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| Approaching Crick Tunnel |
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| In the Tunnel |
It was dry today but rather cool as we set off from our
mooring at Crick. Just around the corner
from where we were moored was Crick Tunnel and in we went into the darkness,
you can see the end so its not so bad.
It is 1,528yds long and today we didn’t meet anyone in the tunnel. We chugged on through the tunnel and soon we
were coming out into the daylight. Kev
is getting used to tunnels now and even almost getting to like them!!
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| Coming out of the tunnel into daylight |
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| At the top of the Watford Flight |
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| Is that Kev in there of is it Benny Hill!! |
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| Working down the Watford Flight |
We chugged on down the canal and soon we were at the top of
the Watford flight of locks. It is three single locks and a staircase of four
locks in the middle. I went down the
flight to book in with the lock keeper and he said there was a couple of boats
already going down the flight and there was nothing waiting to come up so we could
start making our way down. I walked back
up, filed the top lock and we started down the flight. The lock keeper helped with a few of the locks
and soon we were almost at the bottom.
By this time there was a couple of boats waiting to come up, so I had
help with the last couple of locks and soon we were down the flight and on our
way along the canal.
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| In Watford Bottom Lock |
Past two marinas and we moored just before Norton
Junction. We thought that it would be
quiet here and plenty of spaces but there were a lot of boats moored but room
for us.
We heard that one of the gates on one of the locks on the
Buckby flight of locks which is left at the Junction was broken, it had been
knocked off and damaged by a boat ramming it as it was stuck and wouldn’t open
and they were repairing it today so we thought we would walk down the flight
and see what was going on. There were
about a dozen boats waiting to go down the locks as the flight had been shut
most of the day. There was a chap at the
front of the queue who was getting very impatient as he said he had got to the
locks at 6am this morning to go down as he was told they would be shut from 8am
but when he got there the gates were locked and he had been waiting all
day. He even opened one of the paddles
to fill up the lock then walked back to his boat and left it open with all the
water spilling over the bottom gates and the lock was still padlocked! When we got to the damaged lock, they were
still working on it but they said it was nearly finished. As there was so much water coming down the
locks because that chap had opened the paddle, one of the CRT chaps went up the
flight to close the paddle and hopefully tell him not to be so impatient!!
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| CRT working on the damaged gate |
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| Canal Turn Farm Shop |
Wilton Marina was just under the bridge from the damaged
lock so we walked down the towpath to have a look and we saw a sign for Canal
Turn Farm Shop so obviously we had to go and have a look.
It was just off the towpath down a path and
what a great shop it was.
They sell
Dexter Beef and pork and lamb all reared on their farm and butchered there as
well.
Also the lady who runs the shop makes
pies, sweet and savoury and other things to sell in the shop. We bought a
Dexter Steak Pie and some lamb and a few other bits.
What a find, we didn’t even know it was
there, but we have made a note of it for the next time we are in this area.
We had a look at the marina, then walked back up the flight
back to the boat. We are staying here
tonight then probably chugging on tomorrow or maybe stay put, we will decided
in the morning.
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