TOO MUCH CHOICE!
That's not a complaint--there's so much to do!. However, we have decided to 'do' The Fens. This will be a whole new area for us to visit, we haven't been "out east" by road, let alone canal.
First, we shall travel from Llangollen to The Welford Arm on the Leicester Branch of the Grand Union Canal to have our bottom blacked! Every two years or so, a narrowboat should be taken out of the water, power blasted to remove the freshwater crustacea which accumulate and then repainted with black bitumen. It also gives an opportunity to have a visual check that all is well below the water line. We have booked a slot at the Welford Arm. Liberty Belle will go in to the dry dock there on April 25th for about four days, and we shall be able to stay on board whilst the job is done. We shall also be able to do any bits of painting up and maintenance which are required. Our boat has been in the water now for thity-one months and we shall have been living aboard for two years on March 31st. Doesn't time fly........
We shall be covering familiar ground on our route to Welford. I talk as though we're hardened boaters--well I suppose we are, comparatively speaking! We shall travel down the Shropshire Union Canal, covering the same route as we came up on, as far as Autherley Junction. Then we shall take the white knuckle ride up the Wolverhampton Flight of locks, and stay overnight in The Black Country Museum. It's a bit like Rivendell there: The Last Friendly House in the West! I say white knuckle ride as there are occasionally problems in this area with the local wildlife--youths with nothing better to do than throw things at boats, or jump on board as a boat goes through a lock. However, we did it before without mishap--I rode shotgun at the front.
Then we shall make a push for the centre of Birmingham and stay right in the city centre for a few nights. After that, it will be new ground as we take the Stratford-on-Avon Canal down through King's Norton, Hockley Heath and Lapworth. This is where the Stratford-on-Avon Canal and The Grand Union Canal meet at Kingswood Junction. We shall be back on familiar territory again as we go down the Grand Union, to the Hatton Flight of locks, to Warwick. We shall stay on the Grand Union, and travel through Leamington Spa, Offchurch, Long Itchington and Stockton to Braunston, where we'll stay a few days and let Liberty Belle enjoy revisiting her birthplace! Then it will be south on the Grand Union to Norton Junction where we shall turn left up to the Welford Arm.
After the bottom blacking we shall return down the Grand Union to Norton Junction and go south to Gayton Junction, where we shall turn left towards Northampton. From here on it will all be new to us. We shall go through Northampton and travel along the River Nene to Peterborough. This is beautiful countryside--according to the guide-- and passes through places with such poetic names as Cogenhoe, Irthlingborough, The Addingtons, Thrapston, Wadenhoe, Oundle and Fotheringhay.
At Peterborough we shall join The Middle Level. This is the area between Peterborough and Denver Sluice, near Downham Market. There are lots of drainage ditches and artificial waterways to keep the low lying land drained, and there is a recommended route through the maze. It should be exciting when we get to Whittlesey, as there is a sharp bend there which 70' boats can only navigate with great care. Also Salter's Lode Lock will only take boats up to 18.9m long, and we're 21m! We have to wait until the tide comes in and then we can float over it.............. At least that's what the guide says. Mmmmmmmmm. Watch this space. We talked to someone last year who had done it in a 70' boat and said there's nothing to worry about. I think I've heard that before--like at the dentist, or in the labour ward!
Well, any way, it saves us from going senile. Then we shall be on the River Great Ouse, and we can visit such places as Ely, Cambridge, Huntingdon, St. Neots and Bedford, all new places to us.
Distances are:
Northampton to Peterborough 60 miles 52 locks
Peterborough to Denver Sluice (The Middle Levels) 30 miles 4 locks
Denver Sluice to Bedford 72 miles 16 locks
The pictures on this page were taken at the end of December. It's lovely even in the winter!