Hawne Basin

Needing diesel quite urgently we cruised through Bumble Hole and turned right at Windmill End Junction. Vicky called ahead to Hawne Basin which is run by the Coombeswood Canal Trust. We had planned for this to be our home base when we first moved on to Rainboat after our five year European tour but Covid changed our plans and instead we spent nearly 3 years at a good friend's farm in Northumberland. Having had a break from travelling we were raring to go when we moved aboard in May 2023.

It turned out we wouldn't make it by Hawne chandler's 3pm closing time but Dee the caretaker invited us to stay the night and get fuel in the morning. The basin is at a dead end and to get to it we needed to travel through Gosty Hill Tunnel, much of which is very low and very narrow. There was no towpath so Vicky took the dogs indoors with all the lights on, hoping Tiger wouldn't be too nervous. No such luck!

The basin entrance is via an arched brick bridge, one boat wide, set at 90° to the canal. Despite there being a winding hole opposite, it required a lot of reversing and straining at the tiller to squeeze Rainboat in! Dee was waiting for us and hauled us in adjacent to the filling pump when we threw her Rainboat's ropes. There are a lot of residential boats at Hawne and owners' fees are reduced if they take on maintenence, gardening or other tasks, so it's a close community with people who care about the place they live. The only problem is that dogs aren't allowed off lead within the compound. This made it difficult for Leo. Dee let Vicky, Leo and Tiger out through the locked gates where we walked alongside a quiet industrial estate road to get to the towpath and the dogs could go off lead. There were walks on both side of the canal with paths leading up a wooded hillside but the pups were pretty tired from the journey. It took three rings of the bell for Dee to let Vicky back in so it was rather awkward.

We spent a quiet night and were ready for the chandlery when it opened at 10am. We were shocked to find diesel was 10p cheaper than the advertised 88p per litre for those filling boats! We bought a plaque to say we'd survived the Gosty Hill Tunnel, thanked Dee and steered carefully out of the basin.Okumaya devam et