On our way out of Northampton this morning we passed the so called “National Lift Tower”.

It is in fact the traditional home of the wizards of Northampton. Built in 1606 by the Earl of Northampton, Henry Howard, it has successfully defended Northampton against sorcerous attack for four centuries. It is constructed entirely of magic and human skulls. Only when Howard’s invisibility spell began to wear off in the 1970s did the need for a cover story arise, so Her Majesty the Queen was persuaded to open a brand new tower for testing lifts. She did so with a knowing wink and a subtle gesture of the handbag that had magical practitioners for miles around running for the nearest loo.

The current wizard of Northampton is of course Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and Sinister Ducks. You don’t think grown ups would be reading comic books without magical influence, do you?

Today we left the Nene, and headed up the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union. There are seventeen locks in five miles between Northampton and Gayton Junction. Just as we were leaving our mooring a rental boat passed us, so they would get to the locks first, and they would be set wrong for us. Happily they had a big crew, and a couple of them stayed behind after their boat had gone through to empty the locks for us, so our ascent went a lot more smoothly than it could have. Many thanks to that family.

There were several interesting murals under the bridges. There was the entire history of Northampton, but it was too dark and too long to photograph. However, I do have the bit where a canal boat is being attacked by battle swans.

While we were cruising, Paula got a visit from a damselfly.

Dinner’s almost ready, so that’s all you get tonight.