Slow travel along hedgerows sweet with may, lambs bleating in the fields, the first ducklings in the water, swans and geese nesting, the first swifts and swallows, and pretty good weather.
As usual, we stopped to explore local landmarks and industrial archaeology. After Napton top lock, there is a feeder arm that leads to a disused pumping house. Unfortunately the field leading to the ruin was full of baby buffaloes, so we went to a farm selling cake and tea instead. Puddleduck café is well worth a visit, not just for its cakes and friendly atmosphere, but their enormous collection of old and vintage tractors. I’m not a tractor fan, but the collection was fascinating, with descriptions about who owned each one, what its historical significance is and sometimes a little story about the previous owner.
We also made time to walk to the top of Napton village. Sadly the village shop was closed. It’s famous for high quality produce and we wanted to pick up a couple of buffalo burgers. But the church was open, and we walked to the windmill on the hill, which we’d seen from the canal every time we came this way in the past.
At Braunston (turn East from the Oxford onto the Grand Union canal) there is a disused Engine House that used to pump water to the top of the flight. We wanted to find out a little about the building, so we asked the lady who runs the Union Canal Carriers shop. Her name is Heather Hewitt and she’s lived and worked on boats all her life. She used to run coal boats until the 1970’s, then skippered camping boats (old working boats converted to camping barns), her husband owns and managers Union Canal Carriers Ltd, her sister in law runs the store by Claydon bottom lock. Heather is a font of knowledge about canals and canal history, and we could have chatted for hours. Thank you Heather for sharing a little of your history with us.
Braunston remains a very busy canal centre, as it is a confluence of the Oxford canal, going to Birmingham and Oxford, the Grand Union canal going to London in one direction and Coventry in the other. There are marinas, boat yards, chandlers, hire boats and small shops along the canal selling canal memorabilia. Best of all, there’s plenty of mooring, a couple of decent pubs and an interesting and thriving village up the hill.
One fascinating boat we saw is the Raymond, the last ever wooden working narrow boat to be built, in 1958. She was used as a coal boat until 1970, delivering coal to London and Hertfordshire and was captained by Arthur Bray, his wife and stepson from the day she was launched until their last commission.
Towpaths and Turnpikes 
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