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Category: Narrowboat

Bye bye Northamptonshire

Bye bye Northamptonshire

It was my home for 3 or so years. The time has come to move-on.

Here’s some visual highlights from my time on the Grand Union from Milton Keynes upward.

Bonny Journey .2

Seeing as now I am work-less. I’ve decided it’s time to explore some more of the UK waterways.

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Welcome to the Nasty Nexus

Welcome to the Nasty Nexus

Or Braunston as some people call it. A place where;

  • Boating neighbors ignore you when you greet them.
  • Villagers call you ‘spaz’ on the towpath as you pass.
  • Random boaters assault you.
  • Your car is vandalised when you leave it overnight.
  • Fishermen give you death stares as you approach them.

Boaters paradise… Good value eh?

Apart from writing a blog post about the place and spending my winter mooring here in 2017, I don’t think I’ve done anything TO the place.

The people vandalise, assault, steal and are generally as unpleasant as they can be without resorting to violence. Which is not always true….

Assault
Assault

Remember this guy? He decided he didn’t like me when I was eating dinner al-fresco, and he was retrieving a tyre from the other side of the canal.

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Muscott

Muscott

Wind turbines
Cancer

Death windmill cancer zombies

Close to the lost village. Apparently lost during the time of the black death. As so much of the population was destroyed at this time, many small villages ceased to exist. Their residents turned into zombies. Muscottities still haunt the hills and dales near the M1. I even heard it was them that put up the windmills…. Although that could be ‘fake news’… Windmills cause cancer… We all know that…

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Dodford -> Brockhall

Dodford -> Brockhall

I used to call it ‘Muscott’, but it’s much closer to ‘Brockhall’ than the deserted village of Muscott.

One of the residents, or I assume it was one of the residents, accosted me whilst walking through the hamlet of Brockhall 2 nights ago.

Brockhall busy body

The road across from Brockhall to Long Buckby is what’s known as a ‘gated road’. It’s a rural kind of road with free roaming cattle and two gates or cattle grids at either end.

This road takes in the lost village of Muscott, skirts across a couple of hill tops, then goes through the hamlet of Brockhall.

Brockhall itself used to be home to a large manor house, Brockhall Hall, which due to lack of an heir, was sold off in 1969 and re-developed over the course of time into a set of self contained flats.

This large manor is set opposite Brockhall Manor, a large and still functioning farm operation, with a few thatched crofters cottages set in between.

Brockhall Northamptonshire
Brockhall Northamptonshire

Just prior to these cottages is the gate leading toward Buckby and the canal.

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Covid on the socially distanced cut – Dodford Meadows

Covid on the socially distanced cut – Dodford Meadows

Continuous cruising rules are back in operation, meaning I have to move. The boat, not my personage.

I’ve moved 2 stops down, skipping my usual stop in Weedon Bec.

I decided that the excess of pedestrian traffic around that area was probably best avoided at this time.

I’ve moved a little further to this spot which is closest to a village called Dodford. I call it Dodford Meadows.

I’m moored opposite Canna Mead Wharf‘s boat crane. Sometimes they lift the odd boat out here to do a bit of work on.

They have a day boat for hire nowadays, but no website.

There used to be more boats moored up here. Some of them appear to have moved off.

From 2017

I took this picture at the end of 2017. Actually, I’ve been here a few times.

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Covid on the Cut – The 5th degree

Covid on the Cut – The 5th degree

Living the lie.

Watling Street is a route in England that began as an ancient trackway first used by the Britons, mainly between the areas of modern Canterbury and St Albans using a natural ford near Westminster. The Romans later paved the route, which then connected the Kentish ports of Dubris (Dover), Rutupiae (Richborough), Lemanis (Lympne), and Regulbium (Reculver) to their bridge over the Thames at Londinium (London). The route continued northwest through Verulamium (St Albans) on its way to Viroconium (Wroxeter). The Romans considered the continuation on to Blatobulgium (Birrens) beyond Hadrian’s Wall to be part of the same route, leading some scholars to call this Watling Street as well, although others restrict it to the southern leg.

This is a picture of Watling Street today. As you can see, it’s one of the UK’s busiest trunk roads, and it’s almost completely empty.

The embankment you can see on the left is the Grand Union canal is it snakes it’s way around the Nene Valley.

Back to work

As a key worker….

This time I’m working in conjunction with a testing program for willing participants who wish to know if they are, or have been infected with Covid.

This is one of the largest and most important studies underway into the COVID-19 virus and will transform our understanding of the infection. The University of Oxford is delighted to be the Study Sponsor.”

Professor Sarah Walker, University of Oxford

“Understanding more about the rate of COVID-19 infection in the general population, and the longer-term prevalence of antibodies, is a vital part of our ongoing response to this virus.
“This survey will help to track the current extent of transmission and infection in the UK, while also answering crucial questions about immunity as we continue to build up our understanding of this new virus.
“Together, these results will help us better understand the spread of the virus to date, predict the future trajectory and inform future action we take, including crucially the development of ground-breaking new tests and treatments.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock

It’s an invitation only program, run by one of the Government agencies, the ONS.

If you want to read more about this testing program you can read about it on the Office of National Statistics website.

My job is to submit completed test kits to the lab in Oxford.

I drive in my car and talk to participants, do a swab with them. I have to record some details on my phone about them and their symptoms, if any, in the last 2 weeks.

I then have to return completed swab samples to a courier who drives them to a lab in Oxford.

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