Sunday 23rd July
I set off at the same time as nb Jasmin
in front of me, but she stopped to water up by the pub close by. Reaching
Claydon Top Lock I had had deep water in front of me at last through most of
the pounds. The lady on the other boat caught up with me and helped by closing
the bottom gates, which speeded both of us up. Once again I had forgotten about
closing single lock bottom gates by using the cabin shaft and hooking the end
of the boat hook under the corner of the beams.
Most of the locks were already full or
there was another boat coming the opposite way, so I had a good road through
Claydon five locks and for the remaining four to Cropredy.
There were two boats coming out of one
lock and one of them was Anne on the Sea Otter “Double U”. I recognised the boat and reminded her that we last met up in Market Harborough
Basin last year, when I was moored behind her boat.
The Cropredy Music Festival was due to be
held on 10th to 12th
August, so I knew that moorings in Cropredy would be scarce. I was not
hopeful of finding any and quite prepared to go on to Banbury. However, just
below the lock were two 48hr moorings and they were vacant – success! I got
moored up and so did the other lady on nb Jasmin, so I had the opportunity to
thank her for help through the locks.
I had further ideas on fixing that half
round table and found suitable timber and bolts to do the job, but only got
part way, as the rain began. In The Red Lion, I met up with another couple of
boaters who were here for the festival and sat with them for a chat. They live
on their boat in the summer and have a house in The Canaries, which they go to
in the winter – sounds like a great idea.
I lit the Cobb BBQ on the bow and cooked
some water buffalo sausages, which were very enjoyable. Just in case you are
thinking that it is dangerous to BBQ on a boat, the Cobb is so designed that it
can be picked up with bare hands when hot. https://www.cobb-bbq.co.uk/
Monday 24th July
Guess what? It was raining again this
morning after rain during the night. I had sealed up the lifting latch for the
rear deck with tape previously to see if that stopped the rain from getting
into the engine ‘ole and on lifting it with a screwdriver, it was still dry –
another problem solved. The lady on Jasmin moved off this morning at 11 am and
I am wondering how long before another boat moors up behind me, as spaces are
at a premium here now. I heard that further down the moorings, the traders are
jostling for bankside space, as being breasted up is of no use for trading.
Nb Herbie came past later and Neil
stopped for a brief chat. Before another boat came along and he had to move on.
Herbie was built by Andicraft, who also built Stronghold, so we had that in
common.
I had decided to make some more Stilton
Cheese Puffs but discovered that there
was no parmesan on board, nor in the local village store, so that idea was
abandoned and I started more work on the bow well table fixing. All went well
and the table is fixed, but with more work to be done to make it look better.
Barry turned up about 6.30 pm and we
drove to The Brasenose Arms for a meal and a couple of pints, though Barry was
driving and only had a shandy. It was good to see him again and we get
on so well. The Brasenose is much better organised than The Red Lion and the food
was good. There was also a better selection of ales on tap.
Tuesday 25th July
I let go about 10 am heading for Banbury,
which was only 4.5 miles and 3 locks, but it took about 4 hours. The lift
bridge in Banbury was awkward for me, because I could only moor the bow on the
RH side to work the bridge, for another boat was moored on that side. The aft
end was tied off on the other side, so the boat was secure. I put my hand on
the cabin top and was stung on the little finger by a wasp I presume, because I
didn’t see it. Half my right hand then swelled up, but it subsided after an
hour or two. I watered up, before going through the lock to moor on the 2 day
moorings. It is still quite a walk to Morrison’s, so I will move up there to
the Tramway moorings tomorrow. Moorings in the shopping centre were all vacant
on the LH side, although the other side was full up. Do they know something
that I don’t?
It was a hot afternoon, so I connected up
the car fan that I purloined in Braunston Marina launderette and it is ideal
for this weather.
Wednesday 26th July
It was raining again this morning and
seemed to have settled in for the day, although the forecast said it would be
all over by 2pm. About midday, the rain ceased, so I looked up B&Q and it
was on an industrial estate back over the little footbridge, so I set off for a
gas refill for the little blowtorch. This can be so useful, not only for
soldering, but for lighting the BBQ and the Morso stove in winter.
I walked back a different route from the
towpath and stopped off at The Olde Rein Deer for a couple of pints of Hook
Norton mild ale, which I sampled yesterday. Not only is it delicious, but it is
only 2.8% ABV and ideal for a lunchtime drink.
I let go about 4pm to moved up to the
Tramway moorings, which was very close to Morrison’s and just as I did so the
rain began again, but it was a short shower and was soon replaced by sunshine.
I trundled the wheelie bag over the bridge and filled it up with much needed
supplies, as the last place I shopped was Rugby.
Thursday 27th July
It was a blustery start to the day and
continued making cruising uncomfortable. Passing moored boats could be a
problem in this wind, because if I go too slowly the wind can push Stronghold
on to them and if I go fast enough for that not to happen, then I get
complaints about my speed – a no win combination!
There was usually one boat in front of me
at the locks and sometimes two if the first boat was slow operating the
paddles, which is totally unnecessary when descending a lock. Try explaining
that to them and nothing changes at the next lock.
I got talking to a guy on the hire boat
ahead of me whilst waiting and he was from Haywards Heath and a train driver
who works Thameslink out of Brighton. Not only does he know Paul Heery, the
ex-landlord of The Black Horse turned train driver, but also Chris Frederick,
ex-revenue staff, who lives just around the corner from me. It is quite amazing
how many people on boats live or work in my home area. Back at home, Roger, who
owns the local hardware store, has a boat in Cropredy Marina.
Whenever I got to a lock with the crew on
the hire boat, they always assisted my exit, which not only made the operation
easier me, but speeded up my exit and for which I was very grateful.
I arrived in good time for a mooring at
Aynho, just beyond the bridge and had a pint in The Great Western Arms, as
always.
The air horn is not working well and
probably needs a squirt of WD40 in the compressor to loosen it up a bit. I
suspect that the wiring from front to back of the boat for that is causing a
voltage drop anyway.
Friday 28th July
CRT have just renewed my licence for
another 3 months automatically, despite my filling in their form designating ‘no
automatic renewal’. It could be that I was in a weak signal area and they didn’t
get it. However, I phoned them to complain and it was cancelled later after a call
from them to say so.
I was about to set off this morning, when
the man moored up behind asked if I heard the commotion earler, because the
mowing gang had mowed along the towpath and a stone had smashed one of his hopper windows. That is the problem when the towpath is made up of stones
rather than tarmac.
Once again I had help at locks by the
hire boat crew, even though I was prepared with a long line to tow Stronghold
out of Somerton Deep Lock.
Somerton Deep Lock 12ft.
The long centre line on the slide was to pull to boat out.
At Upper Heyford and Allens Lock, I
moored up to pay a visit to The Barley Mow and write it up for the database. It
was quite a long walk up the hill and I took the wrong road, but it wasn’t far
from the top. Not really worth a visit, although the home cooked food menu was good.
Fullers ales of course, being a Fullers pub.
Returning to the lock after a pint, I was
just in time to catch nb Dusty, with Kati and Jock on board, so we had a conversation, mostly about pubs on route and I asked for a diesel fill up when they got through the lock. It appeared
that they are taking their other boat nb Confederate onto the Wey Navigations
later in August for a holiday, so I showed them a Wey windlass on request and gave them a National
Trust map of the river. I will be back on the Wey mid-August, so may well see
them again. A very pleasant couple who were very easy to talk to.
The day terminated at Lower Heyford,
which was interesting because it was one of Oxfordshire Narrowboats turn around
days and three crews of single sex groups were getting instruction. The boys on
two boats were all wearing sailors’ hats and looked ridiculous. I remember way
back many years when single sex groups were not allowed to hire boats – how things
have changed!
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