This stretch of the canal sees a Roman Road (now A5), railway (with Virgin trains) and the M1 motorway all sharing the same route. The noise from the traffic is relentless and disruptive of the countryside. From a picture - with no sound - the canal closest to the morotway appears idyllic! One also wonders if, some time into the future, the motorway will be consigned to a holiday experience, just as with the canals which, when built, were the principal means of industrial traffic!
Whilst waiting at Norton Junction for the water tank to fill, Christine decided on a rather unusual addition to the diet: fried egg, bacon and fried bread! Yummy!
When we arrived at Watford Locks we discovered that there would be quite a wait - the lockkeeper indicated about 90 minutes but it turned out to be almost two hours before we could make a start. In order to maximise traffic through the flight - which includes a staircase of three in the middle - he operates a batch policy: the more boats are waiting, the larger the batch. Today it was fairly quiet so the batches were three up and three down.
Just as our slot arrived, the rain started! For most of the next hour it was a very heavy downpour - necessitating a change of trousers afterwards. (It was such heavy rain that a photo of us entering the staircase was impossible, but above is one of a preceding boat!) Of course, as soon as we set off on the 20 mile summit pound, it dried out, sun even broke out before long. Crick Tunnel, the junction for the Welford Arm and Husbands Bosworth Tunnel were the principal landmarks along the way. Whilst we did not quite reach Foxton, it will only be a short run in the morning. If we start off at the same time as the first two days then we should be there by the time the flight opens.
