Thursday 4 June 2015

GUC,Welford arm and cuckoo

Surprise, surprise, warmth and sunshine this morning at our perfect mooring spot on the Grand Union, close to the Welford arm. Last night was incredibly quiet with no trains, planes or traffic within earshot. 
We had a walk along the canal during the evening and listened to our first cuckoo of the year.
Having chosen summer cruising clothes off we went to explore the Welford arm, a short length of recently restored canal, allow 1hour each way. It is beautiful. Our trip took longer as we broke down in the winding hole and ,yet again, had to call Canal and River Rescue. We had no forward drive, only reverse. I checked the weed hatch and removed a plastic bag and the usual array of weeds and debris, but still no forward drive. The engineer immediately diagnosed a broken throttled cable and quickly replaced it. Somewhat later than planned we returned to the main Grand Union in hot sunshine with forward and reverse working smoother than previously. I even stripped down to what Lynne calls my "mohair" suit, a first for 2015. The Grand Union is generally wide but well maintained and passes some fantastic scenery, considering it was the equivalent of today's M1 motorway when built in the1790's. We moored in the middle of nowhere somewhere between Yelvertoft and Crick, in Northamptonshire, home of the annual inland waterways boat show.

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