It rained again in the night but the morning was sunny and bright.
We set off towards Braunston hoping that we would get a mooring there
on the Friday before a Bank Holiday.
Up through Hillmorton Locks where there was only one volunteer lockie
on duty. The locks were full of hire
boaters who hadn’t the foggiest what they were doing and certainly didn’t know
about the etiquette of helping! I seemed
to be helping work the other lock in the pair.
Down passed Barby Moorings where we moored in the winter of 2013. I didn’t notice any changes though the island
is looking very green and there are lots of boats in there. It is popular as the price is very
competitive.
A new 550 berth marina, Barby Pools, is being built by Bridge 81. According to the developers the marina will
provide around 100 extra jobs and improve the ecology of the site. There has
been huge criticism of the project though by campaigners, leading to a recent
protest led by actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales. Back in 2012 Tim Coghlan, director of
Braunston Marina, who was opposed to the plans said: "The businesses that
are really going to be affected by this are the hire boat companies that work
around here. People will not want to
hire boats because of the level of congestion in the area. There are already up
to two-hour delays.” As we passed it was
just a huge hole in the ground and it is 4 years since the planning permission
was granted. Richard said that he could
see earth movers moving around so I guess things are happening. I can’t seem to find any more information
about it on the internet but the marina website is up and running. There is no phone number on the website
otherwise I would have phoned – nosey me!
This map of the layout is taken from their website.
Around this area there are a lot of ridge and furrow fields. These go back to the Middle Ages and gives
pasture fields an undulating, corrugated appearance. The ridges were made by ploughing in a
clockwise spiral, starting in the middle of the strip and eventually ploughing
around the outside edge, with the plough constantly throwing the soil to the
right. An anti-clockwise motion was adopted in the fallow season to cast some
soil back towards the furrow and prevent cutting too deeply into infertile
subsoil. Typically, each ridge measured
a quarter of an acre in area - 11 yards wide, and 220 yards long, its length
coming to be known as a `furlong', even though the term technically refers to a
block of ridges, of whatever number, lying together within an open field.
The iconic spire of Braunston Church hove into view. The church actually has a short west tower
with small spire but to me the spire always looks big. All Saints' Church Braunston has overlooked
the village and the villagers for over 10 centuries and the canals and the boat
people for over 300 years. It known as
the "Cathedral of the Canals" and has existed since the early 13th
century. However, the land on which is stands has been sacred for longer
still.
We were meeting up with Sue and Andy on Festina Lente and Sue and I had
been messaging each other with possible mooring spots. The Friday before a Bank Holiday is not the
best time to try and moor up in Braunston.
We passed FL and Sue said that Andy had gone to look for a mooring. We found him just by the first entrance to
Braunston Marina with a nice big space but there was an underwater ledge and we
couldn’t get in to the side. Sue walked
on and found another space just under bridge 1 so we stopped there. During the afternoon Richard replaced the
non-slip on the side deck – he had done the other side back in May.
Sue and Andy came up to Mary H about 5ish and then we walked up into
Braunston to The Plough where we sat in the garden and had an OK meal – for us
anyway.
8.80 miles
3 locks
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