Braunston (Main Line - Grand Union Canal) to Willoughby (North Oxford Canal)

The Boat House

Yesterday (Tuesday) we were staying at Braunston again so we had a lazy start, then walked up to the village and got a few things in the shop and the butchers.  It is a really good butcher who also sells fresh fruit and vegetables.  We took the shopping back to the boat, then walked along the towpath to The Boat House which is a Marsons and a two for one pub.  We had lunch there, cheap and cheerful but very good.  We walked back to the boat and just chilled out for the rest of the day.

Coming into Braunston Lock No. 2

Coming out Braunston Bottom Lock

Iron Bridge over Braunston Marina

Passing Braunston Turn

It was another dry day today as we set off this morning for the last of the two Braunston locks.  There was a boat coming up the lock which meant the lock was set for us, so we were soon through there and onto the next one where the boat going down in front of us waited for us as it was a double lock, so that one was set for us as well.  We were soon through the locks, past Braunston Marina and stopped at the water point just along the canal.  We chugged on and at Braunston Turn we carried straight on leaving the Grand Union Canal behind and onto the North Oxford Canal we went.

Willoughby Church

This part is really rural, just fields of sheep.  We chugged on for a bit under a few bridges and moored just before Bridge 85 at Willoughby.

The Rose Inn

Village Sign

Village Pond

We had lunch then walked up to the village of Willoughby.  This Warwickshire village is recorded in the Doomsday Book as Wilebec and was tenanted out by King Henry 1^st until it was granted to the Hospital of St. John, in Oxford in 1242.  In 1447,the manor of Willoughby and patronage of the Church was gifted to Magdalen College, Oxford, in whose charge it remained until the first half of the 20^th Century.  The lands, the last of which was sold off in 1952, were the oldest owned by the College.

It is a nice village with a lot of history, a village pond and a pub called The Rose Inn.  It also has a small church with a fine 18^th-C rectory.  We had a walk around then walked back across the footpath through the fields to the road, then back along the towpath to the boat.

We are staying here tonight, then moving on tomorrow.

Moored at Willoughby