The Leicester Ring
A balmy summer evening in the marina
"We set out on Monday morning as hoped, the sky grey,
but with no wind and no rain."
"The cheeses had names like Red Storm, Green Thunder, Black Bomber and Ginger Spice
(which was named after which? I have to ask) where I'd have expected them
to be called things with lots of “ll”s and “wy”s and “gogogoch”s."
Approaching Norton Junction from the north.
The event which had caused us to postpone our departure.
Norton Junction, looking east...
...and turning west.
On towards Braunston
"We stopped just short of Braunston Tunnel. A lovely spot, quiet and remote-feeling."
"In the tunnel, we met the most boats we'd ever seen in one tunnel, many of them old
working boats on their way home after the Historic Boats event over the previous weekend."
Looking east from above the tunnel
Moored at Braunston Turn, opposite Roy's workshop.
Looking north up the Oxford Canal from the junction bridge.
All Saints Church, Braunston village.
The old windmill, now flats.
"Little remains of Wolfhampcote now apart from the squat Norman
Church of St Peter which is still in use, and in good repair."
"Not to our taste at all. I suppose we should have been put off by the silly low prices.."
Going up the Oxford Canal, looking back at Braunston.
Our new well-deck seats.
Going up the Oxford Canal...
I don't have a clue what this is! Any thoughts? Comments underneath, please!
"...tall, thin masts dotting the fields like War of the Worlds invader legs in all directions".
Moored outside Rugby...
...among the reeds.
"The onward journey took us through Hillmorton Locks which,
very unusually, feature three pairs of single-width locks."
"Another unusual thing about these locks are the gate beams at locks 4 and 5.
They are inscribed with short lines of poetry."
"It's thought that they're deposited into the system by owners who are fed up with losing fingers
to their razor-like teeth, but they're something of a nuisance in the canals, too, since they
kill newts and fish and other canal creatures."
"They spent a good half hour swimming up and down the length of the boat,
eating the mossy, weedy algae which grows just below the waterline."
"...we decided finally to cut our journey short, about-turn and return to the marina."
On our way back.
Hawkesbury Junction,
The old pumping station.
The Greyhound Inn.
The little building is the old police station.
Looking north up the Coventry Canal from Hawkesbury Junction.
"If there are walls, bridges, signs or anything else with graffiti on, we don't stop.
If the graffiti is old and faded, then the perpetrators have moved on,
been locked up,or shot by an angry boater, so we' ll moor there."
Newbold Tunnel
"More like a thick bridge than a tunnel."
"Grace slid Kantara effortlessly into her berth, and we tied her up. Kantara, that is, not Grace."
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