The day started off hot and sunny but with a nice breeze but before we
got to Napton Junction the cloud had come over and we finally got some respite
from the heat.
Richard always ask me to go to the bow when we approach junctions but
for some reason today he didn’t and of course we met a boat coming through the
bridge. There was a squealing of brakes
(well engines in reverse) and the other boat came through.
At the first Calcutt Locks there were two boats coming up and a couple
of boats waiting behind us to go down – just our luck they were travelling
together so we were on our own but it wasn’t a problem as there were more boats
coming up – easy peasy!
Nelson’s Wharf, home to Willow Wren, is now finished and looks
great. Since acquiring the land in 2013
Nelson’s Wharf have been busy clearing invasive scrub, repairing the canal bank
to moor the Willow Wren Training narrowboats and building an environmentally
friendly training centre. The 1870's canal arm was restored and finally opened
in October 2017. In Spring 2018, they opened an accommodation building
comprising admin office and two studio guest rooms. The main leisure moorings are in the private
canal arm leading off the main canal.
The wharf is part of a 40 acre estate which used to be the site of the
Nelson's Cement Works and quarries which up until the late 1940's produced high
quality cement and lime based products. It fell into dereliction until most of
the site was demolished in the 1960's.
The canal was used to bring in coal to power steam engines and
electricity generators and to transport finished goods from the site with their
own fleet of steam powered motors and unpowered butties. Later, they also used
the L&NWR railway which ran through the works and also had a fleet or
lorries. Although the remains of
structures still exist in places the site has largely reverted to countryside
and now also has a Site of Special Scientific Interest, (SSSI). The area is
noted for rare butterflies, (such as the Small Blue), and many orchids. (I’ve taken these photos from Nelson’s Wharf
website)
We pulled over for lunch and afterwards, as we were preparing to cast
off, a boat went passed – oh goodie could this be a fellow boater to go down
Stockton Locks with? As we arrived at
the top of the locks we realised our luck was in and what was more the crew
were French students over here on holiday and to learn English. They were coming to the end of a fortnight
aboard and knew what they were doing - we completed the 8 locks of the flight
plus the extra two in 65 minutes!
Richard was going on ahead to set the next lock while the young French
girl and I moved the boats beside each other from one lock to the other – she
was an excellent helmsperson. We only
passed one boat coming up. We have,
hopefully, booked to do the Hatton flight with Triumvirate on Thursday
afternoon.
We had thought we might stop at the Blue Lias tonight but decided to
continue down the locks as we had help.
Triumvirate stopped at the bottom of the locks while we continued on to
where we had stopped last year.
Hopefully it will be the Cape of Good Hope for dinner tomorrow.
10.65 miles
13 locks
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