Towpath mooring near Buckby Wharf between locks 13 and 8

[Lee.n.Jo]

We plan to cruise from Stowe Hill wharf past Braunston and then South on the Oxford canal. Is it possible to towpath moor between lock 13 and lock 8?

It's the beginning of the trip and wanted to avoid 6 locks on the trot if possible.

Any local knowledge would be very welcome.

[philjw]

There is good mooring below lock 7 (top lock) but you will have done 6 locks by then. People do moor lower down as well. I would avoid 11 - 10 as that pound drops badly overnight.

[Lee.n.Jo]

Many thanks for the information. It might be that we manage to pass lock 8 but if not perhaps a short break between 9 and 10 would do the job.

[matty40s]

To be honest, I would wait at the bottom for another boat to come along and do the whole lot at once.

You can moor below lock 8, but above is better.

[BCN Challenge]

If this is a first trip with a new (to you) boat then waiting for another boat is good advice.

 

Once you make a start you’ll need to do locks 13 to 10 as a minimum before stopping. Even then above lock 10 isn’t ideal due to the proximity of the railway. Above either of the next locks is preferable, particularly 8 to 7.

 

Buckby locks are hard work. The spacing and the extra depth make them more difficult than other GU flights. CanalPlan’s default timing of 1 hour 40 minutes for the flight is a work of fiction. Don’t be put off.

[Lee.n.Jo]

Thanks all. Waiting for a second boat and going up together sounds like a good tip.

[SLC]

7 minutes ago, BCN Challenge said:

If this is a first trip with a new (to you) boat then waiting for another boat is good advice.

 

Once you make a start you’ll need to do locks 13 to 10 as a minimum before stopping. Even then above lock 10 isn’t ideal due to the proximity of the railway. Above either of the next locks is preferable, particularly 8 to 7.

 

Buckby locks are hard work. The spacing and the extra depth make them more difficult than other GU flights. CanalPlan’s default timing of 1 hour 40 minutes for the flight is a work of fiction. Don’t be put off.

Not much more to add. We moored up near C&RT top lock services and on another occasion just around the corner. 2 boats we met moored up between 7 and 8 and there is a pub on the A5 nearby.

[Tonka]

4 minutes ago, Lee.n.Jo said:

Thanks all. Waiting for a second boat and going up together sounds like a good tip.

At this time of day I think you will be wiser to carry on. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Thought they had vlockies on that flight?

[Lee.n.Jo]

The trip is likely to be mid October with an early morning start. Is there likely to be much movement on this section of the canal in October? 

Thanks Glen, I like the sound of vlockies or is that more a seasonal luxury?

[BCN Challenge]

1 minute ago, Lee.n.Jo said:

The trip is likely to be mid October with an early morning start. Is there likely to be much movement on this section of the canal in October? 

Thanks Glen, I like the sound of vlockies or is that more a seasonal luxury?

Yes. It’s a busy flight.

You may see me. I’ve got seven trips planned through before the end of October already.

 

I’ve never really had anything amounting to serious help from volockies at Buckby. Have observed them dabbling at either the top or bottom locks on a very occasional basis.

 

Mind you I do tend to boat outside of core volockie hours.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

25 minutes ago, Lee.n.Jo said:

The trip is likely to be mid October with an early morning start. Is there likely to be much movement on this section of the canal in October? 

Thanks Glen, I like the sound of vlockies or is that more a seasonal luxury?

Ah October, then I don’t know if they’ll be around 🤷‍♀️

email CRT, you might get lucky

19 minutes ago, BCN Challenge said:

I’ve never really had anything amounting to serious help from volockies at Buckby. Have observed them dabbling at either the top or bottom locks on a very occasional basis.

When I came up them in July they were very helpful,

 it was knocking on for 4pm when I started the flight,

and they were certainly still helping me at gone 5pm when I came out the top lock,

 

 

[Rob-M]

When we went up in August there were vlockies but they kept ahead of us helping the two boats in front with plenty of crew and left me and the wife to it which we didn't mind.

[BCN Challenge]

I reckon I’ve been through eight times so far this year and not once can I recall help from a volockie other than winding paddles on the bottom lock.

 

I even managed better from the volockies at Atherstone today. It was surprisingly busy considering the weather. I thought I’d have the flight to myself and no volockies.

 

[matty40s]

1 hour ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Thought they had vlockies on that flight?

Very intermittent and unreliable unless there is a local event on(Crick/Braunston shows etc).

 

1 hour ago, Lee.n.Jo said:

The trip is likely to be mid October with an early morning start. Is there likely to be much movement on this section of the canal in October? 

Thanks Glen, I like the sound of vlockies or is that more a seasonal luxury?

This section of the GU is probably one of the busiest on the network, and will continue to be until November when the hire fleets pack up and locks start to close for maintenance. 

Thursday and Sunday mornings are good going up as several hire bases on the Braunston side do Friday and Monday changeovers so the boats are returning then. 

[adam1uk]

28 minutes ago, BCN Challenge said:

I reckon I’ve been through eight times so far this year and not once can I recall help from a volockie other than winding paddles on the bottom lock.

 

I even managed better from the volockies at Atherstone today. It was surprisingly busy considering the weather. I thought I’d have the flight to myself and no volockies.

 

 

We've been up and down twice each way so far this year, and haven't seen a volunteer at all.  This Saturday there was an actual CRT employee running some water down from somewhere near the middle of the flight, who raised a paddle and pushed a gate for us.

 

It's true there are some heavy gates on the flight, but it never seems especially difficult or slow to me.  On Saturday we came down in about an hour and 20 mins.  It only really takes a long time if you're immediately following someone.

 

I quite like the moorings one lock down, either near Anchor Cottage or nearer the top lock.  I wouldn't stop in any of the other pounds, but people do.

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, BCN Challenge said:

 

I’ve never really had anything amounting to serious help from volockies at Buckby. Have observed them dabbling at either the top or bottom locks on a very occasional basis.

Coming down Buckby earlier this year had a volockie turn a lock on us when we were in view and the boat coming up he was helping was not. Words were had and he slunk off and was not seen again. Other volockies further down were more helpful.

[BCN Challenge]

4 hours ago, adam1uk said:

 

We've been up and down twice each way so far this year, and haven't seen a volunteer at all.  This Saturday there was an actual CRT employee running some water down from somewhere near the middle of the flight, who raised a paddle and pushed a gate for us.

 

It's true there are some heavy gates on the flight, but it never seems especially difficult or slow to me.  On Saturday we came down in about an hour and 20 mins.  It only really takes a long time if you're immediately following someone.

 

I quite like the moorings one lock down, either near Anchor Cottage or nearer the top lock.  I wouldn't stop in any of the other pounds, but people do.

Ever singlehanded it?

 

The gaps between locks are a pain because other than the bottom two you have to stop twice in every pound; or haul the boat out of the lock going downhill which is my preference. It’s also routine that you pass a boat in a pound yet still have to prepare the next lock.
 

Those gaps can be used to advantage with a crew of two.

 

The extra depth makes the gates very heavy compared to Braunston. The way they weir through the gates coupled with the over-zealous back pumping means there can be a difference in level at the top gates even when the bottom is weiring over the gate. The locks without gate paddles are somewhat reluctant to make a level.

 

The top lock is possibly my least favourite on the network for a single hander.

 

And to top it all you’ll probably end up sharing with a novice from ABC at Gayton.

 

Braunston is a breeze by comparison. Plus it also has some good volockies.

Maybe my view is coloured by too many passages late in the day in the autumn and winter months because the above said they do have the same redeeming features common to GU wide locks which still means they are better than all other wide locks bar maybe the GU Birmingham line.

Edited September 23, 2024 by BCN Challenge

[johnmck]

Grasp the metal and do the lot. 

Broad locks can be challenging for anyone new to the canals, but you will soon get into a rhythm going up. We enter these locks, keep slightly back towards the bottom gate, then open the ground paddle on the same side your boat is in the lock. The flow will hold your boat against the lock wall.

Take it steadily,  but not too much.

Of course, in company with another boat, it's a doddle.

[Lee.n.Jo]

Thanks all. Trip went well. We moored for the night between 8 and 7 as it looked pretty busy beyond 7. We headed on through Braunston tunnel and beat the lock closure in the Braunston flight. Now on beyond the bridge closure on Oxford canal bridge 130. Hope for a clear(ish) run down to Braunston shortly hoping the Clayden closure has been postponed ... according to a CRT guy this is the case and Cropredy marina seem to think it's open now.

[alan_fincher]

A problem might be that whilst a few years ago the advice "wait until another boat comes along" would have been a solid suggestion, the inexorable rise in the wide beam population now means the next boat along may well be a "fatty" and hence sharing will not be an option.

Sad, and unfortunately true.

[BCN Challenge]

6 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

A problem might be that whilst a few years ago the advice "wait until another boat comes along" would have been a solid suggestion, the inexorable rise in the wide beam population now means the next boat along may well be a "fatty" and hence sharing will not be an option.

Sad, and unfortunately true.

You don’t see many moving wide beams north of Milton Keynes. I think 50% of those I’ve seen this year have been CW Boatmover.

 

You are much more likely to wait and find two narrowboats approach having locked through the previous flight together.

 

I don’t think it’s a great suggestion unless there is a water shortage but not for the reasons you suggest.

 

I once even shared a lock with a wide beam.

[Lee.n.Jo]

We had no issues with widebeams. As I said, all was good and we're now on the south Oxford. I think there's a place for us all on these canals, narrow, widebeam and Dutch barges. I guess tolerance is the best philosophy in life.

[MtB]

21 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

A problem might be that whilst a few years ago the advice "wait until another boat comes along" would have been a solid suggestion, the inexorable rise in the wide beam population now means the next boat along may well be a "fatty" and hence sharing will not be an option.

Sad, and unfortunately true.

 

 

Do they move then?

 

Didn't realise. 

 

 

[alan_fincher]

20 hours ago, MtB said:

Do they move then?

 

Didn't realise. 

 

The ever increasing number of published outages to allow fat boat passage through Blisworth and/or Braunston tunnels is adequate evidence that some of them, at least, do mov from time to time.

Even the infamous "container boat" moves, including sometimes though the tunnels.