Some of the boatyards in these parts have fascinating chandleries - Cowroast at Fenny Compton for instance - I could have spent ages (and pounds) there! Some of them also sell s/h paperbacks - or you can exchange your own. It was while we were stopped at Fenny for a couple of days, that we saw the ultimate in lazy dog-walking technique! The lady owner of three dogs walked herself along the fields by the canal, whilst her dogs SWAM the distance!. Every so often, the third one, which was much the smallest, had to pop ashore for a breather! The other two just kept swimming!
The next hiccup occurred to Sorrel. After waiting for us at the foot of the Napton Flight, the starter failed - battery problems, resulting in a quick call-out, and a diversionary visit to Calcutt Boats for a new one. Then back to our route, and on to Braunston, where mooring before the junction is really impossible on account of the underwater stone sides to the canal, making it VERY uncomfortable for a flat-bottomed boat to lay alongside without thumping against the stones. A better mooring was found just after the junction, near where Midland Chandlers have moved their site; and the pub opposite is now a "roadhouse". You can sit in the window, and watch the rain pouring over your boat! The D-I-Y pumpout in the marina was good and cheap - £5, and there was a D-I-Y laundrette too. Also some nice boats-for-sale, to look at.... If you want bread up in the village - it doesn't arrive till 11 o'clock, so it doesn't pay to walk up there too soon in the morning!.
In Braunston tunnel, we slowed to pass a boat, only to find it was a BW boat, parked, with a guy taking boat's names and licence numbers as they squeezed past! What a place to do it, and what a way to waste money! Three blokes, a boat, and hours sat there in the dark and smoke.
Sunset at Buckby Top Lock
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