8th-9th August - Homeward Bound

Today: 13 locks
Grand total: 273 locks

To go: 6 locks

First thing in the morning my Dad joined me again and we completed the final stretch of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal.  We stopped by the marina at Lowesmoor Basin to take on fuel for peace of mind, I would't want to run out of fuel heading down the river!

Today: 6 locks
Grand total: 276 locks

To go: 0 locks!

 The final stretch took us down on to the river.  Cruising the river itself is not particularly interesting but it does demand respect as there is more danger involved.

 We passed a aggregate barge named "Perch" which is part of probably one of the last commercial operations on the river.

The locks on the river are huge and the boat feel dwarfed by the tall lock sides.  Passing Tewkesbury we were joined by another narrow boat that by coincidence had made an identical journey but chose the River Avon rather than the Birmingham and Worcester.

The tides had worked in our favour and turned shortly before we got to the lock.  The retrieving tide swept us down the river adding a whole mile an hour extra to our speed which is about a 25% increase!

Approaching Gloucester the river splits in two and we take the easterly channel phoning ahead to Gloucester lock.  The tide had left lots of rubbish in the parting and we picked our way between tree branches towards the lock, the narrowing channel accelerating us towards the lock.

Reaching the lock it was not prepared so we tried to hang back on the chains, we were told to "hold on to the chains", it turns out that the easiest way to do this was to whack a rope through the chain.  When the lock was ready we entered and hooked ourselves on to the wall and the gates closed behind us and the water level rose unveiling that we were in fact in the middle of a city, a fact that until that point isn't obvious.

And my destination was now reached, a journey that takes an hour or two by car or train had take two and a half weeks by boat!  And now for a rest! :)

7th August - Tardebrigge

Today: 42 locks
Grand total: 260 locks

To go: 19 locks

Until reviewing my journey I'd not realised how productive today was, 42 locks in one day.  Not bad, although I can't take all the credit because I had an extra member of crew today who very kindly offered their services.

The flight was quiet with many locks in our favour so we made good time going down the flight.  Dropping further down through the Stoke locks to Stoke Works we stopped for a pub lunch.

Then with the hard work out of the way I carried on on my own through the Astwood Locks.  Trying to locate a mooring for the night near the Droitwich Canal junction proved to be a struggle so I ploughed on to the moorings at Dunhampstead which were much quieter and actually much nicer.

6th August - On to the Birmingham and Worcester Canal

Today: 1 lock
Grand total: 218 locks

To go: 61 locks

No locks today just cruising, The Stratford Canal was one of my favourite canals of the journey as it seemed a little quieter than some of the other canals and felt like it was little changed from its original state.

Lock number 1 (a Guillotine Lock) marked the eend of the Stratford Canal, this lock was there to protect canal companies water supplies back in the day! 

Guillotine Lock and Kings Norton Junction 

The next major landmark was wast hill tunnel, over a mile and a half of tunnel!

Wast Hill Tunnel - 'tis long!

 And now a lot more cruising along, there were no locks until I reached Tardebrigge Flight so it was a flat out cruise.  Reaching Tardebrigge I checked out the moorings above and bellow the locks and decided to drop down past Tardebrigge top lock to the second set of moorings.  The top lock is another of the deepest in the country at 11 ft deep.

3rd-5th August - Grand Union

So I ploughed on and didn't really take that many photos on the grand union so I thought I'd do a bit of an amalgamation!

Lock Stats

3rd

Today: 22 locks
Grand total: 177 locks

To go: 102 locks

Today I had a member of crew joining me for a couple of days, my Dad again, he's getting to be a proper pro at this now.  We were a great team, even if I do say so myself! :)

In at the deep end we we pushed on and quickly got the Stockton locks out of the way, stopping at the top we found a handy shop not far from the top to grab a bit of food for lunch.

Heading on to Bascote locks we had the only staircase lock of the trip, where you exit straight from one lock in to another.

Next we moved on to Royal Leamington Spa which felt very urban, passing under bridges I would throttle back the engine incase we should run in to anything that had been thrown off the bridge.  Luckily only once was there any obvious tell tale lump as we ran over something dumped in the canal.  Crossing the aqueduct over the River Avon marked the boundary between Leamington Spa and Warwick.  This area felt surprisingly unpopulated and within no time we had reached the cape which had a good selection of moorings and set us up well to face the Hatton Flight tomorrow.

4th

Today: 21 locks
Grand total: 198 locks

To go: 81 locks

All twenty once locks today were the Hatton Flight that raises the boat just over 146 feet.  Reaching the flight there was a hire boat just ahead of us that was heading up the flight, they saw us coming and waited for us so we could double up the flight.  Luckily there was a large crew and although hire boaters they knew their stuff.  The crews of the Heather and the hire boat worked the locks efficiently and we shot up the flight.  As we reached the summit the heavens opened so exiting the last lock it was time to take shelter in the boat and have some lunch.

Pushing on we entered only the second major tunnel of the journey so far, Shrewley Tunel at 314 meters.  The day ended at Turners Green with some really good visitor moorings and a kind offer of a lift for my crew from my uncle.

5th

Today: 19 locks
Grand total: 217 locks

To go: 62 locks

There was only a short time left on the Grand Union having left Turner's Green.  In no time at all I reached the Lapworth Link which would take me to the Stratford Canal.

Lapworth Link

Having completed a flight of locks yesterday there was no let up and it was now on to the Lapwood flight.  Completing this flight was going to lift me through 19 locks which would take me up to a level pound that would set me up for a days cruising with no locks the next day, well worth the effort.

I stopped the night at Hockley Heath village which had a fab fish and chip shop that I wasn't able to resist!

2nd August - Goodbye Oxford hello Grand Union

2nd August

Lock Stats

Today: 12 locks
Grand total: 155 locks

To go: 124 locks

Making a fairly early departure I headed towards Fenny Compton with the aim of making it to Napton Junction, this would make this my last stretch of the Oxford Canal.  There was a group of walkers who gave me a cheery wave as is the custom on the canals!

The Oxford at this point has a big flat pound but takes a looping, meandering route and is wide but shallow on the off warpath side meaning that it was not so easy to get out of the way of oncoming boats as they would perceive.

Pushing onward I was surprised at the lack of progress but none the less I enjoyed the picturesque scenery.  The end of the summit pound was signified by the Napton flight which dropped away ahead of me.  Nearing the end of the day my first major junction between canals was is view.  Two boats shot out of the canal in from the left at far to fast a pace and it took some nifty manoeuvring to avoid a collision, luckily I was being fairly cautious which probably helped.

Napton Junction

So now the grand union was ahead, I had no experience of the grand union having heard tales of it being hard work for single handers but if anything it was easier than the K&A as the locks and paddles where much easier to work.  As with all the canals the Grand Union had a character of its own with distinctive bollards and paddle gear.

I had ambitions at the beginning of the day of taking on the Stockton Locks but I was going to have to satisfy myself with the Calcutt locks for today. 

Calcutt Locks

Evening Mooring at Gibraltar Bridge

1st August - Banbury, Cropredy and Fenny Compton Tunner

1st Aug

Lock Stats

Today: 17 locks
Grand total: 143 locks

To go: 136 locks

^^^ OVER HALF WAY in terms of locks (although I didn't know that at the time) ^^^

I headed off down the oddly shape Aynho Weir Lock and started making my way to Banbury.  Banbury is one of those places that you have an audience when you have to work a lock as the lock is in the middle of a busy shopping area.

Interestingly there is a boat yard built in among the locks as well known as Tooley's Yard.  I would of loved to stop at Banbury but there was a single boat width coming out of the lock so I ploughed on.  Similarly at Cropredy it was busy as boats had turned up for an upcoming festival, although thankfully it wasn't quite as narrow.

Pushing onward the light began to dim and I was forced to take a fairly shallow mooring with a bit of a ledge.  Ahead of me was Fenny Compton Tunnel which is actually no longer a tunnel but a deep cutting having been re-engineered when the railway was built alongside.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to moor in the cutting so played it safe and pulled in.
  

 Grazing Geese

Heading West

31st July - to Aynho!

Lock Stats

Today: 10 locks
Grand total: 126 locks

To go: 153 locks

Aubreys Lift Bridge at CRT's Thrup yard was a bit of a pain as a single hander as although it was ok to operate and got through the bridge the moorings we a bit awkward on the other side to enable you to jump of and operate the bridge.

Somerton deep lock is one of the deeper locks on the network (16th deepest) at 12ft deep, I can add it to Bath deep (2nd deepest) for my list of deep locks I've done.

 Somerton Deep Lock & Cottage

Somerton Deep Lock

I moored up just before Aynho Weir lock which is wider than normal locks, I thought to enable lots of boats to fit in but it's apparently to feed the water for the Somerton Deep lock. Makes sense I suppose!