Buckby Wharf

Breakfast in the yard before trying to reverse a 68ft boat onto the canal. Ben spotted a bolt of blue and we were graced with a lovely view of a kingfisher not long after we departed. We pottered through the Autumn foliage, stopping briefly at the Heart of the Shires to pick up some obligatory cake, before hitting the Buckby locks. We followed two rather slow canal boats up through the locks who were rafted together due to engine failure. We were joined in our wide locks by Mark on his 28ft boat. The wide locks are considerably more work than narrow ones, but we fell into a rhythm with me working the paddles and the boys driving the boats. We'd not been through restricted locks before - time restricted due to low water levels, so they don't open until 10am and last boat into the flight is at 1pm. At the top lock was the New Inn, so we moored up past the turn off for Leicester (non-navigable due to Foxton Locks being closed) and headed back for a well-deserved pint. Mum and Kev joined us for an evening game of crib and some drinks too.Read more