Braunston Tunnel

[David Schweizer]

Oops!!

Edited February 18, 2014 by David Schweizer

[Guest]

I wouldn't avoid a tunnel, but find them a bit unnerving and spooky.

 

There you go, I've said it now.

 

Martyn

 

I must admit we do them because they are 'there' and you 'need' to do them rather than for any real 'enjoyment factor' as such.

 

I don't mind some of the bigger wider ones like Foulridge/Braunston but if there was a way to avoid the much longer lower ones like Harecastle I would take the alternate route by choice if there was one available,

 

I do realise of course some people love them specifically for what they are, to us they are just a means to an end, and yes I am aware of ones lower than Harecastle.

[Keeping Up]

I generally just want to get through tunnels as quickly as possible because they are cold and boring. I find that a really loud iPod with the right music (like, say, Bat out of Hell) not only helps with the boredom but also genuinely makes the boat go faster.

[IanM]

I generally just want to get through tunnels as quickly as possible because they are cold and boring. I find that a really loud iPod with the right music (like, say, Bat out of Hell) not only helps with the boredom but also genuinely makes the boat go faster.

 

I did try using an iPod in a tunnel once but quickly decided that it was better to actually hear if someone shouted or anything went wrong.

[john6767]

I generally just want to get through tunnels as quickly as possible because they are cold and boring. I find that a really loud iPod with the right music (like, say, Bat out of Hell) not only helps with the boredom but also genuinely makes the boat go faster.

Bat out of Hell always makes the boat go faster not just in tunnels. My music of choice on the Birmingham New Main Line.

Edited February 18, 2014 by john6767

[MtB]

Bat out of Hell always makes the boat go faster not just in tunnels. My music of choice on the Birmingham New Main Line.

 

Ah yes.

 

Any other nominations for the 'most boring bit of canal in the UK'?

 

 

MtB

[alan_fincher]

 

Ah yes.

 

Any other nominations for the 'most boring bit of canal in the UK'?

 

 

MtB

 

No great expert but the Tame valley seemed deeply comparable, but without the occasional distraction of someone actually coming the other way.

 

Other nominations........

 

Straightened out bits of the Northern Oxford, (made far worse by the speed many Sunday boaters want to queue up along it).

 

Bridgewater, (or the bit we tried, anyway).

[Guest]

 

Ah yes.

 

Any other nominations for the 'most boring bit of canal in the UK'?

 

 

MtB

 

A couple of sections of the A&CN spring to mind,

 

The bit between Kellingley colliery and Eggborough and then the bit between Whiltley lock and Great Heck are pretty featureless and straight as a dye and not - well either challenging or particularly scenic...

[IanM]

 

Straightened out bits of the Northern Oxford, (made far worse by the speed many Sunday boaters want to queue up along it).

 

 

 

What is it about those sections? Most times we've travelled along the North Oxford we've managed to catch people up and end up being on tickover. Especially on the Barby to Braunston stretch where we once followed a boat for 45 minutes on tickover.

[MtB]

 

What is it about those sections? Most times we've travelled along the North Oxford we've managed to catch people up and end up being on tickover. Especially on the Barby to Braunston stretch where we once followed a boat for 45 minutes on tickover.

 

Best to moor up and make a cuppa when that happens. Saves on the blood pressure especially as they know full well they are doing it. Anyone with any manners would wave you past.

 

MtB

[David Schweizer]

I generally just want to get through tunnels as quickly as possible because they are cold and boring. I find that a really loud iPod with the right music (like, say, Bat out of Hell) not only helps with the boredom but also genuinely makes the boat go faster.

 

 

I must admit we do them because they are 'there' and you 'need' to do them rather than for any real 'enjoyment factor' as such.

 

I don't mind some of the bigger wider ones like Foulridge/Braunston but if there was a way to avoid the much longer lower ones like Harecastle I would take the alternate route by choice if there was one available,

 

I do realise of course some people love them specifically for what they are, to us they are just a means to an end, and yes I am aware of ones lower than Harecastle.

 

Like Alan I find Tunnels pretty boring, but unlike Martin i liked Harecastle, one of the benefits being that if your boat is bumped it is your fault, and not some pratt coming the other way.

[john6767]

 

No great expert but the Tame valley seemed deeply comparable, but without the occasional distraction of someone actually coming the other way.

 

Other nominations........

 

Straightened out bits of the Northern Oxford, (made far worse by the speed many Sunday boaters want to queue up along it).

 

Bridgewater, (or the bit we tried, anyway).

You are right the Tame Valley is more boring, like the New Main Line but without the surrounding history (post industrial dereliction if you prefer) to look at.

 

River Severn is a bit tedious, but given the speed you are doing it is a bit of a blur

[Barry]

Netherton tunnel is my nemesis.

 

I've done it three times. The first time I was steering. the second and third times I went inside and read my book

[matty40s]

Is it Braunston with one of the air shafts off to one side at the end of a short tunnel?

 

 

Richard

 

 

That's 700 yards from the West (Braunston) end.

Edited February 18, 2014 by matty40s

[alan_fincher]

This was Mike Askin's photo of one of at least two that are in Blisworth.

 

This one is definitely connected to a vertical shaft going up to the surface, because the end of this shaft is illuminated by light shining down it.

 

[Photo: Mike Askin]

 

My attempts to photograph both this, and at least another one that bends away to one side after it starts, were a complete failure because, although I stopped and could could see them clearly, the flash bounced of Sickle's exhaust plume, and all I ended up with were some pictures of smoke!

[RLWP]

That's the one, Alan

 

Richard

[FadeToScarlet]

Blisworth certainly has this, but after numerous passages through Braunston, I discovered it also has something similar.

 

It has amazed me that if you are actually the one who almost invariably steers, just how much detail you miss out on by concentrating on the steering.

 

Mind you, that said, I have found that if I do try point a spotlight at the walls to study the detail, I invariably then find I can't help steering towards them!

240v or 12v floodlight on the cabin top, pointed up.with a fender in front so it doesn't dazzle oncoming steerers. Really transformed doing tunnels, you can see all the brickwork and.position the boat accurately because it's lit like day. Brilliant!

[eightpot]

ΔΔΔ What he said.

 

 

 

 

Ah yes.

 

Any other nominations for the 'most boring bit of canal in the UK'?

 

 

MtB

Bulls Bridge to West Drayton, specifically Hayes.

[Dave_P]

I love a tunnel! It was a sad day when, half-way up the HNC I discovered that my boat is too big for Standedge. A couple of lovely little tunnels are the Cookley and Dunsley tunnels on the Staffs and Worcester. Harecastle is a great experience. Chirk Tunnel is nice, coming off the aqueduct. Locally to me is the Wast Hill tunnel and always makes me smile since it makes the boundary between town and country.

 

I love the acoustics of a tunnel and it generally provokes an outburst of unrehearsed singing from me.

[Victor Vectis]

 

 

I love the acoustics of a tunnel and it generally provokes an outburst of unrehearsed singing from me.

Gilbert & Sullivan does it for me in tunnels!

[Stilllearning]

 

And that feeling multiplies up tenfold if you stop and turn your engine off (provided there is no other boat in there with you). Drink in the spooky atmosphere!

 

MtB

I completely agree, having spent an evening in Braunston tunnel, engine off, looking up an air shaft at the stars, engine off, a not to be missed fun time.

ΔΔΔ What he said.

 

 

 

 

 

Bulls Bridge to West Drayton, specifically Hayes.

The Slough Arm

[Tacet]

Boring canals? Well, comparatively speaking, there must be a most boring one, but there's not canal or any part thereof that I wouldn't be pleased to travel again.

 

It's all good.

 

Ian

[Starcoaster]

I didn't have any fears or qualms at all about tunnels, until I did my first one. Two minutes in I lost all of my depth perception, got vertigo, had a panic attack and started crying, and as soon as we got to the other end, I leapt for the shore about six feet away, lay on the ground, and promptly revisited my lunch.

 

I am getting better with them these days, but I do seem to have some weird issue where my eyes start playing tricks on me and I lose my depth perception, then start imagining things moving that aren't there, which altogether makes me feel sick and giddy.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Starcoaster

[Barry]

Ya bugger!

 

That's a bad dose of tunnel fever that is

[Starcoaster]

Yes, and particularly galling as I had no tunnel-fear prior to doing one and of all the things I thought that would phase me when boating, that wasn't even on the list!