Norton Junction to Braunston

We woke to a pea-soup thick fog which later was ‘burned away’ as the English say to another warm sunny day. Once we got underway after eight o’clock the fog was still quite thick and it wasn’t long before we got to the Braunston Tunnel which is 2042 yards long. I stayed inside the boat and let Henk brave the cool air and the drops of water. It is pitch dark and as this tunnel was quite long there was only a pinprick of light at the end when we started out. It took about twenty minutes to get through.
When we came out of the tunnel we came onto the Braunston Locks which contains six locks one after the other. We were back to double locks and there were many boats going up and down. As usual everyone pitched in and helped each other get through. We met up again with Rob and Fran, an English couple, on “Hermies”. We met them at the Watford Lock and we shared the last lock with them. We exchanged contact details as we had quite an affinity with each other.
Braunston Marina was extremely busy and we were very lucky to get a mooring in a good position. It was eleven o’clock when we arrived and we went in search of morning tea. After doing a circuit of the marina and Braunston we found a tea room on a canal boat. We couldn’t resist. We had home-made Lemon Drizzle Cake which was delicious. The recipe was printed in a pamphlet advertising the Braunston Show which is on tomorrow. Henk took a photo of it so I can try it when I get home.
We returned to the boat to have showers before the water got cold and had a rest before venturing out again in the late afternoon. We undertook a circuit walk around the marina looking at all the boats on sale then along the canal and up to the ridge where the village of Braunston sits. We did a mini pub crawl along their High Street having a drink at the “Wheatsheaf” and then onto dinner at the “Old Plough”.
We did as much packing and cleaning up as we could before tomorrow morning. It will take us just over an hour to Napton and the boat has to be in the marina by nine o’clock and we have to be off by nine thirty. We received a text message from Bill and Lyn and they are hoping to be at the Napton Marina at nine o’clock with their hire car. From Napton we will drive to Stoke Prior to pick up another boat for a week.
Photos: Early morning fog; Inside the canal boat tearoom; Apples growing on the footpath at Braunston; At the Braunston Junction;