Stoke Bruerne

Friday 6th October

We really liked the village of Stoke Bruerne and so decided to stay for the weekend. But we first moved the boat up 5 locks so we could be nearer to the centre (and the pubs! 😃)

John did the locks and I was happy steering. First of all we had to stop to fill up with water.

There are seven locks in total at Stoke Bruerne flight, we were just doing the first 5 before mooring. They are also known as Whilton locks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whilton_Locks

It was a nice sunny day although a bit cold but at least no rain! 

 We got lucky as 2 boats were coming down so as soon as they left we could go straight in the lock.

 The gates were overflowing like a waterfall! 

 Again we were lucky with this next lock as another boat was just leaving.

 John was getting brave and crossing over the lock gates!

 We soon arrived at our mooring spot. We managed to find a good place close to the 2 pubs, shop, Indian restaurant and Canal museum.

 In the afternoon we went to the Boat Inn for a late lunch. It was dog friendly in the bar area so we could take Dex with us. We had a nice meal there and got chatting to the locals. All very friendly.

We had a nice time exploring the walks around the village and surrounding area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoke_Bruerne

On Sunday 8th October, I decided to take Dex on a long walk to Blisworth, the other side of the tunnel. You can't walk through the tunnel as it's just for boats and is 1 and 3/4 miles long. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blisworth_Tunnel We found a footpath however it went into some muddy fields and then down an even muddier track so I was glad of my wellies! We took a picnic to have when we got there. We were out for over 3 hours in total. I decided we would walk back along the road to avoid the mud and speed up our return.

Over the weekend I managed to catch up with old friends I hadn't seen in ages. Becky Blackwell who used to work for me and who I hadn't seen in 6 years came on board for a cuppa and a catch up. Then on Sunday Debbie Smith-Wilds who I hadn't seen for 16 years came on board with her daughter Bethany. It was really great to catch up now that we had the opportunity. This journey was certainly giving us chance to rekindle old friendships and meet up with as many family and friends as possible along the way. On Sunday evening we decided to go to the Navigation pub for a roast. It was great.

The pub is literally about 100 yards from our boat so very handy!

On Monday 9th October we decided to take Dex to Salcey Forest. It was only about 12 miles away. They had a treetop walk and I persuaded John to try it. He suffers from vertigo but he braved it out. He didn't climb the tower at the end! It was lovely, well worth a  visit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salcey_Forest