Day thirteen: Buckley Top Lock to Blisworth Mill

We are planning a long day today so we were off at 7.15am.
We are hoping to make it to Gayton Junction, which is the turn for the arm to Northampton.
The morning will be a moderately tough as we are going down the Buckley Flight of seven locks.
The flight is interesting with a good collection of canal cottages and terraces of old houses as you descend.

We accomplished the flight with perfection. There was no one joining us (well it was early) and we did not see a boat coming up either. We met a friendly Britisyh Waterways linesman checking the flight for leaks.

Once we reached the bottom lock we found three boats were waiting and all we keen to get into the lock chamber before Hallmark was out!. Too many of the locks were set against us and we tried a few one gate exits. I though our time on this flight of great big Grand Union locks was rather good. It was two hours 21 minutes.

After the flight for quite a long period the trip is dominated by modern transport!. On one side the M1 motorway provides a constant drone from its heavy traffic and on the other side the roar of trains. The frequency of the Virgin trains is amazing as they travel south to London Euston and north to all sorts of destinations.

From Buckby Wharf there is a long lockless run towards Gayton and Blissworth. This is about 12 miles. The canal is crossed by the A5 trunk road which was Watling Street, the old Roman road.  For quite a bit of this part of the journey we got stuck behind a slow moving boat.  Eventually we asked to overtake!

There are also a good number of canalside marina so getting diesel and water is not a problem. We also pasted some well known canal craft builders such as the Stowe Hill company..

For a good part of the journey we were hampered by periods torrential rain. These seemed to come and go but seemed to go on and on and on all day!. Luckily with good waterproofs and a hat you can keep going……………..
We pushed on passed Gayton Junction and the Northampton Arm, this  provides access to the River Nene and Peterborough and beyond. We weill come back for that another year ……………




















We ended up mooring at Bridge 51 which is near Blisworth Mill. We are short of the tunnel entrance but that will give Hallmark’s engine to be warmed up for the trip through the 3076 tunnel in the morning. The mill is a handsome and imposing brick building Just up the road from the bridge is a Post Office and a general store. The village ‘local’ The Royal Oak is nearby too and hopefully we will sample that later!

Unfortunately the the kitchen at the Royal Oak was being refurbished and as there were no other inns in the village we set off for the Walnut Tree. This was back down the canal to Bridge 49 and up a winding country lane. Great home cooked food in which might have been a station building. (need to check that on the web)