Oh Magic. Elizabeth LOVED driving through the tunnel. Quiet, cool but not damp smelling, soft light from Bella lighting the old brick. Wonderful. Until a boat came from the other end with a dazzling headlamp. Pete had to take over as Elizabeth's lack of night driving ability came to the fore, but as soon as we were safely past, she was back at the tiller. Hmm. Safely past. By the time Elizabeth had to give in to the reality that the oncoming headlamp was a fuzzy mess of starry lights, we heard a shout from said oncoming boat. Elizabeth stopped Bella, threw her into reverse for a full stop, then Pete got us back on safe course and we passed without a nudge. The boat behind us did not make such an effort and much shouting with a great clang or two followed. Mid tunnel collision! We warned another approaching boat (for which Pete took the tiller again) of a mild argument in action at mile metre marker 700... Mind you, the tunnel was only just wide enough for two boats, each one nipping the outside edge just a little. Sorry for the fuzzy photo inside the tunnel, but the camera went to auto slow to deal with the dark, so was moving during the shot! We'll do better next time.
Back out on the open canal, we trundled on a mile or two until Norton Junction, the union of the Grand Union Leicester section and the Grand Union Main Line (used to be called the Grand Junction). We'd not done the Leicester Section before, so of course, turned left again and went in. Another set of locks and tunnel waited near Crick, our now agreed destination. (And these wonderful yellow chicks!)
The set of locks at Watford turned out to be a mini Foxton flight - 5 staircase locks with a usual lock at the bottom and on the top. What fun! We had to sign in with the Lock-keeper, charged with making sure the the steps were managed carefully. We had a small wait on our hands and had to moor alongside a boat which happend to stop after they left the flights to have a picnic lunch.
Like Foxton, each lock in the flight empties into a side pond which then fills the lock below. There are two paddle mechanisms for each lock in the flight - one red, and one white. "Red before white and all is all right; white before red and you'll end up dead!" or some such is the way to remember which paddle to work first! You can see Pete standing by the red mechanism, waiting for the lock ahead to finish it's fill. On a staircase like these, the lock between each boat must be empty. If you want to know more, visit http://www.foxtonlocks.com/sections/boaters/thelocks/index.php to see how Foxton works. Watford Locks are half the number, but the same operation. Oh and Watford IS Watford Gap on the M1. We could have crawled over the fence to the Motorway services if we had wanted!
A few miles on, we went through the Crick Tunnel, then moored up opposite Crick Marina. We took a lovely walk through the town and had a fab dinner at Edwards in the old Crick Wharf buildings.
