Mayhem and madness at Braunston bottom lock…..

A pleasant run into Braunston this morning.  A little misty, but that soon burnt off and it became very hot.

A lovely pastoral scene – sheep in the field with the spire of Braunston church behind.

As we approached the junction with the GU we wondered who we’d see that we knew this time.  No sooner had we spoken than we came across fellow bloggers on nb Epiphany.  We said hello and had our photo taken.

 

As we got closer to the bottom lock it was obvious that it was as mad as usual.  Two boats had just entered the lock and we were then 5th in the queue. 

While we waited we had a front row view of nb Yarwood and her new steelwork – looking good.  Unfortunately we were not able to see Lesley and Joe as they are away visiting family.

 

 

Just needs a few coats of paint now.

By the time we entered the bottom lock 45 minutes later, there were at least another 6 boats behind us.

The locks seemed like hard work today, it being so hot – we were sharing with a couple who were not too keen to converse. 

Three down and three to go

By the time we got to the top we were looking forward to the cool of the tunnel.  It was a welcome relief, but not as cool as we expected.  We continued on to Norton Junction where we are now moored, just into the Leicester Arm, our usual mooring spot.  It’s a shame, but a lot of the boats here now seem to be ‘continuous moorers’, with their accompanying paraphernalia spread all over the towpath.  We felt lucky that we managed to squeeze into the spot just before the water point.  We decided that lunch in the New Inn was a good idea, not least to get out of the dust from the harvesting that was going on in the field adjacent to the towpath.

7.7 miles and 6 locks