Nobs and locks

On Saturday we pulled pins and headed up to the summit of the South Oxford canal .

                                                                                              Carolyn getting help at one of the locks.

                                                                                         The weather was perfect for cruising.

                                                                                                      And perfect for walking.

We were lucky and picked up the same mooring that we had a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't long before we sprung into action and gave the port side a much needed wash.

                                                                                                      The sky on fire.  What a great Sunset .

After a relaxing weekend on the summit on Monday we pulled pins at 09.00 and headed towards Napton. When we reached the Top lock at Marston Doles we found all the paddles open, We closed the bottom paddles and filled the lock. As we entered the lock 2 Canal and River Trust workers turned up and said that they were filling the pound below as some nob had left some paddles open and drained the pound overnight. As you can see CaRT have been busy and the paddles have been well greased ready for the summer.

                                                                                              Napton on the Hill from Napton bottom lock.

After mooring on the 48 hour moorings we decided to have a walk up to the church which over looks Napton on the Hill. And what a hill . But it was well worth the walk. The church was one of the best maintained we have come across on our travels and Carolyn said she would be very happy for this to be my final resting place.

                                      After all that walking and hill climbing there was only one thing to do when we got back down to the canal. …..Cheers .

                                                                             Happy Days

On the move at last

On Monday with the water level in the tank touching zero we moved down the lock and filled up at the water point and then onto the winding hole to turn and then back up the lock and hopefully pick up the same mooring as we need to stay here until Thursday for the dogs jabs.

                                                                                           Before the lock is the hydraulic lift bridge.

                                                                                      Then we dropped down the lock and onto the water point.

                                              After winding it was back up through the lock and then we luckily got back on the same mooring.

                                                                                    Things certainly got wetter this winter.

                                                          We know a little girl called Curly (number 1 Granddaughter) but i don't think she sells potatoes.

                Leaving Banbury and passing Timothy west and Prunella Scales boat. (Their new series on more4 is brilliant… Mondays at 21.00)

On Thursday after 2 weeks it was time to leave Banbury. Carolyn took Molly and Hamish up for their jabs at 08.00 and was back half an hour later. But with the fog so thick we never pulled pins until 09.55. It was so good to be moving again after all that time stood still. Although Carolyn could probably have stayed longer. But the rules say we can only spend 14 days in one area/district as we are continuous cruisers.

                                                                      It wasn't long before we spotted this lot and soon had it on the roof.

          Carolyn bringing Inca out of a lock which must mean I'm doing a lock for a change and look at that wood, not much room left on the roof.

                                                                           Entering Cropredy there’s not much holding this wall up.

We filled with water again at Cropredy as we intend to spend a few days out in the country . We also had a cassette to empty but the elsan was out of order, but behind the building we found there was the elsan manhole so it got emptied down there ….sorted.

                                                                                                The locals are a friendly lot !!

                                                                                 These are the first primroses we have seen this year.

After 4 hours of cruising we found a good mooring in the long pound between Elkington’s lock and Bottom lock of the Claydon 5 locks. We spent the next couple of hours cutting up most of the wood. With me on the chainsaw and axe and Carolyn loading the roof we were like a well oiled machine . We then crashed out with a bottle or two of Californian ruby cabernet and Spurs getting well and truly outclassed by Benfica. Oh well with local derby against Arsenal on Sunday and the return with Benfica next week it should be interesting….Come on you Spurs

                                                                    Happy Days

Banbury still

I am now getting desperate to move .Carolyn loves it here as she has just discovered even more shops. We will have to move on Thursday as our 14 days are up in this district .Molly and Hamish are booked in for their inoculations at 08.00 on Thursday morning , so by 09.00 i hope to be on the move and heading north. But in the meantime we are discovering the delights of Banbury.

                                                                                                        A visit to Banbury museum.

                                                                                                   That's the easiest lift bridge you will do.

                                                                                                               The real thing awaits.

                                                                                          A cock horse from Banbury.

                                                                              The museum is well worth a visit especially as its free.

                                            We had a look inside Tooley’s and I don't think much has changed here since Tom Rolt was here in the late thirties

                                                                                                     Can’t here any music.

                                                                                     Not sure what the frog is about.

                                                                                      Banbury cross in the back ground.

                                                                                                                       Bells on her toes.

                                                                                                              Ride a cock horse.

                                                                                                    There is still a lot of history in Banbury.

                                                                                                         “ I'm happy look at all the shops”.

                                                                                               The best shopping of all. ….Window shopping!!!

                                                                                                Inca on her mooring next to Spiceball park from Tom Rolt Bridge.

                                                                                                                   Happy Days

Arrrr me hearties

We have now been in Banbury for a week and Carolyn is in her element. She has everything she wants from every name of shop you can think of and the local sports centre with Gym and swimming pools. She has now signed up for Aquarobics as well as the Gym. It tires me out just thinking about it.We are here for another week as we have had to have the dogs inoculations brought up to date. As we had let them lapse they had to have the full course again which means they have to wait 2 full weeks between the first and second course.We did try to get the first one done here in Banbury and then travel back up to Rugby or Braunston and get the second jab done there, but it appears all vets use different vaccines and they are not compatible with each other.Anyway this is not such a bad place to be stuck for a couple of weeks.

                                                     With good weather forecast for the foreseeable future could this be the start of spring ?

                 The river Cherwell in Spiceball park. Many of the locals are saying they have never seen so much water going over the weir.

                     Nearly all of the 48 hour moorings are empty. Maybe they could be made into 5 or 7 day moorings just for the winter period.

                                           There is still plenty of water going over Banbury lock in the centre of the town.

                                                                    Arrrr me hearties !!!! and he is made from chain link fencing.

                                               The Historic Tooley’s boatyard . It seems so out of place in the middle of the Castle Quay shopping centre.

On Wednesday we had the Oxfordshire fire and rescue practising doing a rescue in the river Cherwell. The guy in charge said normally there are only a couple feet of water here so they thought they would take this opportunity to do some rescue practice.

                                                                Although it was a practice they did seem to enjoy themselves.

                                                                                                  I'm sure someone will get excited with this picture !.
There was commotion in the town centre this morning with Police all over the place. Overnight several shops were broken into in the main square. We just hope we are safe here where we are moored.
There is a museum in the shopping centre so this afternoon we are going for a visit and the best thing about it is that its free !….One of my favourite words.
                                                       Happy Days

Ride a Cock Horse

We pulled pins on Thursday morning at 09.00 as planned and headed down the lock and onto the water point at Cropredy. The wind when we started out was very light but after filling with water and setting off the wind really picked up. Its ok on the open canal if you get blown onto a bank it doesn't do much harm but the one thing i fear is getting blown onto another boat and doing any damage. As we were dropping down several locks today i hoped the wind would drop as we got lower and sure enough it did.

We struck gold again at Hardwick lock which is the last lock before Banbury. We have now just about filled the roof with wood but there was so much wood left in the hedge that I'm sure there will be loads still there when we head back this way. With the weather forecast to get colder you can never have too much wood.

We arrived in Banbury to the odour of coffee, it turns out that Banbury has one of the largest coffee factories in the Country. We picked up the first available mooring near the town. It was right opposite a bread making factory which was very noisy and there was the aroma of freshly baked bread and what we thought was Hot cross buns.We locked up Inca and walked towards the town and came across a mooring just in front of the Tom Rolt’s bridge and next to Spiceball park and thought this would suit us better so we headed back and moved straight away.

                                       We passed this boat in Banbury ,apparently it is owned by Actor Timothy West and his wife Prunella Scales (Sybil Fawlty).

                                                                   Our 14 day mooring next to Spiceball park with The Tom Rolt bridge in front of us.

After mooring we had a quick walk through the town and found this monument which is Banbury cross . I must admit it is not what we expected and it was right in the middle of a busy roundabout. The original cross was destroyed by The Puritans in 1600 and then this one was built in 1859 to commemorate the marriage of Victoria Princess Royal (Queen Victoria's eldest daughter) to Prince Frederick of Prussia. We will be in this area for the next couple of weeks so we will have plenty of time to have a good look around.

Carolyn has managed to get free Gym membership for a few days in the local sports centre so she is over the moon with that.

                                     Happy Days