Hedgerow Jottings: Sunshine and Shadows

Foxton Locks Inn Mooring

Morning Jotters,

Happy Easter Landlubbers! Is everyone egg bound and overloaded with chocolate and Hot cross buns? I surprised the Captain with a giant Lindt egg this morning (well it is Sunday and he does like an egg on Sundays!) I managed to lug this monster home from Tesco’s last weekend and hid it in the pantry cupboard amongst the lentils and emergency tinned carrots - I knew he’d never find it there. Those tinned carrots were harvested in the last century I think, I might open them one day and see if they are still edible.

A favourite view of Braunston Church

Today’s location is quirky.pines.redouble for those of you who are following our travels via the What3words method - I’m losing all faith in it myself as I can’t find another person in the boating world who uses it. If you’re thinking of paying us a visit then I’ll stick to the old fashioned method of mooring by a pub if possible - its easy to find us then. We came down Foxton Locks yesterday and moored right outside the pub, in the full glare of their packed beer garden, It was so busy that we couldn’t get a table for lunch with our friends Richard and Mel, so they popped to Marks and Spencers for a picnic feast and we caught up with their news over cold beers and a buffet spread fit for the Lady Aberlour herself.(hello Ruth, if you’re reading this).

Waiting for the gates to close

The trip from Braunston to Foxton is very rural and we love it in any weather but it is especially scenic in the warm sunshine that we have enjoyed this week. We glide along through green pastures on sparkling waters which reflect the beauty of ancient, arching bridges and weeping willows. A single swallow was spotted near Crick and the days are warming up nicely as the week progresses. Shy violets are still to be found on the shady, wooded banks and the hedges are clad in spring green, ready for the burst of blossom that heralds the approach of May.

Gorse is blooming

Now the weather is warming up, we let the stove go out overnight which means we wake to a chilly boat in the morning - brrrr! I hate being cold. Carl soon has the fire alight and I make a pan of porridge for me and Tricky while Carl casts off and gets us underway. The side hatch is my window on the world as I hang out looking for ducklings to photograph, waiting for the kettle to boil for the Captain’s morning coffee. The early morning mist swirls around the low lying meadows and silly sheep stand and stare at us as we chug by. We love the gentle English countryside and never tire of watching the seasons change from the back of our boat.

Tree down after recent high winds

Watford Locks were a breeze this time, we were expecting to queue at the bottom but we’d only just moored up at the bottom, when the lock-keeper waved to Carl to come into the first lock and start the ascent. I was just about to tuck into my bowl of porridge but there wasn’t time for that as Carl was already casting off. I collected my windlass and jumped off at the stern as Carl pushed the bows out and I hurried up to the lock to close the gates behind him and open the paddle. I like to chat to the Volunteer Lock-keepers as we work our way up the staircase locks, my helper today tells me he is just waiting for his wife to retire so they can cast off and get away full time. I count my blessings and think how lucky we are to be starting our 14th year of aimlessly wandering around, we never tire of this life and love it just as much this year as we did the first year - except for those scary tunnels, I will never get used to boating through the dark, deafened by the roar of the diesel engines and watching anxiously as the tunnel entrance grows smaller and smaller until its just a speck in the dark. Tricky, on the other hand, seems to have got used to it and sits by my side, quite calmly, until we emerge into the daylight and she blinks and stretches and asks to sit up on the hatch again. There have been several tunnels to negotiate this week - Braunston, Crick and Husbands Bosworth and, as usual, we met oncoming traffic in the busiest tunnel, Braunston. The first two boats were well behaved and slowed down and we brushed past them without losing any paint to the tunnel walls. In the distance, we saw a very bright light coming towards us, it was so bright that it appeared as two lights, one being the reflection of the main light off the water. Carl was completely dazzled and we couldn’t see the outline of the boat behind the dazzle. Shading his eyes, he slowed right down and hugged the wall, while I ran through the boat to the bows and waved our trusty ‘bat torch’ and called out to them to adjust their light – which they did and we passed without clashing – lucky for them as they were a fibre glass cruiser! They had a very lucky escape, a less experienced skipper might have ploughed into him.

Disappearing into the darkness

We got through Crick tunnel without meeting anyone (grateful for small mercies emoji) and moored up for a walk into Crick village where I popped into the Co-op for milk and came out with a rucksack full of fresh veg including some potatoes, which I hope will cook through without going black. Carl was chuckling to himself as he had been standing outside, waiting with Tricky, when a man came over and said ‘You’re on my poster!’ Carl couldn’t work that out at first - ‘What poster?’ he asked thinking there might be a reward out for him somewhere. ‘That poster there’ the man said pointing to a poster tacked to a pole on the other side of the street. ‘Aren’t you the lead singer with the Dubliners?’ I don’t think he was convinced when Carl denied it and I have to admit, when we looked at the poster, Carl does bear a striking resemblance to him - perhaps its the beard!

Sunny but chilly in the early morning sun

Tomorrow, we are heading for Market Harborough and maybe we’ll hang around down there for a while. The next part of the journey is the broad locks (and many of them) through Leicester and down to Birstall. Where will we be next Sunday? I’ll write again next week and let you know.

Take care everyone.
Love from

The Chandlers Afloat

ps If you go into Braunston, the Community Cafe is open again and we had a very entertaining and informative conversation with the waitress in there, she wished us 'A Good Road' and explained that it's an old boating term and means 'have a good journey, where all the locks are set in your favour and the weather is fine.' So we wish you all a 'Good Road' too.