Stoke Bruerne and The Blisworth Tunnel

Stoke Bruerne although a busy boating place, was pleasant and quiet by the the time the tow path tourists had gone home or to the pubs.We can only stay here two nights, new rules have come into play, the aim is to keep boats moving and allow other boats to moor in this pleasant spot, really this will help the hire boats find a spot to moor as they plod up and down with deadlines to keep, usually only spending a night at any town.
We have to go through the Blisworth Tunnel tomorrow, the third longest navigable one on the system, taking about 30 mins, with the added fun factor of two way traffic.The Grand Union canal had been open and running for 5 years before the tunnel was finally finished and open, forcing boats to unload their cargoes onto trams  for the journey over the hill and then be reloaded at the other side, hardly ideal.
The first boats were poled through the tunnel, later they used leggers, men would propel the boats by foot as they lay on the boat, a hard job, not without accidents and fatalities, they were finally replaced by a steam tug to speed things up as the tunnel traffic increased.

N B Hadar shows us the way things were for leggers

  

All in a days work, some jobs best left in the past

Stoke Bruerne, behind the bridge is the wharf and a lock

One drink in here was all we managed before being driven away by wasps, Pest Control has gone down hill since my retirement

The wharf, the large three storey building was once a corn mill, now a museum 

Seen from the lock bridge 

It's time to plan to have the engine serviced again - it almost got overlooked because we don't run the engine when we are moored thanks to the solar power. Baz spoke to Richard who has done most of our servicing and even though he's up at Gnosall (Shroppie) he's agreed to come and meet us at the end of the week to give Micky Jay the once over - great service!

Bye for now

Ali and Baz