We awoke to more heavy rain but by eight o’clock it had all stopped and the day was shaping up to be a nice one. After the obligatory cup of coffee, we got up and attempted to leave our mooring at nine o’clock. I say “attempted” because as I untied Caxton, four boats passed us in convoy also heading towards Wigrams turn. We took our place in the convoy and were soon joined behind and in front by boats leaving their moorings and travelling in the same direction as us. Despite the number of boats on the move, our trip to Napton was actually an uneventful one and we reached the winding hole below the locks an hour and a half after we had untied. The boat behind us waited patiently while we turned Caxton and then we found our mooring just one boat length back from the post marking the no mooring area opposite the hole.
The entertainment began immediately with a Canaltime boat reversing back from the bottom lock and then thrashing its way backwards and forwards at full pelt, crashing into every available bank until it finally managed to escape the winding hole with its red faced, embarrassed crew.
We locked Caxton up and walked to the Folly Inn, dropping a bag of rubbish at the bottom lock facilities along the way.

After a quick wander around the little shop we went into the pub, ordered some drinks and enquired about lunch. The girl behind the bar seemed almost apologetic as she told us that they were “only” serving roast dinners. Reluctantly we ordered two roast beef dinners and then sat down outside. Within ten minutes we were presented with two large plates filled with roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, new (jersey royal) potatoes, red cabbage, cauliflower cheese, carrots, peas and gravy with a small dish of home made horseradish sauce. It was a bit of a hardship but we managed to scoff the lot! It was actually one of the best, if not the best, pub lunches we have ever had!
We walked back to Caxton hoping to settle down for the afternoon in the sunshine but unfortunately we had to endure even more entertainment around the winding hole. The problem is actually a restriction of passage up and down the flight due to a collapsing lock wall meaning that some boaters are changing plans and turning around, mainly hire boaters with limited time. First on stage was a Viking narrowboat who made the earlier attempt by the Canaltime boat look quite professional. They completed their crash-bang-wallop manouvre by mooring opposite the winding hole. We sat hoping that the next boat to turn would be as inept as they had been and therefore include a bit of boat crashing too. We were disappointed, the next boat to turn was another Viking boat and they knew what to do, after they had turned, Viking number one also left, leaving the winding hole clear again. Save for a conversation with a couple from Bedworth who were on an Ashby boat, our afternoon basically consisted of us just dossing out on the front deck of our beatiful boat in the late May sunshine.