Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
six locks. It also has a choice between the two worst portages on the canal. When not obstruc-
ted by the lock balance beams there is a very narrow flight of steps leading down between
vertical walls right next to the A5. These are probably not wide enough to allow a person to
stand beside a canoe and there is no platform at the bottom from which to launch. The much
more recent People Pipe under the A5 no longer floods as it did when it was first installed,
but the steps down are at right angles to the rest of the subway so it is necessary to lower a
canoe in at a steep angle over the handrails at the end, hoping nobody else is using it. Once
beyond the A5, launching is not a problem.
Next to cross the canal is the West Coast Main Line, here the world's busiest main railway,
which follows the canal closely to Blisworth and does not finally leave until Abbots Langley.
Guardrails were fitted to stop horses falling in the canal when they were frightened by steam
engines.
Contrasting widths near Lower Shuckburgh
.
A location as far as possible from the coast but with a good new transport system was
selected here for the 600m Weedon Military Dock. It had a yellow brick gatehouse with a
portcullis; 12 magazine gunpowder stores for 5,000 barrels separated by blast buildings filled
with earth; much small arms ammunition; 800,000 weapons (including 250,000 muskets and
30 pieces of field artillery); accommodation for two regiments; barracks for 500 soldiers;
stabling for 200 horses; a riding school; and, later, a hospital. There were three large pavilions
for the king and cabinet, including a royal pavilion for George III in case of a Napoleonic
invasion. Although it was not used after 1920, it was believed to have been a planned sta-
ging post for Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in the event of a Second World War invasion,
from where they would have been taken to Prestwick and flown to Canada. When the railway
line was electrified in 1965 the army pulled out and the entry arm was partly filled in and
built upon. It is now private property, being used for industrial storage, although it has Grade
II buildings. In 1991, a boatyard at the end put up a notice saying that they had been there 25
years and warning people not to move in opposite and then complain about the noise.
As the canal turns away from the open rolling Stowehill, the railway carries on and blasts
straight through it; canal-style brick vent shafts are visible on the hillside above the tunnel.
The canal bores under the A5 again and passes the Narrow Boat and a small marina to arrive
at a bridge near Flore.
