215-Narrowboat Life-With a Little Help from our Friends!

215-Narrowboat Life-With a Little Help from our Friends!

Welcome to our canal adventures!
Join us on Narrowboat Dunworkin as we continuously cruise the Inland Waterways of England and Wales, living an off grid lifestyle.

This week we explore the beautiful Grand Union Canal and navigate historic Braunston tunnel and locks. With a little help from our amazing friends, we tackled the challenges of the locks together, creating unforgettable memories along the way. Subscribe to follow our journey on the water, full of teamwork, laughter, and stunning canal-side views!

We spent Christmas at Norton Junction and now it’s time to head towards Braunston.
It’s a rather dull and overcast day as we cruise the stretch of the Grand Union Canal tunnel approach. It’s a cold, dark and damp journey through the tunnel but we soon reach the top of Braunston Locks.
We are fortunate to have extra crew members to assist us through the six locks. The locks are busy with several boats in front and a few heading upstream.
The Admiral Nelson pub at lock 3 pre dates the canal and was originally a farm building.
It is said to be haunted by a figure in black, who walks through the walls into the adjoining Nelson Cottage.
At bottom lock is the old pumping station, built in 1805 and the rebuilt in 1897, housed a Boulton and Watt engine which used to pump water back to the top of the lock flight.
The bridge at the entrance to the marina was the original junction of the old Oxford Canal. Looking across the canal from the marina is a large depression in the land, this was once a working quarry where many of the bricks that line Braunston Tunnel were made.
Next to the marina is the Stop House, built in 1796, originally the Toll Office between the Oxford Canal and the Grand Junction Canal.
We moor shortly after exiting the locks.

Braunston Tunnel opened in 1796 and is 2042 yards long, its 16ft and 6 inches wide and two narrow can pass side by side. Wide beams need to book passage through.
In the olden days leggers were used to work the boat through the tunnel, with a hut at each end for the leggers.
There was a cost of 1 shilling for a fully laden boat and 9d for an empty boat.
For its day it was a significant civil engineering achievement, even though there was a miscalculation and the tunnel has a kink in. Constructing was carried out by candlelight and spoil was removed by way of a winch through the circular brick vents.

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Watch from the beginning of our journey
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Music from Epidemic Sounds :
Honey Take my Hand by Cody Francis
To Prepare you for Tenderness- unknown author