HELL HOLE

 

We decided to spend the day at Cropredy and as always we try to support the local shops as well as the coal/diesel boats. They are always handy for basics such as milk ,bread ,butter and of course the odd bottle of wine if we are running short. Cropredy has a very good shop which is located near to the services so is handy if you are passing through the village.

After leaving the shop we walked up to the Church and had to walk up this path to get there.It’s an Ancient pathway leading from the church and I have no idea why it’s called Hell Hole. Maybe if you were buried in the Churchyard and you didn’t fit in you would be sent down this path. If anyone knows the real reason for the name I would love to know what it means.

Unfortunately we couldn’t have a look in the church as they are carrying out repairs, but it gave Carolyn the chance to spend a bit longer looking for my possible final resting place in the churchyard.

This is one of the older parts of the village with thatched cottages and a very handy pub called The Red Lion. We were going to go in to the pub for something to eat but after looking at some of the reviews on Trip advisor we decided against it.

Looking back towards Cropredy lock and then further on towards our mooring.

Now for a bit of a rant…      This is what always puts us off mooring here in Cropredy. There are House’s all over the network which back onto a canal ,but this is one of the few places where the residents that live opposite the moorings seem to have a problem with boater’s. At the end of the day the canal was here hundreds of years before the house’s were built and they must have realised what living next to a canal with moorings would mean when they bought their house’s, unless they were stupid . 99.9% of boaters do not run their engine unless they have to as obviously it cost’s money ,so the engines are only run until the batteries are fully charged. And if the residents think anyone is going to move in the middle of the day to below the lock to charge their batteries they must be round the twist. It’s very rare that we ever encounter another boat running their engine after 8pm and before 8am and in most cases boater’s themselves will have a word with the offending boater, at least I will, although Carolyn tries to stop me.      Come on Cropredy get rid of those uninviting signs and instead welcome boats to your lovely village.

Anyway tomorrow we will pull pins early and head in to Banbury and hopefully pick up our favourite mooring just before Tom Rolt bridge.

                                                                                                   Happy Days

Scarecrows

 

After another great holiday together it was time for Curly to head back down to Devon. Chloe drove up the previous day and stayed aboard for the night before departing at 10.00. As you can see Curly is a bit disappointed to be leaving but she is also pleased to be going home and going back to School if that makes any sense . As soon as they left we pulled pins with the plan of getting all the way to Cropredy ,so in thick Mizzle we headed over the highest point of the Oxford canal. To get over the top to Claydon it’s an 11 mile journey with the canal weaving its way around all the hills due to it being a contour canal . In fact if you walked in a straight line it would only be 4 miles and you would probably get there quicker.

Still here and this has to be the most photographed boat on the Oxford canal. The guy just dug out a hole in the field and canal bank, drove the boat in and then filled the canal bank in. It’s now been like it for a few years so I guess it must be legal as it’s still there.

One for Ann on NB Oakfield, looking good now but I bet this tree looks great when it’s in full leaf.

Approaching Claydon and this is the first lift bridge we have been through for a long time. Luckily it was in the up position as we passed through.

Arriving and entering Claydon top lock and we have always liked the look of this cottage . I know it was up for sale the last time we came through here but I’m not sure if it ever sold or not.

After descending the Claydon flight of 5 locks which dropped us down 30 feet and 6 inches we passed Clattercote Wharf. As you can see the Scarecrows are having a welcomed Winter break after guarding the fields of Squashes which the Farmer grows here in the Summer.

Looks like someone liked Che Guevara .

After a most enjoyable cruise it ended up taking only five and a half hours to reach our destination of Cropredy. With the moorings above the lock in the village empty we had our pick of where to tie up. With some miserable people in the Bungalows opposite who don’t seem to like boaters we moored back a bit, but more about that in the next update. We will now have a day or two here before moving onto Banbury.

                                                                                                      Happy Days

Iced in !

 

At Marston Doles after a good night we woke up to a freezing morning on Inca. Well not exactly freezing inside but outside. The temperature at 08.00 outside was minus 5 while inside it was a balmy 21 degrees C . This is the view out of our cratch window looking South towards Fenny Compton.

As you can see the canal is frozen and we are not going anywhere.We never move through ice because of the damage that it can do to your boat,especially as we had our hull metalized and also had a very expensive 2 pack blacking coating applied.

You always get boats that are prepared for what ever reason to crash their way through the ice . The guy in the picture above was delivering the boat to a marina and didn’t care about the hull of the boat. As he passed us we could see that he had lost all his blacking (hull protection) from along the water line of the boat. The other problem with boats moving like this through ice is that they can also take the blacking off the moored boats that they pass.

After a cold but enjoyable day with a couple of long walks with Hamish we enjoyed this Sunset . Daughter Chloe is on her way to pick up Curly and in the morning when they are winging their way back to Devon we will pull pins and try and complete the 6 hour cruise to Cropredy.

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Heading South

 

We had a late start from Braunston pulling pins at 10.15 and soon passed this poor old boat which is now probably not worth the effort of restoring  . We always enjoy the run from Braunston to Napton as its a good two and a half hours with no locks and a great bit of countryside to cruise through.

What's the betting that when we come back this way in a few weeks this boat will be sat on the bottom.. Watch this space.

I think this is a very good idea for storing all your coal ,wood and tools and wouldn’t it make a great workshop. Although Carolyn thinks it would make a great boat for me to live on while she has all of Inca to enjoy by herself.

After filling with water and getting shot of waste we headed up the Napton flight of locks. After going up the first lock we came across this sunken boat. With no name and no sign of a licence no doubt it will be us law abiding boaters who will have to stump through our licence fee to get it removed.

Curly yet again taking over from Carolyn and locking Inca up through the flight. We ended up with Carolyn going ahead to set the next lock while Curly with a little bit of help locked us up to the top.

Being an ex Motor Mechanic I’m always interested to see what cars they have at the top of the flight at Marston Doles. I’m not sure if the guy is a collector or he buys and sells ,but there is usually a good selection of older desirable cars on site.

We had always intended to stop at Marston Doles but didn’t realise that the moorings here were designated Winter moorings. Luckily there was no one on the end mooring and as the rules say if the mooring is empty then you are welcome to use it. If we were to pay for this mooring it would have cost us £6.50 a meter a month and at 18 meters long I think we will carry on continuously cruising ,or for a few quid more go in to a marina where you have full facilities.

 

 

With cold weather predicted and a need to be close to a road for our daughter Chloe to come and pick up Curly this will do us for a couple of days.

 

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Happy 91st Birthday !

 

Today our number one ships dog Hamish the Westie is 91 years old . Well he would be if he was a human. In fact he is 13 years old and is still as fit as a butchers dog. Needless to say he has been spoilt rotten and had a brilliant day ,chewing bones having a long walk and sleeping the day away. Cheers Hamish !!

 

                                                                                                            Happy Days