Going Home???
We decided to bring the boat back to where we live at Hinckley last weekend and then we took her back this weekend in the company of our friends, Cliff and Liz. The adventure began on Saturday morning when we travelled by car to Braunston and headed off on to the North Oxford canal. The weather was glorious and we loved our cruise to Rugby where we stopped briefly to top up the water and make a short shopping trip to Tesco. We carried on and eventually moored between Ansty and Hawkesbury, benefitting from a clear satellite tv picture and a strong broadband signal.
Sunday brought another glorious day so we made our way to Hinckley and moored opposite the Limekilns on the A5. After tying the boat up we walked home and watched Andy Murray win Wimbledon – Hurray! We later returned to the boat and moved it on to the visitor moorings at Nutts Lane where we stayed for the evening. The following morning we walked back to the house and after a shower I went to work, later in the day Sue visited the Trinity marina and arranged a mooring for us for the rest of the week.
On Monday evening we made a trip up to bridge 22 before turning around and returning to the marina. Along the way we saw Treena from Carpe Diem waiting for her husband Stu to return to their online mooring outside the marina. Getting into our temporary berth was easy enough and after we had sorted ourselves out we just walked home.
The following Friday afternoon saw us leave the marina and start our journey to the boat’s home Braunston. We passed our old mate Jim near bridge 13 and then we saw Mamta Boy Lee near Bulkington a short while later. We were surprised to find that there were many spaces on the approach to Hawkesbury Junction and we availed ourselves of one of them before walking to the Greyhound where we had dinner. We decided to move on after dinner and following a short stop for water when we rounded the bend we made our way back to the place that we had moored the previous Saturday.
Saturday morning was yet another sunny one and we were on our way just after eight o’clock. We had a very enjoyable cruise in the summer sunshine and stopped again at Tesco Rugby where we stocked up for our meeting with Cliff, Liz and Lucy later in the day. After a short break we were on our way again and reached Hillmorton just before two o’clock. Cliff arrived on ‘Stonewall Jackson’ at half past five and we then all ate yet another of Sue’s delicious meals
Sunday morning was a bit of a lazy start for all of us and it was 9am before we ventured up the locks. With Liz crocked due to arthritis and Lucy generally disinterested, Sue worked both boats up through the Hillmorton flight in just under an hour. The run back to Braunston was a bit of a slog because we had a number of boats ahead but eventually we reached the marina just after midday. We walked back to the Boathouse pub where we met up with Cliff, Liz and Lucy who had walked from their mooring at bridge 89 and enjoyed a drink together. We left an hour later and returned to the boat before clearing our gear and driving home. Cliff and Liz are planning to go to Peterborough so we look forward to catching up with them at a later date.
So that was it, our trip from the boat home to our real home and back was over and we had enjoyed our time out on the cut along the way.
Across the lonely summit
Our night at Fenny Compton had been a peaceful one and we awoke refreshed and ready to face another day. It was warm even at seven o’clock so we hoped that we might be enjoying some summery weather. We weren’t disappointed either, when we untied at eight the high hazy cloud was only just obscuring the sun as we picked our way slowly passed the long line of moored boats that are a feature of this area. We then started our long and lonely journey across the summit, the convoluted route totally disorientating us along the way. We didn’t see anything on the move for over an hour and after passing speeding Ashby boat, we caught up with a Rose narrowboat following a Viking afloat boat. The entertainment began at a bridge, where else? The Viking passed through and panicked when he met an oncoming privateer and grounded himself at the same time burying himself in the reeds and bushes on the offside. After allowing the private boat to pass under the bridge, the Rose narrowboat shot through, passing Viking just as he had almost righted himself. The Viking ended up back in the reeds again as a result! By this time we had stopped well behind to give them all time to sort themselves out and of course to get a good view of the action.
We now resigned ourselves for a journey on tickover behind the two holiday boats and then we would have the pleasure of following them down through the locks that lay ahead between Marston Doles and Napton. There were no more incidents on our slow chug to Marston Doles but we were delighted when both boats pulled in to take on water, propelling us to the front of the queue. With boats coming up the flight, the first two locks were easy but then we found ourselves following nb Wey with nothing coming up to aid the progress. Part way down we saw that ‘Wey’ were sitting in the lock ahead looking over the fields, it turned out that they we were watching a calf being born in the field. By the time we had moved down, the calf’s mother was licking and prodding her new offspring into life, everything seemed to be going alright as we passed on our way. We were being followed by nb African Queen, crewed by a couple who had recently sold their business and moved on to their boat, now embarking on a new way of life. With three of us following each other, we all helped with each others paddles and gates which seemed to pass the time if nothing else. Three locks to go saw a boat coming up which then opened up a gap between us and ‘Wey’ and with volunteer lockies manning the last two locks, our passage to the bottom was speeded up. We found a mooring around the corner so we tied up and went to the Folly Inn. The weather was still glorious so we treated ourselves to lunch in the garden.
On returning to Phoenix III we were in two minds as to what to do, stay put for the day or carry on in the sunshine? In the end we decided on the latter course of action and we cruised back to Braunston. All too soon we found ourselves back behind our Viking friend who was weaving his way along on tickover. We thought that we had seen the last of him when he weaved his way around a widebeam which happened to be winding at Wolfhampcote at the time. After allowing the widebeam to complete its manoeuvre, we passed by and then saw travelling in the opposite direction nb Aileen Rose, the boat that we had shared locks with between Warwick and Stockton a few weeks ago. Cheery waves and shouted hellos were exchanged as we passed each other. Then we caught up with our old friend the Viking afloat boat in the final straight before Braunston turn where the crew had decided to pull up, walk to the junction and ‘suss things out’ as they said when we eventually passed them by. It’s bad enough pulling up there at the best of times with boats travelling from three directions but with a CaRT barge tied up almost opposite, the obstruction was complete.
Once around the turn we made the familiar trip back to the marina, our progress only impeded by a boat trying to turn in the marina entrance rather than in the winding hole directly opposite, never mind, it’s all good fun when the sun is shining!
Once we were back on our pontoon we took advantage of the good weather and washed as much of the boat as we could before nipping up to the village shop and then settling down for the evening. We would spend our last night on Phoenix III in the marina before heading off home in the morning. This would give us a week before returning for the Braunston Historic boat rally.
Up the hill
We awoke just after seven and got out of bed an hour later. Knowing that we would be straight on to the locks that would take us up the hill, Sue made me a bacon sandwich and sorted herself out with cheese and tomatoes on toast. Once fortified we were ready to go and so we untied and left Cropredy. The first three locks presented no problems and we were accompanied by a team of three workers cutting the grass along the towpath and around the locks themselves. We took a short break before we reached Claydon bottom lock because there was a lone locker ahead and we didn’t fancy the possibility of working all of the locks twice.
Half an hour later and it was time to go again and we had a great ascent of the Claydon flight, meeting a boat on the way down at each of the locks. The sun was shining when we reached the summit and so we celebrated our ascent with a beer and a glass of wine. The three miles or so from Claydon top lock to Fenny Compton went by very quickly and we were able to find a mooring between the marina and the Wharf Inn. We visited the latter establishment and had fish and chips for lunch – very nice!
After lunch we made a slow return to the boat and settled down for the afternoon, nothing too exciting today but a lovely relaxing day nevertheless.
Get Knotted!
I’ve never been any good with knots – ever! I can tie them although I have to confess that I couldn’t tie my school tie until I was fourteen years old. Where I struggle is trying to follow knot tying instructions whether they are written or pictorial. Hitches, half hitches and the like mean nothing to me no matter how much I have tried to understand them. Securing Phoenix III to a mooring has never presented too much of a problem to me, I tie her front and back in exactly the same manner in a way that is quick and easy and one that is just as easy to release in the morning. Don’t ask me to name or describe my knots, I really wouldn’t have a clue but I’m sure that any boy scout would readily identify the knots or their component parts. I was neither a cub or a scout so perhaps that explains my difficulty in translating a two dimensional drawing into a three dimensional knot.
My biggest challenge was finding a way to secure the boat temporarily whilst waiting for a lock. This hadn’t been a problem in our early boating days because we moored on the Ashby canal which not only boasts that it has twenty two miles that are lock free, it is connected to the Coventry canal and then the Oxford at Hawkesbury meaning that if you ignore Suttons stop lock you can go to Atherstone, Coventry and Hillmorton before you need to do any locking. Our move to Braunston had meant that locks were more commonplace and although I had perfected the technique of floating in the pounds as well as toning my triceps and biceps by clinging on to the centre rope from the bank I knew that I needed to learn how to tie a quick and easy securing knot. I had heard about something called a lazy boatman’s hitch but I knew that there was no point in trying to research it, I had to work it out for myself. Well I practised and practised every time that Sue was preparing a lock. I discovered that I could do something that ticked all of the boxes, it was secure, easy to do and easy to release. I won’t even try to describe how I do it because as I said, I am useless at such things. I expect that if I encounter someone that knows about such things, they will tell me exactly what it is called unless of course I have invented some new knot.
The only problem that I have with my new knot is that if I think about it when I am trying to do it, I can’t do it. For any HGG fans it’s a bit like Arthur Dent discovering that he can fly (If you don’t know about Arthur and his flying, google it or ignore it).
Anyway, I reached a point where I felt confident enough with my new knot to show Sue how to do it since she was doing more driving and I was doing more lockwheeling. As soon as I tried to explain what I was doing, I was thinking about what I was doing with the result that I could not for the life of me make the knot! Ten attempts at one lock and still I could not do what I had done ten times already the same day. I stopped explaining, cleared my mind, thought of something completely different and just made the knot. My jubilation was short lived when Sue said, “Oh, it’s just a blanket stitch.”
I didn’t feel deflated for too long, actually I did and realised that it wasn’t being a cub or scout that I had missed out on, I should have joined the Guides and done my needlework badge.
An eventful day
There are many times when I write this blog that no matter how long we’ve travelled during the day, nothing of note actually happens. It was very different in the early days because we were seeing and experiencing many things for the first time. Once you understand how ducks mate and then bring up their young and you know how a heron behaves when a boat enters its territory it’s not worth writing about. Of course you still see nature at work and it is still a wonderful spectacle but it becomes a bit repetitive when it comes to keeping a journal. It’s easy to resort to reporting the mundane things like filling the water, emptying the toilet and running a washload. That’s the funny part really, the boating lifestyle appeals because it is easy going, stress free and slow moving. For the journalist, desperation sets in, the desire to write about events on days when nothing much happens leads to a boring account that could have been copied and pasted from any other day.
Then you get days like today when there are a number of little events happen, none of them earth shattering in themselves but enough to give the amateur blogger something to write about. The day started off fairly unremarkably with a late and lazy lie in for both of us, it was raining and that seemed like a good enough excuse. When we did eventually get up we walked into town and had breakfast before doing some last minute shopping in Boots and M&S. It didn’t take us long to get organised once we had returned to the boat and we were soon on our way to Sovereign wharf where we took on some diesel. Leaving Banbury behind we were soon out in the countryside and at the first lock of the day. We had passed under the motorway and were in our usual quiet rural environment when we heard some sort of strange mechanical noise, it was the wrong side of the cut to be a train and it was getting too loud too quickly to be farm related when suddenly it appeared, a prop driven military aircraft flying at about 200 feet above our heads.
Later as we approached Cropredy we met a Calcutt hire boat at a bridge, he was travelling too fast of course but worse than that he was being followed by another member of the Calcutt fleet who was so close that it looked as if he was being towed by the lead boat. We pulled up and let them pass on the wrong side, shaking our heads as we went. The run in to Cropredy from the south is long and arduous as one passes moored boats for almost a mile. We saw a black cat walking along the towpath with a young rabbit in its mouth, no doubt taking taking its catch back to its home on one of the boats. Unfortunately this meant crossing another cat’s territory with the result that it had to drop the rabbit which until now had been limp and lifeless. As soon as it was free, the small rabbit sprang back into life and ran off leaving the two cats to argue it out between themselves.
As we had been preparing to leave Banbury we had been passed by the four old people on the college cruiser hire boat that we had met on our way out of Oxford on Saturday morning. We had briefly caught up with them at one of the locks but by the time we were on the final approach to Cropredy we spotted them attempting to turn at the wharf. According to one boater that we passed, they had been at it for half an hour, a bit of an exaggeration but they had made it difficult for themselves by shoving their stern rather than their bow into the winding hole.
We pulled up on the landing below Cropredy lock and I went to have a look to see what was happening. nb Mey from Clifton wharf in Rugby was rising in the lock and a Napton Elite hire boat was approaching from the other side. The Napton boat had a large crew who proceeded to tie their vessel very securely to the wooden posts above the lock or as the skipper of Mey said, “Looks like they’re tying up the Ark Royal!”. As the Napton boat approached the lock, one of the crew explained that this was their first narrowboat holiday and that they had chosen the boat because it had three bathrooms with the result that they had ended up with a seventy footer. In fairness the steerer did an excellent job of getting the boat into the lock although the crew had little urgency in working the paddles. The group of fifty-somethings were looking forward to replenishing their water supply before finding a mooring and then going to the pub, the steerer said that he was in need of a drink and I think that he probably deserved one!
We worked our way up through the lock and found ourselves a mooring in a prime position, the first one after the lock landing area. We secured Phoenix III on the rings there and then took a walk to the Red Lion for a cold beer and an equally cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Once our break was over we walked to the shop and bought some more beer and wine to keep us going over the summit in the coming days.
On our way back up the towpath we passed nb Moonshadow tied on the lock landing, Sue noticed a colourful teapot on board and remarked on how pretty it was. When we reached the lock we met the lone skipper whose name we discovered was John and Sue complimented him on his pretty teapot. “You should have taken it.”, said John, laughing. We dropped our shopping off back at the boat, grabbed our windlasses and returned to the lock to assist John through it. He surprised us by presenting Sue with the teapot explaining that he had bought another one to replace it just the previous week. A moment later and Sue had almost kicked the teapot into the lock by accident but luckily enough she didn’t so now Moonshadow John’s teapot has been cleaned up and has taken up pride of place on top of our Boatman stove.
All that was left for us to do was to get the chairs out, pour a drink and watch boats work their way through the lock. There was nothing dramatic or exciting to report about the comings or goings, we chatted to one or two of the crew members and also to some walkers on the towpath most of whom were boaters themselves. We had our evening meal on the back deck before the air started to get a little chilly at which point we retreated to the lounge of Phoenix III for the evening. On a day when we had made one of our shortest cruises we seemed to have had one of our busiest days.
Back to Banbury
Despite our long day yesterday we awoke just after six and saw the sun shining. It was too much of a draw for us so we decided to get up and go but not until after we had topped up our water tank and dumped our rubbish. It didn’t take long and we were underway by half past seven, cruising once again in the early morning sunshine. We were extremely lucky with the locks and that meant that our trip to Banbury only took three hours. The weir lock didn’t present a challenge and the following lock, Nells had a paddle open so it was only a matter of opening the bottom gate. When we got to Kings Sutton lock there was a boat already in the lock travelling down which again made it easy for us. Grants lock was empty and dry and that only left the lock in Banbury at Castle Quay. As we approached the town centre we passed a boat which had only just left the lock so it was only a matter of opening the gates, this being the first of the locks with two narrow bottom gates on the Oxford canal. Once we were up and through the lock, Sue opened the lift bridge and we found that we were able to moor in exactly the same spot as we had a week earlier. Once we were tied up we walked into town and had lunch before doing some shopping and then returning to the boat.
Northward Bound
The wind prevented us testing the validity of the 52’ winding hole in our 52’ boat so we dropped down through Isis lock, winded and came back up through it on to the canal. The church clock at Jericho chimed out eight times as we passed the place where we had been moored for the last two days. With boats breasted up outside College Cruisers wharf it made for a careful exit from the area but despite the wind we made it unscathed. We caught up with an inexperienced crew who had picked up a hire boat from Jericho the previous day and had moored on the lock landing above Wolvercote lock. We followed them to Dukes lock after opening a swing bridge for them along the way. They kindly let us go before them into the lock after Sue pointed out that they were filling the chamber instead of emptying it.
We thought about stopping at Thrupp for the day but there were no available mooring spaces so we carried on and soon reached Shipton weir lock where we caught up with nb Beaujolais. We shared the lock and followed them out of it and on to the river Cherwell. We caught up with them again at the next lock where they were waiting behind a day hire boat but it all worked out and we were soon up and through back on to the canal again above Bakers lock.
We thought about stopping at Enslow wharf near the Rock of Gibraltar pub but we had no luck there either. Shortly after, the heavens opened and the rain hammered down. A short piece of piling in front of bridge 214 by the golf course near Kirtlington looked too inviting to pass. It had obviously been too inviting for nb Beaujolais too as they were already tied up and doing what we were about to do – have lunch. An hour later we were fed and watered so with the rain almost finished we set off again hoping that the worst of the day’s showers were over.
We reached Lower Heyford where there were plenty of mooring spaces but most of them just a bit too close to the railway line. When we reached Allens lock we met another boat on its way down. This wasn’t really unusual today as we had met enough boats on the way to make our passage through the locks less strenuous than it might otherwise have been. The crew of nb Dove consisted of a couple in their sixties, the lady at the tiller and the gent on lock duty. When he tried to push the lock gate the wrong way he explained to Sue that he was just testing it because some gates got locked by the water —hmmmm! He then tried to climb back on his boat at the foot of the lock but somehow managed to dip his foot in the canal, no doubt testing the water too!
Time was getting on by now and we still had no place to moor but with the prospect of a short hop into Banbury on Sunday a real possibility, we were happy enough. It was still windy but it wasn’t cold and the sun was shining. I set myself a target, an ambitious one I admit, well actually a bloody reckless one but it seemed funny at the time. Most boaters would say that the best time to land at a prime mooring is mid morning and we have found that to be right. My target was to moor at Ayno wharf and have a drink in the Great Western Arms, Sue laughed and I can’t say that I blame her since we were about eight hours after prime mooring time. Needless to say there were no spaces on the visitor moorings so I’m afraid that I had to cheat and moor on the shop mooring space. If we’re still here when the shop opens in the morning we’ll buy the diesel that we need, otherwise it’ll be so long and thanks for your hospitality. So I got the mooring but did I get my pint? Well, no I didn’t. I did go to the pub to see how busy it was but it was full and it wasn’t full of boaters and especially not scruffy ones who had been boating all day. So I guess that I technically succeeded in reaching my target but with a cheated mooring and with no more than a foot on the pub doorstep I probably fell short of it.
In the City of Oxford
Today was our day of rest in Oxford, well a non-boating day anyway. We started our wander around the city of dreaming spires with a walk to the castle which dates back to Saxon times. The castle eventually became a prison and remained so until 1996. Today it is a luxury hotel surrounded by restaurants and gardens, just a short walk from the city centre it is well worth a visit.
We bought some postcards and retreated to the nearby Wetherspoons where we had coffee while we wrote our messages. A light breakfast followed the coffees and by midday we were back outside posting the cards before doing some more sightseeing. There are many small specialist shops in Oxford that are related to the university and its affluent population so it makes it an interesting place to wander around.
We found ourselves outside the ‘Eagle & Child’ pub the regular meeting place of the ‘Inklings’ a group of writers that included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis who knew it as the ‘Bird & Baby’. We made our way inside and found a seat in the ‘Rabbit Room’, the actual place where those esteemed writers used to meet. We sat in the small alcove on the right of this picture and soaked up the atmosphere.
Eagle & Child website
We returned to the boat and had a late lunch, it was a delicious homemade quiche accompanied by handmade coleslaw. Sue slaved over the cooker while I slaved over a jigsaw and all the time the engine worked hard to charge the batteries and heat the water.
After all of that was over we went for a walk along the riverbank down past Osney lock and island and on to folly bridge before returning to the city centre. It was after seven o’clock but the streets were still busy with students and tourists. Many of those tourists were students here themselves once and have returned to reminisce with friends and family. Our evening walk was concluded as we walked back along the towpath to our mooring.
Journey’s End
Another peaceful night over, we got up at seven and were underway by eight o’clock. The weather was dull and grey but dry as we left our mooring in Thrupp nevertheless we had an easy cruise down through the lower reaches of the Oxford canal. As before, the last few miles were quite frustrating with so many permanently moored boats and difficult to close lift bridges to negotiate along the way. We made it though and reached our mooring opposite the hire base just before half past eleven. As soon as we were ready, we walked to the end of the cut and wandered into the city. We had a light lunch in the ‘Wig & pen’ before touring the indoor market and checking out a few shops. Eventually we had what we needed and then returned to our mooring where we settled for the evening. Tomorrow we will spend the whole day in the city and start our journey back on Saturday.
Down to Thrupp
We slept in!
As predicted, we didn’t get up as early as we’d hoped but nevertheless we were still on the way before eight o’clock and made our way down to and through Allens lock. Another mile saw us at the lift bridge at Lowe Heyford and then we were through the wharf and on to the water point. Once we had topped up the tank we started on our way again and continued our journey southwards. We saw a few boats travelling in each direction, nothing exciting but enough to keep the locks moving. It wasn’t a great day for the wildlife, an abandoned duckling in one lock, an abandoned moorhen chick below another and then a dead hare in Pigeon’s lock. We passed the narrowboat ‘Bones’ belonging to the canal boat magazine columnist Mortimer Bones. Mortimer’s monthly column often describes her haphazard attempts at maintaining and improving her floating palace. You’ve got a bit of work on your hands there girl but on a positive note if the mag keeps paying you for your articles while you do it, you’ll have a job for life!!
After we passed through the weir lock we encountered a boat that had become untied at one end, it was too difficult for us to stop and re-tie the partially drifting vessel so we decided to carry on and hope that someone travelling in the opposite direction would pull in on the lift bridge mooring and pull the boat in.
A few minutes later and we reached Thrupp where we found a mooring just after the lift bridge on the bend of the canal. The wind was starting to pick up and there was the odd spot of rain in the air as we tied up the seven day mooring. We wandered down to the Boat Inn where we chose steak and stout pie with mashed potato and peas for lunch. Unfortunately the steak and stout pie was basically mushroom pie with gravy, the odd piece of beef and a random silverskin onion. Not great particularly if like me you don’t eat mushrooms, lesson learned – remember to ask if steak pie contains mushrooms.
After lunch we walked around the waterfronted village of Thrupp before returning to the boat where we have settled down for the rest of a day which has now become dull and drizzly. Only six miles and four locks now separate us from the end of the canal in Oxford where we are hoping to spend the next couple of days.