Saturday 4th May 2013
Ramble 17: Long Buckby Wharf to Braunston , Bridge 91 taking
in Norton Junction, where the Leicester Arm of the GUC joins, and Braunston
tunnel. This walk we estimated to be just about 5 miles.
We welcomed John, Julie, Sue, Peter, Margaret, Hugh, Gill
and Ralph along with us to make a happy throng.
We started off from Long Buckby Wharf in the bright spring
sunshine to join a lovely stretch of canal. The A5 trunk route, M1 motorway and
the West Coast main line railway all converge and continue northwards, passing through
the Watford Gap, to The North. We, walking alongside the Grand Union Canal,
take a route that is more westerly and definitely peaceful and picturesque.
A shop with canal roses and castles painted on everything from pails to high stools lured some of us in and Julie now has a pair of flower pots for her garden.
Soon we were at Norton Junction where the Leicester Arm of
the Grand Union Canal diverges northwards to go through the Watford Gap and
eventually join with the River Trent. We crossed a bridge over this arm and
then another over the main canal. It was noticeable that many people have been
restoring, reviving and extending properties alongside the canal and it is a
long time since we have seen a very rundown house. Some even have new
extensions made of stone without the aid of spirit levels!
The approach to Braunston Tunnel was particularly green and
bright with woods either side of the canal. A green canopy is nearly complete,
formed by the trees growing across the water. We stopped briefly at the brick entrance to
the 1.87km long tunnel that is 217 years old and watched a couple of boats emerge
from the darkness and others to enter.
As there is no
towpath through the tunnel, we then followed the well-used path across the top,
passing at least three ventilation shafts, a larch spinney and crossing over
the A361 road at a point that is very close to Daventry. The nearby Drayton Reservoir
supplies the canal with water when needed.
High up on the hill, on the path
along which horses would have travelled, we had a magnificent view of Braunston
village with the spire of All Saints Church, (the boater’s Cathedral) and a
tall windmill dominating.
Back on the towpath proper and beyond the tunnel entrance on
the Braunston side we stepped through a couple of large puddles apparently
caused by local drainage problems. We were expecting worse and in the past
there have been landslips, some of which have been close to the tunnel
entrance.
We stopped for our picnics by a lock under some trees. All very
pleasant, but at the end a short heavy shower forced us to shelter further.
While going past the series of six locks that make up Braunston Lock Flight we noticed more and more canal orientated businesses and activities leading to the centre of what was, and still is, the main meeting point in the south. The Admiral Nelson PH has an enviable position beside Bottom Lock.
There is a pumping station, a huge marina, boat building
companies and shops. The Stop House, at the original junction was a toll house.
Heavy duties were levied on boaters going to London by the newer and shorter
Grand Junction canal (as called then) by the Oxford Canal company who owned the
canal bed of the shared 5 mile stretch.
At the end of our walk we stopped at the Gongoozler’s barge cafĂ© moored by Stop House for a cuppa and cake. By doing this we avoided another shower and it was all very pleasant. So glad that it wasn’t busy as there were 12 seats and 10 of us!
It is from here that the mileage signed on the mileposts
start, so today we finished by walking past number 1 bridge and number 1 lock and
we start off next time on the Oxford canal shared section and bridge 91.
