intrepid pony: The Bratch and dredgers

Bumble hole lock

We cast off at 9.05 and made rapid progress without rushing as the locks were empty. All I had to do was push the gates open for the boat to go in. We didn’t even have to wait at the staircase lock which can cause a boat queue.

The Bratch

empty middle lock

We were fortunate to arrive at The Bratch locks just as a boat went into the first of flight of three. As you cannot pass on the flight the CRT Volunteers usually let three boats go one way and then three go the other. As there was only one boat ahead of us we were able to go in next rather than wait for three boats at the top to come down. Helped by the CRT Volunteers we climbed the flight in less than half an hour. When we reached the top there were four boats waiting, some of the faces were rather sad. We moored at the far end of The Bratch moorings for lunch waiting to tie up until the man with the mower had trimmed round the rings. By then two more boats had joined the queue to go down.

ready to rise

out at the to of The flight

We were thinking of moving on when a boat sped by us, only to come to an abrupt halt because a dredger was blocking the canal. It was NOT a hire boat. Having read the sign which said we could be delayed for up to half an hour by the dredging works we moved off leisurely. As we chugged up slowly to the dredger it moved over allowing the narrow boat ahead and us to pass by. When they moored up the lady said her hubby hadn’t seen the dredging signs. Well he might have if he had passed us by on tickover!

We had a lovely afternoon. The strangest thing was the sight of a narrow boat reversing towards us as we left Ebstree Lock. The boater seemed happy going backwards even though he had just passed a winding hole. Perhaps his gear has jammed in reverse.

mooring above The Bratch

We found Flitwick moorings almost full so moved on around to Compton. They were full too, apart from a short space at the far end. Sometimes it is good to have a short narrow boat.