Sunday 23rd April
Drove to Barry and had a great visit to the tiny war museum
where we were warmly welcomed and given an amazing tour of the trenches and the
wartime kitchen they have set up there
Had a wander around Barry Island and an icecream at the
beach.
Monday 24th April
Goodbye to Wales this morning.
Packed and cleaned up and on the road by 10.30am. Over the Severn and off up
the M5. The weather has turned cold and it rains on and off.
A good clear run and we make it to
Southam for a quick shop and then arrive at the marina by 2pm. After a quickly fixed mix up with our boat,
we were loading up ‘Eva’ and I got everything stowed away while Aaron got the
run-down so we were sorted and on our way at 3pm. We were pushed out and off on
our way towards Oxford.
A few mother ducks and their fluffy broods floating about
and a lovely view of a moorhen sitting on her nest just below the top lock.
Reach our first lock 1t 4.05 and
then it is a steady climb up the flight of 9, leaving Marston Doles Top Lock
no. 16 just before 6pm. As the moorings
are not very inspiring we press on a bit further and passing around several
large, sweeping bends we finally moor up opposite a sheep field at 7pm.
The wind has picked up and it is
quite biting. Takes a bit of effort to
pull Eva in for mooring as the crosswind is blowing her out.
The meatball sauce that Holly and
I made and froze yesterday has travelled well and cooks up nicely with
spaghetti for our first meal while the kids have a bit of an explore along the
towpath looking for more nests. Dinner
is interrupted by the lambs opposite enjoying running races up and down the
fence line and then 2 local ducks who come begging at the window. They turn up their noses at our duck food and
are very happy when we cave in and offer them a little bread instead.
Showers and kids are in bed asleep
shortly after 9pm.
Tuesday 25th April
Everyone felt the cold during the
night and we were up and at ‘em by 7.30am. Beautiful, sunny but cold
morning. Warmed up on hot porridge and
tea and set off at 9:45am. Very pleasant cruisy morning through the sunshine
until we arrive at Fenny Compton Wharf at 11.45 where we drain our tanks to
fill up with fresh water as what is in there is rather unpleasant. Cook up some bacon baps while we are waiting
and we don’t set off again until 1.10pm and arrive at our first lock of the day
(Claydon Top Lock) at 2:45. By Lock 145
we are battling through some light snow and we decide to pull over after the
lock. But in typical British fashion the sun is out again by the time we are through the lock so we
push on through the last one and moor on the straight after bridge 147. The kids sort out some fishing rods and the
sun shines brightly again though the clouds are still rather black overhead. After making a start of dinner, I set off for
a walk, Holly feeds the ducklings and the fishing doesn’t yield any
results. At around 5..30pm there is
another flurry of sleety snow and by now we have decided to stay put for the
night as there are a few more locks to negotiate before Cropredy.
Wednesday 26th April
As we all went to bed better
prepared for the cold, the night is a lot more pleasant though still pretty
chilly. We wake to a grey day and after
hot tea and porridge, set off at 9.15am
Arrive at Cropredy Lock no. 25 at 10.25 and as there is a
queue, Holly and I walk up to the little shop for some milk and then whip up a
batch of scones for morning tea. By the
time we have negotiated a few more locks and heated the oven it is lunchtime before
we get to enjoy them on the cruise.
We progress steadily along until Banbury where we pull over
in town for water at 1.25pm and then on a bit further to the Morrisons where we
pop across the road for a quick top up of fresh food and are on our way again
at 3pm. The weather remains typically English a constant rotation of sun, wind,
rain, sleet and hail. On the whole though there is nothing that causes us to
pull over and we cruise on steadily through the afternoon, meeting no one going
the other way from Banbury onwards, until we moor up just past Aynho Bridge 190
at 6.20pm, just as some steady hail and rain starts to fall. Once we are all secured we pop across the
road for a beer and a fancy Pimms at the Great Western Arms, then back to the
boat for dinner.
Thursday 27th April
Set off at 9.45 this morning after a quick look in the store
at Aynho wharf. The boat behind us, Pendlebury cruised off at the same time on
its way to Thrupp too. Arrived at our
first lock, Somerton Deep at 10.15, though we didn’t leave until 10.40 as we
had to wait for the first boat to go through. Cruised along through the morning
until stopping for water at Heyford at 12.40pm.
Made some rolls for lunch and set off again at 1.20. After a promisingly sunny start, the weather
is rather cloudy but the rain is holding off.
We motor along steadily now until Thrupp. At Shipton Weir lock (after the Cherwell
River stretch) the sporadic but light rain looks like settling in and we meet
Pendlebury from this morning heading
back up to the river. Turns out they had missed their mooring at Thrupp and had
to continue on. Lucky for us as they were able to give us advice on where to
moor which saved us suffering the same fate.
A bit of excitement as Aaron pulls in to a rather tight spot with a
touch too much power and we pop the adjacent boat off its mooring rope. No one is aboard (or apparently about on any
of the nearby boats and a quick reach with the hooked pole pulls it back in and
we get it tied up again before securing ourselves. I take a walk on down the canal to check out
the winding point at Thrupp wide and then Aaron goes down for a look and a
quick beer at The Boat Inn before we retire for the night.
Friday 28th April
Not nearly as cold overnight and we are on our way just
after 8.30 down to Thrupp wide for the turn and a water top up. 10 past 9 when we are on our way back toward
Napton. Overcast but much milder than
previous days. I hop off the boat at the
first lock and walk on to the next one, and then continue walking to North Book
Lock. There is intermittent sunshine
throughout the morning which is nice but it never quite comes out for good. We make good time and consider pulling over
near Heyford Common Lock in some lovely open country, but after a map
consultation decided it would be better to push on slightly and get through
Somerton Deep Lock before stopping, which we do.
I walk on from our mooring into Aynho but the shop is shut. Had a chat to our friends from Pendlebury who
are moored up near the bridge.
Saturday 29th April
Left our spot at Bridge 193 at 8.30
and motored up to Aynho where we paused at the shop for some bread. They only
had semi skimmed milk so passed on that.
Back on board we had eggs on toast while we cruised along through the
very attractive countryside until our stop at Banbury for the Morrisons where
we stocked up on food for dinner and curry’s for tomorrow night. Moved on into Banbury to stop for water and
finally set off again at 2.20. Cruised
on uninterrupted and through the named locks until we reached our mooring spot
on the way down at moored up there again at 5.40pm, just after the sun finally
made it out. Enjoyed a glorious sunny evening. Aidan & I went for a stroll
in the evening sun and had a chat to some men moored at the top of the flight
who had broken down.
Sunday 30 April
Woke to quite a windy but not wet
start. Planned on an 8am start to get up the lock flight seeing as all the
locks are set our way but on arrival at the bottom lock there appears to be
hardly any water in the pound ahead so we can’t proceed. The is a Canal and River Trust person up and
about though arranging filling of the canal as apparently it is a common
problem here so they check every morning. Once underway an hour later we breeze
up the flight and then have the long 5 hour stretch with no more locks until
the Napton flight. The sun stays out for
a few hours, but once it is lost behind the clouds and the wind picks up it is
hard going as the wind takes the boat very quickly and usually in the wrong
direction The pole gets a bit of a work out pushing us off banks once we have
drifted in to corners. Pull in for water
at Fenny Compton and push on from there at 11.30 then it is erratic sailing
onward to the Marston Doles Top Lock where we arrive at about 2pm. There are a
few boats going in both directions so we get through the flight of 9 with some
waits and some locks open and ready to enter and finally make it out the bottom
a bit after 4pm. Continue round the bend
to find a mooring spot alongside a moorhen’s nest before 4.30pm and we are done
for the day. After spending some time with the various water birds we head up
to The Folly for a drink and a end up staying until 7.30 chatting to folk
