2017 The Thames Trip
Our first long trip after retirement. Almost six months cruising the Oxford canal, the river Thames and the Grand Union.
Navigation Blocked!
After the high winds and rain on Tuesday, we figured that there could be a lot of boats on the move on Wednesday. We decided to get up early and move to the water point which is just beyond the main road bridge on the edge of Kidlington. We got up at 6am, the first time for me since April, and started our journey. Despite the fact that the water tank was almost empty we were on our way again just after seven. Originally, we had expected to complete our journey to Oxford in two stages but having got off to such an early start we decided that we may as well do it all in one hit. The canal is very green and rural as it skirts Kidlington and there are only a few areas that are suitable for mooring. This means that there aren’t too many moored boats to pass and at this time of the year it also means that the canal is lined with green walls of trees and hedgerows. Soon enough we had passed through the second of the Kidlington locks and were heading for Dukes lock, just over a mile away. A tree, presumably a casualty of Tuesday’s high winds, had fallen across the towpath and was partially blocking the canal, creating a sort of watery chicane but it presented little problem to us. After a while, I became somewhat confused because I couldn’t quite work out which way the canal was turning up ahead. I could see the green hedgerow but the water seemed to have disappeared. Suddenly I realised that I wasn’t looking at a hedge but a tree which had fallen across the canal and was completely blocking it about 400 yards ahead. After calling to Sue who was working inside, I brought Caxton to a halt and we weighed up the situation. It was obvious that we could not continue and it was equally obvious that we wouldn’t be able to moor easily either because of the rough and overgrown banks. We knew that there was a stretch of Armco below the last lock and we reckoned that since the blockage could take some time to be cleared, that stretch was probably our best option. It was still only just after eight o’clock so we knew that were wouldn’t be much traffic heading south and there was definitely none heading north so while Sue rang CaRT (Canal and River Trust), I reversed Caxton the half mile back to the lock. The half mile, mainly in a cross wind, through a narrow lift bridge and of course through the chicane created by the other fallen tree went without incident, no doubt because there were no witnesses! CaRT called back and told us that they had instructed a contractor to attend and that they hoped that the blockage would be cleared later in the day. A couple of other boats had arrived at the lock so we passed the message on before walking back to the tree to look at the damage. Once there we could see that the tree was pretty large and we could also see that there were four boats tied up on the other side of it.
Rotted base to the trunk.
Completely blocking the canal.
This helped us make the decision to remain on the mooring for at least another day and in effect revert to our original plan by making the journey to Oxford in two stages. By eleven o’clock we had showered, changed and were ready to walk the mile back into Kidlington where we did a bit of grocery shopping and then had lunch at the Black Horse.
It was two o’clock when we got back to our mooring and the first of the trapped northbound boats was nearing the lock, the blockage was seemingly cleared. I was quite impressed that the work had been done so quickly but even more so when I walked back to the scene and saw that there was very little evidence of the tree left on site.
All tidied up.
Cleared up by 2pm.
We didn’t do much for the rest of the day, the early start and the seven or eight miles walking that we had done left us feeling that we deserved a bit of a lazy afternoon.
A week in Thrupp
We left our mooring below pigeon lock on Wednesday morning with Thrupp in mind as a place to carry out our services. In an ideal world we would have liked to find a mooring in Thrupp but since it is a popular place, not only did we hold out little hope, we just didn’t factor in a stop there at all. On reaching Bakers lock where the canal joins the river Cherwell, we noticed that there is a new electronic indicator board showing the state of the water level on the river below. This is an improvement on the simple red/amber/green marker system because it is lock-side rather than out of sight, below the lock. Unsurprisingly, the level was in the green and we were good to go. It’s a twisty section of waterway with some tight bends but it is not for long and soon we reached Shipton weir lock where we parted company with the Cherwell. A few minutes later and we reached the approach to Thrupp and the long line of moored boats. We were pleased to see that the service wharf was free although no sooner had we tied up on it than a boat came through the lift bridge and pulled up behind us. They too had wanted water but seeing that we would be a while, decided to visit Annie’s tearoom for breakfast. While the water poured into Caxton’s cavernous tank, I took a walk around the corner on the off chance that there might be a space to moor for a day or so. I was amazed to discover that there was one last space, big enough for us, at the end of the seven day moorings. The tank seemed to take an age to fill but ‘our’ space was still there when we finally moved around the corner and under the lift bridge. We were secured to the bank a few minutes later, utilising the rings provided with a couple of our pins added as springs fore and aft.
We decided to stay in Thrupp for as long as we could, with our water supply probably being the limiting factor. The nearby village / town of Kidlington, which is probably classed as a suburb of Oxford, is only around 1.5 miles away and provided us with a good walk most days. The high street in Kidlington has a Tesco, Co-op and Iceland as well as a number of smaller shops which have provided the rest of our everyday needs.
Thrupp itself is tiny but around the canal there are a number of businesses; Annie’s tearoom, The Boat inn and the Jolly Boatman pub. We visited all of them in the week that we were there and they were all good in their own way.
The Jam Butty boat.
Another business which was there temporarily was the Jam Butty boat so not wishing to let the opportunity pass, we bought some chutneys from them and very good they are too. I had a chat with Andy or Captain Ahab as he is sometimes known. Coincidentally, he has also just taken early retirement and like me isn’t missing work at all!
In addition to our almost daily walks to Kidlington, we also found time to walk to Shipton on Cherwell and to the abandoned village at Hampton Gay where all that remains now is a ruined manor house and a Church which still has around six services a year. This area was the scene of a terrible train crash in 1874, the details of which are here.
We spent a fair bit of our time in Thrupp cleaning and restoring Caxton to its former glory and by the time we left, the starboard side looked magnificent. The paintwork had been polished and the gunwhales, side hatches and tunnel bands had all been painted.
Caxton looking resplendent after a bit of a makeover.
Cream tunnel band repainted.
Side hatch now matches the other side after a repaint.
Mirror finish!
Staying a week in one place was a bit of a novelty for us and felt a bit like we were holidaying on a campsite but with spectators. The weekend was blessed with good weather and as a result there was a steady stream of visitors to Thrupp. We found it funny to hear passers-by commenting on our boat, seemingly unaware that we could hear every word. We even heard one parent pointing out to their child, “look, there’s a lady doing some knitting”. Well, eventually the notion of being an “extra” in an unofficial living museum wore a bit thin and we were glad when it started to rain on Sunday afternoon as that seemed to disperse the gongoozlers.
The weather turned a bit sour for our last couple of days at Thrupp but we still managed to get out now and again between showers for the odd trip to the tearoom, pub or shop. Had we been on holiday, we would have had to brave the elements and get on with our journey but in our new found existence, that is now a thing of the past. We managed to survive on one tank of water and our solar panels kept the batteries topped up for the first five days. When the thick cloud arrived with the rain on day six, we ran the engine for a while just to make sure that we had enough power to see us through the day.
All good things must come to an end and for us that meant leaving Thrupp on Wednesday morning, our first priority being to refill the almost empty water tank.
Tackley & Kirtlington
As the last few weeks have gone on, it has been more and more difficult to know what day of the week it is, not that it matters anyway! It was easy today, it must be Bank Holiday Monday because the weather had taken a turn for the worst. We were up and away at half past seven because we wanted to get through the wharf where the hire base is situated before all of the “Friday to Monday” boats returned. We made it but only just, settling at the water point by eight o’clock. The short journey wasn’t without incident though, Sue had set off on foot to open Mill Lift bridge, thankfully now mechanised since we last passed this way, no problem there. After passing through, she continued on foot while I chugged slowly passed the line of moored boats running down to the wharf. A few minutes later and I was confronted by a boat from the nearby Oxfordshire narrowboat hire base. The steerer had plenty of room as I maintained a six inch gap between Caxton and the moored boats but seemed reluctant to use more of the seven or eight feet that he had between his boat and the canal bank and so there was a small bump, nothing serious but totally avoidable.
Five boats returned to the base in the thirty minutes or so that we sat filling the water tank, no problem for us but they blocked the canal as they manoeuvred their vessels into place. We were soon underway again and in similar fashion to our trip two days earlier, we covered around five miles and dropped down through another three locks, mooring below Pigeon lock. The bottom gate of this lock doesn’t open fully and when we arrived a queue had formed as a result of a boat getting stuck, allegedly because it had its fenders down. It had gone by the time we arrived so we don’t know for sure but once things had started to move, the backlog soon cleared.
After lunch, we walked to the village of Tackley which is just over a mile from the canal by way of a bridleway. The path begins by winding around the back of the private houses which were once the Three Pigeons pub and a water mill respectively. There is now a sluice where presumably the mill stream once ran and the path crosses it by way of a bridge. The bridleway continues between fields of crops until it reaches Tackley station where the walker has to cross the tracks before continuing into the village. There isn’t much to Tackley, like so many of these villages which have become commuter dormitories. In fairness to the inhabitants, there must be some people who want to retain a village spirit because the village hall has a community shop, although it had closed by the time we got there because of the bank holiday. The local pub, the Gardiner Arms is also a community run business and has limited opening hours as a result. We called in and had a drink, it is a lovely building with a spotless well maintained interior.
We were half way back to our mooring when the rain started and why not? It was a bank holiday after all!
After another good night’s sleep we awoke to a fairly bright morning with a sky filled with white clouds. After pottering around until lunchtime, we set off in the direction of another close by village, Kirtlington. Like Tackley, Kirtlington is just over a mile away from Pigeon lock along a road which only gives access to the old mill. It didn’t take us long until we reached the village centre with it’s traditional village green. We visited the church, the village shop and then the Oxfordshire Arms. Kirtlington might just win the prize for being the most desirable of the four villages that we have visited in the last few days but again it is very quiet with little activity going on.
The Heyfords
On Saturday morning we were woken by heavy rain but by the time we had sorted ourselves out, the sun was out and so we decided to move on from Aynho wharf. There was no particular reason behind the decision, we just thought it would be a good thing to do.
This trip has been defined by its lack of having an itinerary to follow, the only big decision that we make each day is whether to move or stay where we are and that’s only important because if we stay, we heat the water for a shower and if we move we let the engine heat the water and we shower after we tie up. We can survive about ten days before we have to worry about toilets and fresh water so there is no pressure to move every day or every other day for that matter.
After leaving Aynho, we travelled for two and a half hours covering five miles and passing through three locks before finding a quiet mooring between Upper and Lower Heyford. After securing Caxton and then making ourselves presentable to the outside world, we walked along the towpath to Heyford station, three quarters of a mile away. A few days earlier, Sue had broken the frame on a pair of her glasses so we thought that it would be a good idea to travel to Oxford and find Specsavers, leave the glasses with them and then collect when we arrive by boat – whenever that might be. The train only takes fifteen minutes to make its way to Oxford and it didn’t take long after we arrived there to find Specsavers. Luckily enough, the frame style is still available so the repair could be done there and then by swapping the lenses, all we had to do was to leave the old ones and return an hour later and this we did.
We hadn’t been too interested in spending time in Oxford as we knew that we would have plenty of exploration time once we had landed properly so after the repaired HD equipment had been collected, we returned to the station. We had a bit of time to kill and who should we bump into on the platform but none other than ex Prime Minister, David Cameron. Of course you can’t really bump into him because if you did, one of the burly body guards who accompany him would no doubt make mincemeat of you. So we passed him by, he looked aloof as usual and walking remarkably upright for a man with no backbone.
We were back on board our boat by five o’clock and then we just sat outside and watched the world go by from the comfort of the front deck.
Sunday dawned, bright and blue and with the big decision of the day being to stay, we took our time and got showered, dressed and breakfasted. By mid morning we were ready to start our daily walk which on this day would take us back along the towpath to Allen’s lock, up the hill to Upper Heyford and then along the main road to Lower Heyford. It was a beautiful day and not too hot for walking either so we were able to keep up a good pace all along the route. Both of the villages are very pretty with many stone built houses and cottages but being the Sunday of a Bank holiday weekend meant that the narrow streets were full of cars which somewhat spoil the image. By the time we reached The Bell in the market square at Lower Heyford we were in need of a refreshment so we popped in for a drink before carrying on to the wharf where we had lunch at Kizzie’s Bistro. We sat outside and ate in the garden overlooking the canal, quite idyllic! After lunch, it was back to Caxton where we did a few chores before settling in for the evening.
Aynho
It’s now four weeks since we moved on board permanently and three weeks since my birthday, the day that we cast off on our six month adventure.
We decided to move on a bit further on Friday so after a lazy start to the day, we got underway around ten and continued our journey south. After passing through Kings Sutton lock and watching the spire of the village church disappear gradually behind us, we reached the M40 for the third and final time. I would have lost count of the number of times that I have passed over here on the M40, that’s if I’d ever been bothered to keep count in the first place. This point marks what should be the half way point between the Basingstoke office and our home in Hinckley. I say should be because that journey used to take anywhere between two and four hours. I almost always remembered to look down at the Oxford canal and sometimes there might just be a boat passing under Coles lift bridge. On this day, the boat passing through was called Caxton, crewed by two happy and carefree individuals.
The strong breeze was quite welcome as it helped to keep us cool on yet another hot day. We did the next two locks and managed to cross at both with northbound boats, surprising really because they were the only boats that we had seen on the move. After two hours travelling, we reached Aynho wharf where we took on diesel and water. We were undecided as to where we wanted to go next but after noticing that there were a couple of spaces beyond the road bridge, we moved there and tied up. It’s a 48 hour mooring and there are rings which are perfectly spaced for us.
It was almost one o’clock by the time we had tied up, the wind had dropped and the temperature seemed higher than the actual 25 degrees that it really was. The nearby Great Western Arms looked very inviting so off we went and took shelter in its cool interior. Of course they don’t just let you go in and sit down, they expect you to buy stuff from them and since they only sell food and drink, we had to buy some of that. We’ve eaten here three or four times over the years and never been disappointed; today was no exception.
We returned to Caxton and sat in the cratch for a while, partially shaded from the sun but still in the fresh air. The mooring here is a bit of a trainspotter’s paradise. Two main lines run parallel to the canal, the furthest away being at a higher level than the nearest so it has been possible to see passenger and freight trains heading north towards Birmingham and south towards Oxford on one line and London Marylebone on the other. A few boats passed in both directions and this one turned up.
One man and his boat.
The skipper, Peter Cole, pulled up next to us and told us that had had the boat for thirteen years and Had owned a narrowboat for eleven before that. He and his wife had covered most of the system before she passed away and it was at that point that he had swapped his narrowboat for this dinky little craft. We discovered, and later watched the process that I am about to describe, that Peter drags the boat in and out of the water every time he goes out. The boat has oars but is electrically propelled and is powered by three 12 volt batteries. The boat has a detachable bow which makes the craft short enough to fit in the back of Peter’s Volvo estate car. He has a short ramp to aid getting the boat in and out of the car and there is enough room to store the batteries at the sides. There are a couple of holes in the back of the boat which Peter pushes the oars through and this ingeniously allows him to use the oars like the handles on a wheelbarrow making the transition between car and ground and then ground and water, relatively easy. Peter is clearly well practised in the process which is a sort of Heath Robinson meets Thunderbirds affair, not bad for a seventy nine year old!
Inescapable Banbury
After our walk to Adderbury on Wednesday we were going to walk in the opposite direction and take a look at King’s Sutton. The temperature was already rising outside when we awoke at seven so we changed our mind and decided to get the bus to Brackley, a small town about eight miles away rather than walk four miles in the baking heat. There was no particular reason to go there except for the fact that it would be a new place to explore. The bus arrived at the road bridge just after midday, we boarded and paid the fare. The driver looked a little puzzled and questioned if we really meant to go to Brackley. The bus is a local one and most of the stops are request stops although the driver seemed to know all of the passengers and where they would be getting off. We passed through Kings Sutton, then the village of Charlton before arriving in Aynho. The driver stopped the bus and came to speak to us, explaining that although the service ran all day shuttling between Banbury and Brackley, this run turned around at Aynho.
The driver told us that he only did the lunchtime run and that he’d never picked up anyone from Twyford Wharf who had wanted to go to Brackley – well he wouldn’t, would he if he only drove the service as far as Ayno? I can’t really criticise, after all it was me who didn’t read the timetable properly! Anyway, he gave us three possible options, get off at Twyford, wait an hour and then get back on the bus. Stay on the bus and eventually get to Brackley via Banbury or just go to Banbury for the afternoon. We decided to go to Banbury – just for a change! It was alright though, we had lunch and a good walk around before getting the bus back to Twyford.
We saw Kings Sutton at least, pretty but not much there. We probably won’t ever get to Brackley but the driver assured us that there wasn’t much to see or do there anyway. In any case we had yet another lovely day in the May sunshine.
Banbury & Adderbury
The moorings above the lock in Cropredy are only for 24 hours so on Saturday morning we got up early, worked our way through the lock and landed on the service wharf. After doing the necessary, we started the relatively short trip to Banbury. There are only a handful of locks to do and by eleven o’clock we were tied up next to Spiceball park. The weather had behaved itself but as we walked into town half an hour later, we were caught in a heavy shower, umbrellas protected us until we were able to take shelter under the Tom Rolt bridge.
Our mooring in Castle Quay, Banbury.
We had two days on the mooring before moving into Castle Quay for another two. The weather changed later on Saturday so we have been able to get plenty of walking done as we explored Banbury from side to side and top to bottom.
St Mary’s Church, Banbury.
This fine lady rides her cock horse at Banbury Cross.
This fine lady adorns a wall in Butchers Row, Banbury.
On Wednesday we had to move again, our allotted mooring time was up and we needed to fill the water tank again. By half past eight we had filled the tank and taken advantage of the filling up time to have showers and complete a cycle of the washing machine. Next on the agenda was a shopping stop at Morrisons before we untied for the third time in three hours and set off.
Despite the fact that we haven’t travelled much in the last few days, today’s trip was only as far as Twyford Wharf, an hour away from Banbury. On our previous trips down this way, there are numerous places that we just haven’t had the time to stop and visit but of course the rules are completely different now. Twyford Wharf sits on the road between Kings Sutton and Adderbury, both of which we want to explore. We decided to go to the latter today and made the half hour walk up the hill and over the M40. It has to be said that for the first half a mile or so there is no footpath, which isn’t ideal but it was still worth the effort. Sue laughed after we had crossed the main road in Adderbury when she saw that tucked away around the corner was the Red Lion and that we were on the wrong side! We both wondered if I was losing my touch, normally I can sniff these things out regardless of corners and blind bends. Normality was restored a moment later when we reached The Coach & Horses on our side of the road. The sun had been high in the sky as we walked to the village, only occasionally had we had some respite from the shade of an odd cloud or two so it seemed sensible to pop inside for a break and maybe a refreshment or two. Once inside we were met by the landlord who greeted us like we were long lost friends. We then noticed the food menu and decided to eat too. Follow the link above and take a look at the menu, yes those prices are real and up to date. The meals were really good, fresh veg accompanying the dish. The place was really busy, the phone kept ringing as customers phoned their orders in – they do a roaring takeaway trade and it’s not difficult to understand why. We enjoyed our meals – two main courses for £7.50!!!
We thought that we should be on our way and walk off some of our lunch before returning to our mooring so we carried on down into the village and visited the church. The main street is lined with houses and cottages built from the local yellow hued stone, some have thatched roofs which complete the charming scene.
A typical house in this part of Adderbury.
The church is a beauty too, built from the same stone except heavily weathered due to the years it has been standing there. After wandering inside for a look, we walked all around the outside and saw that the surrounding graveyard contained mainly stones which were as weathered as the church itself.
It was still hot as we set off back to the wharf and although we did call in to the third pub in the village, The Bell Inn we gave the Red Lion a miss on the way back.
The view from our mooring at Twyford.
Tomorrow we’ll see what delights the village of Kings Sutton has to offer.
A bit of boat cleaning to round the day off.
Ne’er cast a clout ’til May is out – too true
Last night’s mooring was great, very quiet and peaceful. When we awoke this morning it was raining again but according to the BBC the rain would give way to white cloud by eight o’clock and that would last until evening time. We decided to get up and go, destination Cropredy. We were on our way by 9:15am and heading for Claydon top lock. The rain drizzled down on us all of the way down the hill, it didn’t get too heavy but it didn’t go away either. The locks on this side of the summit leak badly so even when we had passed boats coming up, we usually had to fill each chamber. We were fortunate in meeting boats at a couple of locks which made life easier but generally we were on our own.
The Cropredy area was much easier to deal with by comparison to last August when we passed through and the music festival was on. The village moorings were mostly empty when we arrived and we easily found a space for Caxton. Sue quickly produced a couple of steaming bowls of home made vegetable soup – how does she manage this while we are travelling and locking???
After lunch, the rain eased off so we went for a walk around the village. We popped into the Red Lion and then the Brasenose Arms, both establishments passing muster. After calling into the canalside shop for a few essentials we walked back up the towpath and returned to Caxton.
Prior to leaving the boat I had lit the fire because there was just a feeling of dampness creeping in. On our return the cabin was lovely, warm and most importantly, dry feeling.
The soup had done its trick and kept us feeling full so we just had a sandwich each for dinner and called it a day.
Napton to Claydon
As expected it rained all day on Wednesday, well until 6:30pm anyway. In contrast, we awoke to a bright sunlit morning this morning – oh how quickly the sunshine lifts the spirits. At 7am I walked to the village shop to buy some potatoes and butter and when I returned, there was already some activity around the bottom lock. NB Oakapple had just entered the chamber from above. We haven’t seen Richard & Sharon since we passed them near Hawkesbury in September 2014 . I had a brief chat with them both before once again, we went in opposite directions.
After returning to Caxton, we made our final preparations and set off. It was a glorious morning and ideal for locking, we just took our time and two hours later we had ascended the eight locks and tied up at Marson Doles for water. We had to tie on the lock landing because there was a CaRT boat tied on the water point but with so little traffic it wasn’t a problem.
As we were filling with water, nb Aileen Rose approached so I grabbed a windlass and helped them into the lock at Marston Doles. We were lock buddies in 2013 so it was good to see them again too.
Once we had filled with water, we were on our way across the lonely summit once again. We passed a few boats along the way but generally it was a quiet passage.
The sun continued to shine as we made our way towards Fenny Compton and we had hoped to find a mooring space there, however it was not to be and we had to pass through. An hour later and we found a place to tie up just above Claydon top lock. Sue had been preparing dinner along the way as well as baking oatcakes and making mackerel pate (how does she do that and still manage eight locks?) . So when we tied up, we ate and afterwards went for a walk into Claydon village. There’s nothing there except the church, the bygones museum closed a few years ago so it appears to be yet another “dormitory ” village in rural England.
We returned to Caxton after our circular walk of around three miles. Rain started falling about 7pm and it has continued ever since. Tomorrow’s forecast is for yet more rain so we’ll decide on our course of action ( or in-action) in the morning.
Now the real journey begins
This is just a quick catch up on what we have been doing over the last week since our last post. We remained moored at the top of Hillmorton and caught the bus into Rugby where we did a bit of shopping and had a birthday lunch at Prezzo, courtesy of Rebecca, Don and the children. Thank you very much, it was delicious!
Caxton safely tucked up in Braunston marina.
On Wednesday we untied and made our way to Braunston, blue skies had returned and with the very gentle winds to accompany us, our journey was very enjoyable. It was around one o’clock when we arrived at Braunston marina where had arranged to leave Caxton for a few days while we travelled to Hampshire for my retirement party. We found our temporary berth which was on the adjacent pier to the one that we used when we moored here permanently a few years ago. After wiggling our way into position with only inches to spare, we tied up and then went for a walk along the towpath to the tunnel. After a quick refreshment stop at the Admiral Nelson, we returned to the marina and paid our fees.
A narrowboat emerging from the tunnel mouth.
We had arranged to meet some friends who live in the village so after dinner on board, we trotted up to the Wheatsheaf for a couple of hours and had a great time catching up with them.
We were up and ready early on Thursday, despite it being Sue’s birthday. We needed to catch the bus into Rugby so that we could start our train journey to Winchester and that bus leaves the village from The Green so we had to climb the hill from Butchers bridge once again. When we first moored in Braunston, the village was well served by bus services running between Rugby and Daventry with some of them stopping on the A45 outside the marina. That ended and then the nearest stop was outside the Boathouse pub, also on the main road. Today, the hourly service only just touches the top edge of the village, stopping by the village hall. Judging by the small number of passengers on the bus, I wonder just how long even this service will remain in place.
Braunston bus? (Actually in Winchester).
Anyway, after the bus to Rugby we caught a train to Coventry and then boarded the Cross Country service to Winchester. We continued the birthday eating theme with afternoon tea at the hotel and very nice it was too. Winchester is a lovely place to wander around at any time but on warm spring days, as we had on Thursday and Friday, it was glorious. We rounded off the birthday week meal festival with lunch at Rick Stein’s retaurant which was perfect.
Afternoon Tea on Sue’s birthday.
Rick Stein’s Birthday message for Sue.
On Friday evening, I had my retirement bash in a Spanish restaurant in nearby Arlesford with colleagues from work, some of whom I have known for thirty years. We all had a good time and they even presented me with a leaving present – a Nikon DSLR camera. Once I get to grips with that, expect to see a more feature filled blog. There were many messages of good luck and some other personal gifts which will be cherished. All in all they gave me a good send off – thank you everyone.
Saturday dawned and we made the return journey to Braunston, re-tracing our route via Coventry and Rugby. It was after four o’clock when we got back and Sue used the evening and the fact that we were plugged into the mains to catch up with the washing and drying.
Our original intention had been to travel south on the Grand Union and return on the Oxford canal later in the summer. However, by the time we were ready to leave on Sunday morning we had decided to go the other way around. It doesn’t make any real difference to us which way we go but we were slightly concerned that there have been some predictions of drought and figured that we might be better crossing the summit of the Oxford sooner rather than later just in case low water levels start to have an effect on lock operations.
Sitting with an unusually large amount of free space around.
We turned left out of the marina and found a place to moor, halfway between the two bridges that carry the A45 over the canal and close to the two bridges that carry the towpath over the junction of the canal. We were surprised at just how empty the moorings are in Braunston but I suppose that it is still early in the season. The reason that we didn’t go so far was because the weather outlook for Monday was for high winds and lots of heavy showers. Sunday was still fine so we walked up and around the village, calling at the Chandlers and the village shop along the way.
The rain started in the early hours of Monday morning and continued on and off throughout the day. We did manage to get a walk around the village again during a dry period after dinner but the rain came again shortly after we returned to the boat.
And so to today, Tuesday. It was still windy but thankfully no rain, although there is a horrible outlook forecast. We took advantage of the relatively good conditions and set off in the direction of Napton, just after eight o’clock. Normally, this stretch of canal irritates me but today it didn’t because there are very few boats on the move and not many moored up either. What normally happens, usually on sunny, summer, Sunday afternoons is that as boats converge at Wigram’s and Braunston turns, convoys get formed. Lines of moored boats then force everyone down to tickover speed and the convoys become condensed. The real fun starts when two convoys meet at a bridge! Anyway, it wasn’t like that today and three hours after setting off, we were moored just above the bottom lock at Napton. After lunch, we took a walk to the village shop where Sue bought some provisions and then we returned to the canal. The rain started mid afternoon and the forecast is that it isn’t going to stop until Thursday morning so it looks like we will have another day here tomorrow. With a bit of luck, who knows, there might be a tiny break in the rain, a small window of opportunity to nip to the Folly for a pint before then!
Tuesday’s mooring at Napton
So now the journey can really begin, we have no timetable to stick to, no set route to follow and very few restrictions to hamper us on our big adventure.
Today’s Trip