Admiral Nelson pub next to one of the locks for dinner and who should pull into the lock right in front of me, but the Idle Women crew with their two boats. I guess it’s to be expected to meet each other occasionally if you are going the same route (one of my new acquaintances of the canal called it a "linear village"). They stopped over outside Braunston Marina as well.

The Idle Women at the Admiral Nelson

The next day was reserved to go to the Crick boatshow, which is the biggest canal boatshow of the year. I had planned to cycle there, but the Idle Women crew kindly gave me a lift in the car. I had a few things on my list to research and buy, but Crick also offers a lot of opportunities to see shiny new boats and get inspiration for things that you never knew you wanted. My best find was a mobile solar charger. I am also now seriously thinking about installing a composting toilet. Maybe in the winter when I’m back at the marina …..

In other news: the herb and veg garden is coming along well!