Tuesday 17^th October 2018

We moved down from Norton Junction only as far as the Admiral Nelson pub at Braunston. Before leaving we were talking to other boats moored by us who are also planning to overwinter on the Coventry and Ashby canals, so we should see more of them over the coming months. Apparently though, they are good canals to overwinter on.

We had a slow and quiet cruise to Braunston tunnel, passing the maintenance depot at Norton where they are clearly gearing up for the winter maintenance period. There was a lorry there yesterday offloading bags of stone into a canal barge. Almost a scene from yesterdays. Just down the canal from the junction we came across a CRT work gang replacing the bankside pilings and repairing the towpath.

Braunston tunnel, 2042 yards long, is wide enough for two narrowboats to pass but it has numerous kinks in it. At one point there is a large, frightening looking bulge in the tunnel wall with signs that a number of boats have ground along it with their cabin tops. We had one boat behind us and met one other boat coming in the opposite direction. While the boats just have enough room to pass, each helmsman has to keep their cool and their speed down and you just hope the other person knows what they are doing. Passing through a long canal tunnel is quite an experience. Quite often you wonder why they ever went to the trouble of digging tunnels when, in days when labour was cheap and plentiful, they could quite easily have dug a cutting instead. There is no doubt why Braunston tunnel was dug. It passes through a big hill, the ventilation shafts are very deep.

    

Beyond the tunnel we quickly came to the first of Brauston Locks. Double locks again but a lot easier to move. We paired up with an Elton Moss shared ownership boat crewed with volunteer lock-keepers from Newbury. Suffice to say, we made a good passage through four locks until we parted company and we moored just below the Admiral Nelson pub.

 

After a few little jobs, the plaques have been screwed 

onto the side doors and another coat of paint on

the boat hook, we retired to the pub. It had seemed

a long time since we spent the afternoon in the pub,

well, rural businesses have to be supported after all.

The afternoon was hot, whenever the sun came

from behind the clouds, and we thoroughly enjoyed

sitting outside with a beer enjoying watching other

boats make mistakes coming through the locks.

After all, we are, every one of us, experts.  

 

The Admiral Nelson, Braunston

The Admiral Nelson is one of those iconic, has to be visited, canal pubs, along with the Anchor Inn on the Shroppie and the Greyhound at Hawkesby Junction. I was last in the Nelson over 10 years ago and it was full of canal paraphernalia. This has now changed, the pub does music events and all the canal ware has been replaced with music and music star pictures. We went back to the pub in the evening for dinner and had one of our worst eating experiences. Because of Harvey, who curdled up between our chairs and went to sleep, we had to eat in the “games” room. A room 15’ x 12’, totally separated from the atmosphere in the rest of the place, and very cold. The menu was horrendously expensive for pub grub, £28 for a steak. The starter was good enough but we ate it with three of the staff faffing over a series of gas heaters trying to get one of them going. When our main courses came, mine, a burger, was cold and Brenda’s ham, egg and chips, mediocre.

Weather: a lovely day.

Day Total: 4 locks; 4 miles; 1 Tunnel; 0 Swing Bridge; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 2.7

Overall Total: 278 locks; 469 miles; 19 tunnels; 2 Swing Bridge; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 288.6