On Tuesday (21/09/2021) we set off at 08:30 and continued along the North Oxford Canal. The sun was shining. Since yesterday morning we were on the last leg of our canal journey. We planned to complete our canal adventure on Wednesday 29th September 2021 at Heyford Wharf and drive home to Watchet on Thursday 30th September 2021 in a hired van.
According to our Canal Journey Planner: This is a trip of 74 miles, 3¾ furlongs and 33 locks from Stoke Golding Wharf to Heyford Wharf. This will take 35 hours and 29 minutes which is 7 days, 29 minutes at 5 hours per day.
From Stoke Golding Wharf travel south on the Ashby Canal (Main Line) for 8 miles, 6½ furlongs to Marston Junction, then travel south on the Coventry Canal (Main Line - Hawkesbury to Fazeley) for 2 miles, 6½ furlongs to Hawkesbury Junction, then travel southeast on the Oxford Canal (Northern Section - Main Line) for 22 miles, 6½ furlongs and 4 locks to Braunston Turn, then travel southwest on the Grand Union Canal (Oxford Canal Section) for 5 miles to Napton Junction, then travel south on the Oxford Canal (Southern Section - Main Line) for 35 miles, ½ furlongs and 29 locks to Heyford Wharf.
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards.
We went through the short 207 yard-long Newbold Tunnel and passed our mooring spot for last Friday night. This tunnel had a tow path on both sides but theoretically there was enough width for oncoming boats to pass inside it.
We went over a couple of aqueducts and made our way to Rugby.
Murals on the bridges reflected the towns heritage. Rugby was a small rural market town until the mid-19th century, when the siting of a major railway junction at the town spurred the development of manufacturing and engineering industry, and the rapid growth of population.
Rugby School, an independent school situated in the town, is the birthplace of Rugby football which, according to legend, was invented in 1823 by a Rugby schoolboy William Webb Ellis. To alleviate the boredom of a football match he apparently picked up the ball and ran with it. The school was founded in 1567 and rose to national prominence as a public school in the 18th century.
We stopped to use the C&RT Services in Rugby and walked down to the nearby Tesco superstore.
The roundabout between Tesco and M&S was sponsored by the Canal Lounge cafe bar at Clifton Cruisers, which we later chugged by.
We made our way swiftly through the 3 Hillmorton Duplicate Locks in half an hour.
As usual there was a building site on the outskirts of each big town with more housing going up. People were living in the houses that we saw being built 3 years ago and now up to 6,000 new ones were under construction.
There were plenty of bridges carrying traffic, trains and pedestrians over the canal.
This quaint little settlement had an old red telephone box as well as old tin signs.
Hilary chanced her arm using the 4kg washing machine while we were on the move and we rolled up the cratch covers and put the washing out to dry on a drying rack in the cratch as we chugged along. We guess that the owner of this boat likes a drug or two!
There was a spectacular footbridge over the entrance to Dunchurch Pools Marina.
We made it to Braunston and moored up after bridge 90, opposite the C&RT Services and just along from the two iconic cast iron footbridges 93 and 94.
Hilary had a letter to post and a card to buy so we walked up to the Post Office stores and just caught the postman emptying the post box at 16:00. We walked on passed the old bakery and down to the Old Plough inn.
We passed this great old door on the way.
We watched the latest episode of Nine Perfect Strangers before bed. Based on The New York Times best-selling book by author Liane Moriarty, "Nine Perfect Strangers" takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living. Watching over them during this 10-day retreat is the resort's director, Masha (played by an emaciated Nicole Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. However, these nine "perfect" strangers have no idea what is about to hit them.
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