Which route would you choose–Wednesday 23rd September

What a change from the last two days, we awoke to the sun shinning followed by a short rising mist and then glorious sunshine so we made an early start to make the most of the lovely weather.

As we went through Braunston passing the Toll House, Gongoozler Cafe boat, and the marina entrance there was hardly a stir from the moored boats so we carried on up the first of the 6 double locks.

At the 3rd lock we met up with a Canadian couple who were just about to start off after mooring in the pound overnight so teamed up with them for the remaining 4 locks. They were in a Black Prince hire boat and were doing the Leicester Ring in a couple of weeks so have a few long days ahead of them. We met boats coming down the remaining locks so the crew had an easy time of it.  We negotiated Braunston Tunnel without encountering another boat coming the other way. I had forgotten how you can see the other end of the tunnel but encounter some interesting twists in it which make sure that you keep your mind on steering the boat.

We turned left at Norton Junction onto the Leicester Arm of the GU, passing under the new foot bridge which I saw being made last year in the C&RT yard next to the junction. Looks a good sturdy job. Today we saw another Kingfisher our second on this trip where earlier in the year we never saw one in 6 weeks.

We were soon at the bottom of the Watford Flight of locks which comprise 2 single locks, a staircase of 4 locks, and a final single lock. The staircase has side ponds to save water and you have to ensure that you open the Red paddle before the White otherwise you could be in trouble. We just had to wait for one boat to come out of the bottom lock then followed another boat up the flight. At the top there were 6 boats waiting to come down. Normally they allow 6 boats up and then 6 boats down to avoid boats waiting too long.

We moored up for the day just beyond the locks and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine. Later Tiana and I went for a walk back down the canal to get a paper from the M1 Watford Gap Services.

Here there are 3 modes of transport which go through the gap and are all within 100yds of one another. WHICH WOULD CHOOSE TO BE ON!