Thursday, September 07, 2006

Braunston on a busy day


Braunston on a busy day
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
This is what Braunston was like during the rush hour.
We moved off the next day and went up through the repaired locks and tunnel to Norton junction, stopping there the night for our final BBQ and arrived back at Crick and home to inches of junk mail and kind neighbours having cut the lawn.

And finally:-

Total hours cruising: unknown but spread over 8 weeks.
Total distance travelled: in excess of 350 miles.
Total number of locks: at least 233.

Pictures uploaded to Flickr via hp laptop and nokia mobile phone using GPRS. See http://www.filesaveas.com/gprs.html for details of how to set this up.

From Flickr the pictures were then added to this blog using the 'blog this' feature.

new collar


new collar
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
This vital component is what had come adrift, the pin down in to the ground had broken and so the gate flopped around in a spectacular manner for a while. But was soon mended, and traffic resumed.

men and woman at work


men and woman at work
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
On arrival at Braunston, there was much activity and lots and lots of boats - all waiting for the usual efficient BW crew to mend a lock collar that had come detached from the ground, luckily we were not in a hurry so moored up for a day.

sun set over boat


sun set over boat
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Despite the change in the weather, to much cooler and wetter days, some of the evening were really glorious, this was taken by Mary in her 'artistic mode', whilst moored near Polesworth

taking a short cut


taking a short cut
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
I hope the owners of these new flats like canals, because they are pretty close to the constant throb of diesel engine going up the locks. We liked the patio door on the first floor, with one left open to allow the plaster board through.

strawberry fields


strawberry fields
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
So you wondered where those supermarket strawberries came from, the answer is places like this, you could smell them ripening as you cruised past.

would you want to


would you want to
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Would you choose to moor here, this is in the middle of all the enginnering work, coffer dams and cranes were much in evidence as the canal was having foundations for the new railway line laid in and around it, I hope they leave a decent space for boats, some new bridges are very boat friendly and other are marginally fit for one boat to squeeze through.

Waiting at the lights


Waiting at the lights
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
So here we are waiting at the lights, just as we settled down for a long wait the lights changed and we were off again.

Light Warning


Light Warning
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Not expected on the canal, but sometimes engineering works prevale, in this case the upgrading af the fast line from two to four track.

No comment


No comment
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Fradley Junction nature park on bank holiday monday, a nice lake and wooded walk hidden behind the junction.

speed merchant


speed merchant
Originally uploaded by richard.bignell.
Moored at Kings Bromley, one of the modern plagues of towpath life is the constant threat of being run over!
We met a nice young lad who explained to me how he evaded all the complex barriers put up to stop him racing up and down the canal.

This man was followed by his very young son also on a motor bike.