Braunston Rally Mini Preview and Jack Reacher

I was up and out of bed at 6am this morning, the yellow disc was up in the sky and the birds were singing. While Sue was in the land of nod I had a cycle ride into Braunston to see if any of the Historic narrowboats had arrived in town, I was pleasantly surprised. Here are some of the pictures I took early this morning.

If there hadn't been for canals and the working boats to carry coal to the mills and industries of Britain and the goods they made to the ports that fed the trade around the planet there would not have been an industrial revolution in Britain. The narrowboat was a key part of the economic growth of the age. The horse and cart method was too slow and often damaged the cargo whereas boats were quicker & smoother, one horse could pull a laden boat with 20 ton of cargo easily but only a few cwt by cart over the rutted tracks of the day.

It was nice to see the colourful boats tied to the bank but I'm looking forward to hearing and smelling those vintage engines like Bolinder, Gardner and Lister at the weekend.

We moved the boat into Braunston opposite The Boathouse for the night and will probably go back to yesterdays mooring tomorrow. This afternoon we had a pleasant stroll down to the Admiral Nelson and sat in the garden watching boats go through the lock.

Jack's Boat