Wednesday 21^st August 2019

We really did not get a feel for Fenny Compton although, other than to walk the dog, neither of us ventured far. It just seemed an odd place and we were glad to leave.

We cruised from Fenny Compton to Napton, a distance of 8 miles by canal. The countryside is lovely but villages keep their distance and in that respect, there is little to see.

Between bridges 134 and 133, the canal makes a curve around the site of the Medieval Village of Wormleighton. Of course, there is no longer anything to be seen of the village but the ground is very broken and the grass a different colour. No doubt from the air, foundations etc can be seen.

The canal meanders on its course with some great sweeping curves and others very tight, a few actually making the canal double back on itself. At one point of the day, after covering almost 3 miles, we were just a mile away in a straight line.

Beyond bridge 128 there was a huge construction site with diggers, earth-movers, bulldozers and road rollers, seemingly flattening a hill and distributing it over the adjacent land to level the lot. The site stretched for almost a mile and is, apparently, part of the HS2 project. Such a scar on the landscape.

     

The land was gradually becoming hillier and at Stoneton there was a steep ridge that causes the canal to change direction and head north west. We came across a number of interesting features, amongst them: a really nice looking Glamping site complete with a tee-pee and an outside bath; a narrowboat that had been set up as somebody’s home, but was situated in the middle of a field, high and dry and looking very curious and a herd of Water Buffalo.

     

We then came to Marston Doles and the beginning of the Napton Flight of nine locks. We had planned to water here, but a boat was tied up on the water point and had been there a week we were told. Very naughty. Harvey’s poo bags were left on the front end. Marston Doles is a typical settlement that owes its existence to the canal. Isolated and lonely looking, the wharf buildings are kept neat and one houses a saloon racing car business, with a collection of classic cars outside. Such a shame though, to see the lock keepers cottage unlived in.

At the second lock, the windmill atop Napton Hill came into view. Little wonder from this angle, that Napton is actually called Napton-on-the-Hill, the village is scattered all down the side of the hill. Between the second and third locks an arm disappears off to the right. This once led to the site of a pump house that used to pump water from the bottom of the lock flight, to the top.

We were held at, typically, lock 13 for over 30 minutes. One of the lock beams had been damaged and a CRT guy was doing a running fix on it. The bracket holding the paddle spindle had come away from the beam which was rotten.

We came across Ian and Sheila moored on the flight. We had met with them at Snarestone at the top of the Ashby Canal over the winter and spent a bit of time with them. Brenda got a very cool reception off Ian who didn’t remember her. We met with Sheila in the pub in the evening who apologised for him. Seems his mind is becoming fuddled.

We moored above the last lock. There were a lot of boats about and it seemed prudent to moor as soon as possible with Napton being such a popular spot. We had been coming down the locks with a hire boat. The people had hired this boat as a kind of thank you gesture for her elderly father, ex MN Chief Engineer, who was very ill with a terminal cancer. They had wanted to moor behind us but there wasn’t quite enough room so they had to continue on. The guy on the boat ahead of us heard myself and the hire boater discussing them wanting to moor up but didn’t acknowledge us at all. Five minutes later, this boat moved off.  

Very selfish of him. We met this boat later at Braunston. Both he and his wife were a miserable couple anyway. At Braunston he was moored in one of the best locations, and yet, mid-afternoon they moved a short distance and moored again, only to move on altogether in the evening. Strange behaviour.

After spending quite a bit of time talking with other people around us, we went to the Folly for our dinner. We had both been looking forward to this and It felt really good to be back. Mark, the proprietor, was not on form, but they had just had their annual music festival and no doubt he would have been tired. The map of the world I helped to paste on the ceiling in November had loads of luggage labels stuck on it from foreign visitors. Such a great feature in a pub that is full of them. A wonderful place the Folly. We had a really nice meal, plenty of chat and, unusually for us, a late return to the boat.

The couple off another boat we had been working the locks with were in the pub and we sat with them when our table became required for other people wanting to eat. This guy had a stroke some 7 months prior and, while he had made a remarkable recovery, he was still limited in the use of his left hand. A very interesting guy and very open about his experience. He had been a talented Professional Musician specialising in Medieval Music and Instruments which had taken him all over the world. Cruel really, being left handed, he could no longer play his instruments. Brenda spent quite a bit of time with him, manipulating his hand and giving him some exercises for which he was very grateful.

We have been noticing a lot lately, the nights are drawing in quickly and more and more berries are appearing on the trees and bushes. 

Weather: a nice day. Cold in the shade but lovely and warm in the sun.

Day Total: 8 locks; 9 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 4.8

Overall Total: 704 locks; 1220 miles; 49 tunnels; 57 Swing Bridges; 11 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 770.8hrs