Braunston

Braunston, Grand Union Canal – Tuesday 13 August 2013

What is it with early mornings and steerers?  A trade style boat went past first thing with no-one at the helm!  I arranged to accompany another family of first timers [Dad had seen the lock last night and decided to moor until this morning in the hope of some help] and they waited while I went to spend a penny [actually a lot more cos it was pump-out and refuel].  We then went though the seven Whilton locks up to Norton Junction where we stopped for a drink.  They were heading off to Leicester and they said with a lot more confidence about locks, while I continued on the Main Line through the Braunston tunnel – it has a slight bend at one point and guess what I met a boat coming the other way.  We both laughed about ‘it’s always at a bend – even underground’.  Then an easy run down through the Braunston locks with a boat called Black Pearl whose home base was stated to be Tortuga!!  No sign of Captain Jack though.  When we got to the bottom I let the other boat lead because there were very few spaces as a picnic was on to celebrate a strike in 1923 when boat crews stopped work for the right to join a union.  After they had gone past a moored boat pulled out allowing me to moor!  There was a lot of folk music but it has stopped perhaps they’ve moved to the Admiral Nelson pub by the middle lock because of the rain.