Sheep now graze on the site of Fotheringay castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was tried and beheaded. Mary became Queen of Scotland as a baby, was married to the Dauphin and later King of France, who died, returned to Scotland and married her first cousin, who was murdered, married the man generally believed to have murdered him, was forced to abdicate and imprisoned, escaped, was defeated again and forced to flee to England where she was imprisoned by Elizabeth…
Wadenhoe is so cute that even the phone box is a Grade II listed structure. This particular model of red telephone box was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, whose other contributions to human culture include Cambridge University Library and an album cover for Pink Floyd. Unfortunately somebody got hold of the cover of Animals and actually built the building from it beside the Thames. Now nobody knows what to do with it. Did I mention that Wadenhoe is cute….
Here we are in Thrapston where the NEN changes into the NEEN. We went through six locks today, three of them being manual guillotine locks. That means that you have to shift that great slab of metal up and down by turning a big silver wheel. It’s hard work, especially the last couple of feet when the counterbalance effect is upset by the water that the lock gate displaces, but we were up for it. The river is lovely here….
This morning the battle swans came to chase us out of Wellingborough. If you ever see signs saying not to feed bread to swans and ducks because it’s bad for them to eat, don’t believe a word of it. This pack of swans gets through five or six loaves of Wonderbread every day, and all those chemicals and additives are only making them stronger and more vicious. You may remember that a couple of days ago I was blathering on…
The battle swans have been keeping a close eye on us, and this morning they made a show of force. We decided to leave the boat for a while, and walked into Wellingborough to the local museum, but there was no escape. Other goodies in the museum included a fine collection of vintage appliances… … a working player piano to provide background music… … several wombles… … and a bell from The Titanic. Pride of place, however, includes the local…
This morning we bid farewell to Northampton wharf passing one sunk boat and another with a curious paint job. Out we went onto the swan-infested River Nene. Now, I know your thinking to yourselves, “Self,” you are thinking, “Why does Andrew not tell us how to pronounce Nene? Is it NEN? Or NEEN? or perhaps it is NAY-NAY? Or is it one of those English curiosities that are spelt Nene and pronounced Cholmondeley?” The answer, according to the guide books,…
Gentle reader, I will spare you the Battle of Northampton. There is too much else to write about today, that even though the Battle of Northampton was one of those wonderful convoluted Wars of the Roses conflicts with people changing sides in the middle of the battle, kings captured, whole families massacred, and even a prolonged negotiation beforehand (think Game of Thrones only much more complicated), there is too much else today to write about today. The Battle of Northampton…
Not your typical crane operator. We had an appointment at lunchtime today to have a pram cover fitted for the rear of the boat, so I decided to go back to the services we had just passed yesterday and to empty the toilet and fill up the water tank. That’s not as easy at it sounds, as narrowboats are really hard to steer in reverse. I decided to go forwards to the next winding hole (turning spot). As I was…
Canal tunnels are dark inside. This is the entry to the Blisworth Tunnel. It’s one and three quarter miles long, and really dark in there. That little spot of light you see at the end of the video was not the end of the tunnel, it was a boat coming the other way. We did not hit it very hard. Paula was driving for this one, so I got to take pictures and videos from the bow, while dodging the…
This morning we were woken again in the small hours by the low battery alarm going off. It was a little later I found the reason. This was a bracket that held the alternator in place. When that broke the alternator moved and the belt that drives it shredded, so the batteries did not charge properly. Luckily we already had an electrician booked to work on the boat today. I called Alex up to let him know, and he was…