Monday 4th June
Today we would tackle the dreaded Braunston tunnel! I was glad that John had managed to fix our tunnel light and also that he had volunteered to steer through this one! He parked the car at Braunston Marina and then walked back with Dex. It was cooler today.
We turned right on the Grand Union canal heading North towards Coventry. We must have come down this part when we originally brought the boat down from Tamworth in 2014 however it was such a long time ago we can't really remember much about that voyage apart from getting stranded in floods and stuck in Reading!
These canal and river trust employees were trying to fish something out with a magnet
Dex looking very cute on the side seat
Yes this is a floating crown...maybe a frog prince??!!
We passed Midland Chandlers on our way to the tunnel
Eventually we could see the tunnel ahead. We moored up to check all the lights were working. Then we set off to go through..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braunston_Tunnel
We couldn't see any boats coming the other way so were able to stay in the middle of the tunnel.
I was at the front of the boat to keep an eye out and give instructions if John needed to change course. Dex decided to stay inside on the bed!
Further in we could see another boat had entered the tunnel at the other end..
There were 2 escape tunnels in the main tunnel. So we caught a quick glimpse of daylight overhead as we passed by..
We managed to get past the other boat without any incident.
It was a great relief to see the sunlight at the other end
After the tunnel we arrived at Hillmorton locks. It was my turn to do the locks and John to steer. A boat was already in the lock so we had to wait for it to come up.
We could go straight in after they had exited. It's always great at locks to meet boats coming the other way!
We were lucky at the next lock as 2 boats were coming up.
There were another 2 boats coming up at the next lock so again we could go straight in.
There was a lovely old pub at this lock called the Admiral Nelson. Sadly no opportunity to stop for a beer however tempting!
I liked the stained glass in this door of the lock keeper's cottage
I think after all we have been through this should be the name of our boat!
These houses had lovely views backing onto the canal
A great looking shop at this lock
It was a bit tricky for John to pick me up as this other blue boat was in the way of the tie up point. But John did a bit of reversing and I was able to jump on board with Dex.
We were now passing through Braunston which is at the heart of the canal system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braunston this is one of the busiest sections on the canal network as it links so many routes North and South.
I liked the name of this boat!
Some geese were napping on the bank much to Dex's annoyance!
Finally we approached the entrance to Braunston Marina.
We were stopping here to get some gas and get pumped out.
The bridge over the Marina entrance was really beautiful
John quite fancied this boat for sale until he saw the asking price!
We could see Braunston church with it's attractive spire in the distance.
On our travels we kept seeing milestone markers for Braunston and finally we were here!
It was a bit tricky leaving the marina as boats were coming from all directions!
Dex was quite laid back about it all!
I liked this restaurant boat called the Gongoozlers cafe
This was the old Toll House.
There were boats and moorings and pubs everywhere
Here the canal splits and we go right towards Coventry. The left hand branch leads South to Oxford.
Again the same style bridges looked magnificent
Could this belong to a relative?
Lovely seeing all the cygnets doing so well
We were quite concerned for these tiny ducklings who seemed to have got seperated from their mum!
Finally our mooring spot for this evening out in the countryside but actually only a couple of miles north of Braunston. The only sounds were the nearby cows which were really noisy!
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