ANNOUNCEMENT, PANIC, A MAD DASH.

 

Beautifaul Sunset

And this describes our life over the last week or so.

We did as we said at the end of the last blog get to, and stay in Newark for a couple of nights. We spent the first night moored on a highish wall, not the best for me but we did make it to the pub. I was up early next morning willing one of the boats on the pontoon to leave, and my prays were answered and we were able to move over mid morning. I picked some blackberries and made a crumble for the Captain.

We discussed our plans, and after visiting Boston at the end of the River Witham, we would have time to go up the Erewash in time for a heritage weekend being held by the preservation society on the 13^th September, leaving us enough time to get back to Swan Lane in time for the wedding of the year.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/things-to-do/events/canal-events-canal-festivals/2025-09-13-echoes-of-the-erewash-canal

Thursday and on a bright sunny morning we set off for Cromwell lock and the tidal part of the River Trent, which would then take us to Torksey and onto the Fossdyke, and then the Witham to Boston.

Facebook can be a wonderful thing, and it was here I first got an inkling of the announcement which would change all our plans. I did not think a lot about it to start with.

Coming off the Trent at Torksey we decided to push on, and got to Saxilby (a favourite of ours because of the chippy and a couple of good pubs) around 7pm. For a change, and because it was quite late, and we had had a long day (well for us) we decided to give both the chippy and pub a miss. The Captain checked out exactly what the announcement from CRT was all about, and it worse, so much worse than we had thought. It announced that all the locks on the Coventry canal were being closed from the Monday the 26^th August, and that this decision would not be reviewed until the end of September.

If we didn’t make it up the Atherstone flight of locks before then we would be stuck, unable to get home to Swan Lane until at least October, and even then there was no guarantee the locks would reopen.

Panic set in. We basically had up to 11 days to do a journey which had taken us 3 weeks. But we knew we had to do it. This meant early starts and long days, which the Captain hates, but needs must.

It started the very next day, up early and off by 9am (usually just having our first cuppa in bed at this time) we winded the boat and headed back to Torksey. The Captain had spoken to the lock keeper as usually this needs to be booked 24hrs in advance, as did Cromwell lock, but given the circumstances they waved this, and we were able to lock out with the other boats waiting. We made it as far as Newark for the night, and yes we did go to the pub, and we tried a new one called The Loose Cannon, it was very nice and had a decent stout on for the Captain which made him feel better after the long day. 27 ½ miles and 3 locks in 9hrs. This included a couple of hours wait for the tide at Torksey lock.

https://loosecannonnewark.com/

Next we did Newark to Nottingham, and off to the pub again, the Olde Trip to Jerusalem. I did have a quick chat with Caroline once again, as we had planned to go for a drink when we stayed in Nottingham on the return journey. 24 ½ miles, 7 locks, 8hrs.

Next day was the real killer, we travel faster on the rivers usually, but now we rejoined the Trent and Mersey canal at Derwent Mouth Lock, and things would slow down.

From Nottingham we decided to make for Willington, but it nearly didn’t happen. As we approached the first lock I could see a lock keeper on the phone, but he walked away from me, strange, but hay ho I am quite capable of doing the locks on my own. We realised as we exited the lock that the pound above was extremely low, and many of the boats moored there were sitting on the bottom. We chatted to a Captain of one as we cruised by, and he said that CRT would probably be closing the Trent and Mersey, but wasn’t to sure how far would be affected. This made us panic even more so we kept going, the pound through Shardlow was very very low, at times we could hear the bottom of the boat scraping the canal bed, but once up the next lock things improved greatly. CRT did close the pound at Shardlow for the next two days, but we were well away from the affected area by then. We made it to Willington after 10hrs, and yes you guessed it headed to the pub. 24 ½ miles, 11 locks.

Day 4 and we decided that we were on track and could have a slightly easier day and headed for Alrewas, 12 miles, 6 locks, 6hrs.

Things were definitely looking up, and we knew we would make Atherstone with time to spare but decided to push on just to be sure.

We left the Trent and Mersey at Fradley junction and joined the Coventry canal, it was so good to be back on our home canal. We stopped at Fazeley for the night, and after a couple of pints the Captain treated me to a kebab. 13 miles, 5 locks and another 6hrs.

Day 5 and we hit the first of the Coventry locks which were being closed at Glascote. There are only 2 locks here, but they were on reduced hours, which meant there were a lot of boats waiting for them to open at 10am. We were the 5^th boat waiting to go up, and 2 more joined us later, but coming down there were over 10 boats waiting, and more arriving by the minute. Of course off I went to help and was joined by Ann off NB Wild Swan. We locked boats up and down helping to speed the process up, if everyone did this life would be so much easier, but they don’t, and I actually had to ask for help as I locked a single hander through on my own.

Once through Glascote, our aim was to lock up the first 5 locks of 11 at Atherstone, CRT were only actually locking the top 6locks. This meant we would be there and ready for the final push in the morning. We were joined at the locks by Ann, off Wild Swan, and the single hander Debbie off NB Europa, helping each other out were we could we all moored between lock 6 and 7 for the night. On our return from the pub we had a drink and a chat with the other boaters. Jeremy and Ann were not stopping above the locks as they had much further to go, but Debbie was, so we said we would go for a drink next day to celebrate getting back in record time. 10 miles, 7 locks and another 6hrs.

Up bright and early next day, I didn’t get to say goodbye to Ann and Jeremy as they headed off as soon as they could, but we did help Debbie out were we could, the were Volunteer lock keepers on which made life easier.

6 locks later and we were home and dry. Moored at Atherstone with a deep sigh of relief and a large dose of regret that we didn’t get to visit everywhere we wanted. But there is always next year.

112 miles and 45 locks in 7 days.

WIDE RIVER AND BIG LOCKS.

 

Small Boat big lock

And by big locks I mean BIG locks.

We sat out the weather at Shardlow before heading to Shardlow marina for a pump out next day.

It was great to see that a new sign had been erected at the entrance to the marina, and the vegetation had been cut back to.

https://www.shardlowmarina.co.uk/

Cruising through the moored boats to get to the pump out was still challenging in the gusts of wind, but the Captain made it look easy.

Oh no!!! what was this, a wooden fishing boat moored (well abandoned) on the service point. We stood and scratched our heads trying to work out how to get to the side, so the Captain could at least could get off and find out was was occurring.

With a lot of manoeuvring we eventually managed to get close enough for him to jump off and go to the office. He returned with one very annoyed lady in tow, muttering under her breath about what she would like to do to the owner of the boat. Apparently the boat had been on the slipway for sometime before it sank, and now he was blocking the services as he pumped the water out. She was not a happy bunny at all, but this didn’t help us, and our full toilet. After much discussion we decided to untie the boat and push it out, using our boat to allow us to get to the side and the services. And it worked, yippee. I asked her what she was going to do about the boat, and after covering the marina’s logo on her shirt, she said sink it again, she was joking, well I hope she was.

But we got our pump out, and at £10 it was a bargain. After tying the offending boat up once more we headed out, it was then off to our mooring for the night on the pontoons at Trent Lock. We were lucky and there was space for us on the inside. We headed to the pub later, The Steamboat, and said hi the Simon the owner before enjoying a couple of pints outside watching the world go by. The Captain was very happy as they had Camden stout on.

Only a short hop again next day and we headed to Beeston on the outskirts of Nottingham. Only 2 locks today, the first a deep double lock and we were on our own, 2 boats had penned down just before us and the lock took an age to fill, then I realised one of the bottom paddles was still a little open, and this with the badly leaking gates meant the lock wouldn’t equalise, and I couldn’t get the top gates to open. I dropped the paddle fully and lo and behold the gate opened.

The second lock was only the shallow flood lock at Beeston, I jumped off and then jumped on again, the lock had so many helpers on there I wasn’t needed. It turned out to be a group from Leicester on a team building exercise, so no exercise for me.

Now we were on the Beeston and Nottingham canal.

My Captain had decided we would stay on the moorings at Beeston for the night, as it was somewhere we had never stopped before. They aren’t the best moorings as you have to moor against a highish wall, and there are a lot of large willow trees along the whole length of the moorings. At first it appeared that there was no space, and we had accepted that it was not to be, when we spotted a boat getting ready to leave, we hovered waiting for him to set off but disaster, he got something around his prop and everything stopped. Never mind, so off we went again only to find a couple of boats further on a great spot for the night.

We headed to the pub (of course) The Boat and Horses, a huge pub with a function room and large garden. Although they didn’t do food, you could bring your own, or order it in from a range of takeaways, and on some nights they had independent food trucks in the car park. What a great way to drum up business.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Boat-and-Horses-Beeston-Rylands-100090484647109/

A quiet night even though we were right by the road. Then into Nottingham. Just before we moored outside Sainsburys, a great spot, and the mooring weren’t busy at all, I spotted NB Manatee, Caroline and Oscar the dog’s boat. We had travelled up and down the Erewash with them the previous year, and spent a lot of time in the pub with then too. We called but there was no sign of life.

We didn’t go to the pub that night, surprise surprise, the Captain wasn’t feeling well (man flu) and didn’t want to spoil our plans for the next couple of days which involved seeing family.

Our first visit was to my daughter Jess, hubby Stuart and baby Lowen in Mansfield where we had a bbq with them and my son Adam, wife Julie and little Dylan came to. Before leaving for Mansfield I walked down to Caroline’s boat and had a chat with her, and was enthusiastically greeted by Oscar the dog, who even after a year remembered me.

Lowen, Dylan and me

Our next visit was back to Ripley, my home town, to meet up with my sister Diane and hubby Mick. This turned out to be a boozy afternoon and I caught up with a few people I hadn’t seen for a long time. We had a great time both days.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripley,_Derbyshire

Then it was time to leave the canals and head out on to the big wide river, with its huge locks, these hold around 6 to 10 boats (sometimes more) and are usually manned by lock keepers, but not always.

Coming out onto the river Trent at Meadow Lane lock is always breathtaking, the banks seem so far away after being on a narrow canal. At the first lock at Holme Pierrepoint I was reminded how big these locks actually are. Our home Avalon Two looked so tiny and insignificant in it. There was a lock keeper on, so my job is to hold the front of the boat steady using the rope through a runner in the side of the lock to do this. For big locks the flow of the water is actually quite gentle.

Our mooring for the night was at Gunthorpe, but with no room on the pontoons outside the pub, we had to moor against the wall just before the lock, not ideal for me to get on and off the boat, but the Captain managed to get us by a ladder which helped. And yes we did head to the pub, the Unicorn, a Marston pub but no darks on.

Next morning and time to head to Newark, we waited to see if a lock keeper would turn up, but by 10am it was obvious we were on our own. The locks are electric and you use your BW key to operate them. On the control panel buttons control the sluices (paddles) and gates, one button opens and of course one button closes. As I started a lady boater joined me, she explained she had never had to operate these locks and was unsure how they worked, so I took her through it step by step. She still didn’t look to confident when we parted company, but I hope I gave her enough training to help.

Our aim was Newark and the pontoons for a couple of days, buts that for next time

24 miles, 11 locks, and 2 canals and 1 river

JUST POOTLING ALONG

 

We made it to Fradley on Tuesday and Nick very kindly took us out for tea at the Mucky Duck, the beer was good, with Camden stout on for the Captain and Nick. The food was nice too and we spent a very pleasant evening together.

Next morning, just as we were ready to set off, they passed us and moored on the water point, I wandered up to say my good byes, only to discover Alison was having trouble opening the hatch to access the tap, we use our waterways key for this, but the lock was just spinning. About ready to give up, I look at the back and found a latch, which when turned opened the hatch. Great, or so we thought, but oh no! there was no tap inside to turn the water on, very strange, as I was sure I had seen other boats using the water point. More investigation and I discovered a stop valve at the bottom of the pipe, which when turned let the water flow, I got a bit wet at this point, as it was unexpected and the flow of water was a little fierce. But problem solved. We said our goodbyes and headed through the little swing bridge, turning right to the first lock of the day.

There was a queue for the lock, and we ended behind and all electric boat called The Ace of Spades, a reference to the Motorhead record of the early 1980’s, I know this because the name was accompanied by a picture of Lemmy, the lead singer with the band.

Lemmy

https://youtu.be/wTWET5aJMoE

Me being me, I headed to the lock to help the volunteer lockee lock the boats waiting up and down. The crew off Ace of Spades came forward, and it was apparent she was not well, she explained she wasn’t having a good day but would help were she could, I told her not to worry, I would be happy to help them through the coming locks. Luckily there were lockees on next 2 locks, but as soon as I could leave the Captain in the capable hands of the volunteer, I walked to the next lock to lend a hand.

I walked a lot that day, and at the final 2 locks of the day I managed to get there and help them out.

We moored for the night in Alrewas, and the Ace of spades moored in front of us. We had a chat with Andrea and Chick. She was so grateful for our help and asked what our tipple was, but I told her not to worry, I was more than happy to have been of service and didn’t expect anything for it. We eventually headed back to our boat for a well earned lunch. As I was just finishing mine, Andrea knocked on the boat with a bottle of wine for me, and a couple of little bottles of rum for the Captain, again I assured her it wasn’t necessary but she insisted. What a lovely gesture.

Of course we headed to the pub later, and I was pleased to see a Slimming World meeting just starting in the village hall, so I popped in (I need to get weighed now and again to keep my membership valid) I wasn’t so happy when I came out, but not surprised either, and that’s all I am saying about that!

It didn’t stop me going for a pint though. At the first pub and our favourite, the George and Dragon we met with a problem, not for the Captain for a change but with my drink. The pubs coolers were broken, so all the lagers were warm, and you know you cant drink lager warm. The barmaid made sure we were aware of this when we ordered, unfortunately I really fancied a pint of cold crisp lager, so we decided to move on to the next pub, the William IV, a nice drink but very quiet so we decided to go for the hat trick and try the final pub in the village The Crown, very nice in here indeed and very busy.

We left next morning without seeing Andrea and Chick again and headed on to the water point, no problem here at all. Then the first lock of the day which takes you down on to a river section of the canal. Again I headed off to help and had a nice chat with the crew off NB Minty, they were going down the lock only to wind and head back to their mooring in the village. As there wasn’t another boat waiting to come up I turned the lock in our favour, whilst doing this another boat turned up behind us, the crew jumped off with a windlass but didn’t come to help me with the lock, but just stood and watched, nowt a strange as folk. Luckily a boat turned up below the lock and its crew came up to help, so one in and one out. As we left the lock the reluctant crew actually did come forward to help lock the boat up, very strange behaviour.

Our aim for the day was Burton upon Trent, and Shobnall marina for diesel, this is one of the cheapest and friendliest marina’s on the system, and the Captain was very happy with the price. We then moored at Shobnall fields, but we didn’t head out as we were staying in Burton the next day for shopping and a pint (or 3). There is a Lidl within easy walking distance of the canal, and a couple of great micro pubs. The Weighbridge, and Outwoods Brewery, we tried both of course.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Shobnall-Marina-100063568994555/?locale=en_GB

Our time on the narrow canals had come to an end as our next lock, Dallow lock was the last of the narrow locks, after this the locks we are doing wide and deep. It was here we met Gina and Steve on NB Kathryn, we are related by marriage, her son and my daughter, it was a lovely surprise and we had a quick catch up whilst doing the lock.

Willington was our home for the night, and another couple of great pubs, The Green Man, and the Dragon which is right on the canal. It was a lovely afternoon and we sat in the Dragon’s beer garden and had maybe 1 to many, as they had Dark Drake by Dancing Duck, which is one of the Captains all time favourites.

The weather for the next few days was given out to be very windy and wet, but it didn’t turn out quite as bad as predicted, and after a night at Swarkstone (no pub) we made it easily to Shardlow. We passed the Ace of Spades and waved to Chick but there was no sign of Andrea.

When we came to moor we had to ask the boat behind us to move up a bit, as they had left a gap at the front of them, which meant there wasn’t quite enough room for us to get in behind. The Captain off NB Wanderer was happy to do so. We were soon in the pub, The New Inn, with a pint of Titanic Plum Porter for the Captain and Madri for me.

https://www.thenewinnshardlowpub.co.uk/

More high winds forecast for the next day so we stayed put as we needed to go into Shardlow marina for a pump out, and we know from experience that this is hard to do even without 40mph gusts of wind making steering the boat difficult.

25½ miles, 15 locks, 1 moveable bridge, 2 canals and 1 river the Trent.

TRAVELLING BY BIG SHIP

 

Explorer 2

First of all I must apologies for the lack of tales from the cut over the last month.

This is because we spent 2 weeks cruising the Med on a big ship, and then recovering from the experience.

We left the Ashby after calling in at Stoke Golding and the very good George and Dragon pub, it belongs to Church End brewery, so always has a great selection of real ales on, and always a dark for the Captain. On our return to Swan Lane we prepared for the cruise, shopping for the last bits, and ensuring we had everything we needed.

The day arrived and it was an early flight, 6am but it did mean we had a full day on the ship to get our bearings. Marella Explorer 2 holds about 1800 holiday makers, and over 700 crew from over 40 different nations, and they were all amazing for the whole 2 weeks.

A doggie towel  by the cabin staff

The itinerary for the 2 weeks covered 6 different countries, 11 ports and 3 seas. Starting in Dubrovnik in Croatia, we travelled to Slovenia, Italy, Montenegro, Malta and Greece. We visited the islands of Sicily, Corfu and Kefalonia. The weather was wonderful, a bit to hot at times, but we got off at every port, and looked around the historic cities taking in the amazing architecture and beautiful churches.

St Jovan Vladimir Church in Bar

We met a lovely couple Jen and Darren from Cumbria on the first day, they were on their first cruise celebrating Darren’s birthday, it was nice to have a drink and chat with them. They were only on board for the first week, and then spent 3 days in a hotel in Dubrovnik (well Cavtat).

Life on the ship is made easy by the staff, everyone from those who looked after your cabin, and those who served you at dinner, to the bartenders and the entertainment hosts, did a wonderful job of making our holiday special, I can’t praise them enough.

Leo and his crew our dinner waiting staff

The 2 weeks flew by, and it was soon time to say good by to the big ship and return home to our little narrowboat.

Mobile Air Conditioning in Split

It took us a few days to catch our breath and start preparing for our next cruise on the cut.

Our plans, at the moment are to head north on the Coventry canal, along the Trent and Mersey and onto the River Trent, then onto Lincoln and eventually Boston, before retracing our steps back to Swan Lane in time for Col and Mags wedding on the 4^th October.

We left on Wednesday and headed for Hawkesbury junction, it was late as we had to wait for a prescription to be ready. We didn’t head down to the basin as our favourite pub, the Hops was closed, as Greg and Vic took a well earned holiday. Of course we went to the Greyhound instead.

Next night and another pub, The Anchor at Hartshill, not a bad pint but no darks for the Captain.

Then on to Atherstone and 2 pubs, The Angel Ale House and the Market Tavern, both had a couple of choices for the Captain, so one very happy bunny.

The first locks of the cruise, the 11 at Atherstone, and we were going down, as was every man and his dog or so it would seem. Some of the pounds were extremely low. The Captain stuck to the middle of the channel, whilst I stayed off the boat and walk the 1 ½ miles. I feared if I got on, we would not be able to get to the side to let me off to operate the locks. This year has been very dry, and so many of the canals and locks are closing, or being put on restricted opening hours, our plan had been to return using the river Soar and the Leicester arm of the GU, but this is already closed in a number of places, so it is not to be.

It did mean however that our friends from last year, Nick and Alison on NB Panacea, were catching us up quickly. They made the decision to do long days, and get out of the affected areas as they needed to get back to their home base at Lyme to be blacked.

I enjoyed doing the locks after a few weeks of relaxation, and we made it to Polesworth for the night. Of course we went to the pub, the Spread Eagle first, a nice little locals pub, then the Polesworth Sports and Social Club next door, where we had a lovely chat with the stewardess and a few of the locals. We were going to try The Yard, but as we walked in the loud music just hit us, so we decided it give it a miss, we like a quiet pint.

Only 2 locks at Glascote next day as we headed to Fazeley, Nick and Alison were now right behind us, and we agreed to meet up and go and watch the footy together, and then head to the Fazeley fish bar for our tea.

For those of you may have been living in a cave for the last week, the Lionesses reached the final of the European Football Cup and were playing Spain, the reigning world champions. And we won, well done ladies, it was a tough match that ended with penalties, but at the end of the day we were the better team and came through victorious.

We went to the Three Tuns and got a seat easily, and we were soon catching up with each others adventures. They had spent the first half of the summer on the Middle Levels and river Nene, which is part of the Norfolk broads. Somewhere we have not been, but maybe next year as they had a great time exploring this part of the system.

After the match off to the chippy, and we were not disappointed once again, one of the best chippies on the system.

We stayed at Fazeley next day as the Captain had a parcel being delivered to the local post office.

Nick and Alison stayed as well, we agreed to travel together to Fradley Junction for a pint in the Mucky Duck. It’s here where we will say our farewells, as they will turn left and we will turn right on to the Trent and Mersey. But that’s for next time.

25 miles, 13 locks and 1 canal.

KILLING TIME

 

And that’s what we are doing at the moment, killing time until our hollibobs on the big ship.

But it does mean we have visited a few places we haven’t been to this year, or for a couple of years.

After our night at Hawesbury we headed down to Swan Lane for a pump out and a catch up with our friends Col, Mags, Mark and of course Freddie the dog. Then onto Coventry Canal basin. We couldn’t moor in the basin as there was a floating market on, but we found good moorings just before the bridge. We headed into town and our favourite pub the Hops D’Amour, after a couple of pints the Captain treated me to tea at Zizzi’s.

We had a walk round the floating market next day, and picked up some Pastel de Nata from the Portuguese cafe in the basin, these are little custard tarts that I have been meaning to try for quite some time, and they went down very well with our cup of tea.

Pastel de Nata

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_de_nata

https://www.gorety.co.uk/

Our next port of call was Atherstone, a favourite town of ours, it has great pubs and a good selection of shops including an Aldi, and now a Tesco that used to be a Coop. It is also the home of the best faggots on the system from Bates Butchers. We had only intended to stay here Sunday night, but I discovered that Bates didn’t open on a Monday, so we decided to stay an extra night. The moorings were quiet and we found an excellent spot before heading (of course) to the pub for a beer or 2. There are a number pubs in the town, but the best 2 in our opinion are the Angel Ale House and the Market Tavern. The Market Tavern is run by the old owners of the Greyhound at Hawkesbury, so we know there will always be a great selection of real ales on, and the Captain was not disappointed with a coconut stout. After a couple we wandered over to the Angel for another very good selection of ale, a breakfast stout this time. So one very very happy Captain.

We walked into town on the Monday to do shopping at Aldi, but first we had a walk round the high street and picked up a couple of bits for the holiday. It was a little early for a pint, but we decided what the hell and headed for the Market Tavern, only to find they didn’t open for another hour, but the British Legion next door was open, it was busy with a gaggle of friendly locals. No real ales in here but the Captain fancied a cooling lager so we had a couple.

I got the faggots next morning and we set off for the Ashby Canal at Marston Doles junction. The Ashby canal was opened in 1804 to transport coal from the coalfields at Moira, near Ashby de la Zouche, to the industrial areas of Coventry. It was 31 miles long with no locks. At this time only 22 miles are navigable, but as with many canals restoration of the remaining miles is underway. It is a narrow windy and in places a very shallow canal and I found it very boring, I like doing locks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashby_Canal

But in its favour it does have a number of pubs on its route, but not many shops.

A very welcome cold pint

As you probably are aware it has been very hot, and our first stop was at the Lime Kilns pub, we managed to moor right outside, but before we got there we had to re-pin yet another boat, it has seemed to be the year of doing this. NB Emma had not only lost its back pins but its nappy pin at the front had come out of the arnco too. The captain let me off and used our boat to push Emma into the side enabling me to secure bow and stern. Then off to the pub, it was lovely to sit in the beer garden at the side of the boat, another patron came to chat and complimented us on Avalon Two, he asked many questions which we were happy to answer.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g3442188-d3326943-Reviews-The_Lime_Kilns-Burbage_Leicestershire_England.html

Now the best pub on this stretch by far is the George and Dragon at Stoke Golding. It belongs to a local brewery called Church End which makes great beers, including 2 darks, Coffin Stout and Gravedigger mild. I particularly like Fallen Angel which is a hoppy pale ale.

https://www.churchendbrewery.co.uk/

The moorings are just outside the village and we found a great spot, the only downside are the opening hours, as they open at dinner but close at 3pm and then reopen at 6pm, our preferred drinking time is early doors, so we start usually about 4.30pm, but its to good to be missed so we took a steady walk up the hill just before 6 and got there just as they opened. It was well worth it and we staggered back down the hill after a few.

https://www.facebook.com/ganddstokegolding/?locale=en_GB

One of the bigger towns on the Ashby is Hinkley, and although the canal does not run that close to the centre, its a short bus trip from Trinity marina which was our next stop. The Captain had an appointed with the physio on Monday, and found he could easily catch a bus back to Coventry from there. Again the mooring were very quiet and we moored up for a couple of days, of course there was a pub, the Wharf Inn, and a couple of small shops within easy walking distance. Off to the pub we went on another very hot day. No darks on but the Captain found a decent pint of Mansfield Smooth bitter.

https://www.facebook.com/wharfinn/?locale=en_GB

Wildlife, we are back in Buzzard territory and have spotted a number of these magnificent birds of prey soaring in the skies above the boat, their rounded tail a distinct difference from the Red Kite with its forked tail. We also spotted a couple of Muntjak deer,also known as the barking deer, these small pretty deer are not native to the UK but can be found all over the country.

A Muntjac deer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntjac

43 miles, no locks 2 canals.

EVER CHANGING PLANS.

 

The Perfect Veiw.

And this is what boating can be about for various reasons. But before I get into that, I was going to call this instalment ‘The Land of the Hire Boats’.

That’s because there are a lot of boat hire firms in this area, and we seem to have seen all of them. The companies include, Napton Narrowboats, Kate Boats, Rose Narrowboats, Ashby Boats, Clifton Cruisers and Diamond Resorts to name just a few. We always approach hirers with some caution, as you never know if the Captain and crew are complete newbies, or seasoned boaters. And we know all about being newbies on a hire boat, as our boating life started in2010 and our first holiday on a narrowboat. 3 more holidays over 2 years, and look where we ended up.

Hiring a narrowboat is not cheap, but a great experience, and something we always advise people to do if they fancy living on a boat full time.

Right back to our journey. We left Banbury on Wednesday and headed for Cropredy and found good moorings. Of course we headed off to the pub, firstly The Red Lion, a quaint local pub with very friendly dogs and a good pint, then onto the Brasenose Arms, a bit of a foody pub, but we had an interesting chat with a local about the Cropredy Festival, known as the Fairport Convention Festival after the 1960/70’s folk rock band.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairport%27s_Cropredy_Convention

We know a few boaters that attend this but never fancied it ourselves, maybe something for the future.

Stayed put next day, the weather has been good for the time of year, but we were promised rain, and got it. We did venture out later but just to the Red Lion again.

https://www.redlioncropredypub.co.uk/

At Cropredy lock we met up with David on NB Jennoria once again and I helped him through. I was chatting to a gongoozler called Keith from Rotherham, on my request the Captain gave him a trip up through the lock and explained how locks, and in particular how the mitred gates work.

A short hop to Fenny Compton and we were lucky to nab the last mooring spot just before the Wharf pub. We had to give it a try, and for once I was very disappointed on how organised I am with planning our meals, because the food looked and smelt amazing, but tea was waiting for us back on the boat.

https://www.facebook.com/TheWharfInnFennyCompton/?locale=en_GB

The locks on this stretch tend to be spaced out rather than being a flight, but that changed with the upcoming Napton flight of 2 locks, a short gap, and then 7 locks together. The village of Napton on the Hill is a short walk from the canal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napton_on_the_Hill

We moored at the top and descended next day, with it being Sunday the locks were busy with boats moving in both direction, which is what you really want, as it helps with water conservation and makes it more fun with lots of chatting and banter.

A lock

We moored between the 2 bottom locks were there is room for about 4/5 boats, a boat coming up nabbed the space we really wanted, but we still managed to moor without a problem just further away from the pub, The Folly. A great canal side pub we have visited a few time before, once before we even had the boat as we were camped nearby. During Covid they built the Potting Shed, which is an amazing outside bar, and this is were we sat rather than going into the pub itself which is on the small side and would be busy with people eating their Sunday roast. A good pint and another friendly dog.

http://follyatnapton.co.uk/

The Potting Shed

The next stretch of the Oxford canal is sadly lacking in good pubs, or pubs at all. So we spent the next night in the MONW.

I needed a little shopping the next day so Rugby was our destination, but as we set off it seemed like every man and his dog was on the move, and 10 boats passed us as we set off, this continued until we reached the 3 side by side locks at Hillmorton. The Captain reckoned another 10 boats passed us whilst we were moving.

At Hillmorton I was pleased to see a Vol Lockee on, another boat was already going into one of the locks and we soon were in the one next to them, 2 boats were going down ahead of us, one being a single hander who did not impress the lady crew of the boat with us at all. Although she asked him to drop a paddle and shut the gate he made no effort to get off his boat, she was not happy and we had an in depth chat about boating etiquette.

I helped as much as I could whilst locking the Captain and our boat down, and we were soon on our way to Rugby. We were told, much to our surprise, that the majority of boats using the locks were travelling in our direction, very strange bearing in mind how many boats had been coming towards us before we reached the locks.

https://www.hillmortonlocks.co.uk/

The mooring at Rugby were surprisingly quiet and we moored up with ease.

It was at Rugby that our plans began to change, the Captain has been suffering with a bad leg which hurt when he walks, this needed sorting out before our cruise on the big ship. It came to ahead in Rugby, as I fancied catching the bus into the town, but he didn’t want to walk anywhere, he didn’t even want to come shopping with me, (I hate shopping on my own). So I told him that he needed to get it sorted.

Our plan after Hawkesbury Junction was to head to Atherstone, and then maybe go up the Ashby canal to Stoke Golding, there are very good real ale pubs in both of these towns.

But if he needed to see a doctor we needed to head back to Swan Lane. The plan kind of remained the same until he had had a telephone consultation with the doctor. The doctor confirmed our thoughts on what the problem was, and that we were doing everything possible to alleviate the symptoms, but he needed to see a physio and this was booked in 2 weeks time, but still before our holiday.

The issue of a pump out then reared its head, we could head to Atherstone and get one at a marina or boatyard and pay £25-30, or we could return to Swan Lane and do one for free, then head off to Atherstone, sounded good. But like the title said, ever changing plans. The Captain suggested after getting the pump out at Swan Lane we could head down Coventry basin for a night or 2, go to the Hop and have meal at one of the many restaurants there. Then we could take a couple of days to get to Atherstone, and then see. The world is our oyster. So that’s what we decided (up to now).

After leaving Rugby we had another night in the MONW, then our journey took us to Hawkesbury Junction, where we were able to catch up with an old friend Barbara on NB Meander Lily, she had moored at Swan Lane for a time and it was great to have a chat, and we again managed to nab the last mooring just before the stop lock and pub. As with a couple of days earlier, boats just kept coming and coming, one after another in both directions. And of course we had to visit the pub. The Greyhound

https://www.thegreyhoundsuttonstop.co.uk/

The Greyhound

50 miles, 24 locks, 1 tunnel (250yrds) and 1 movable bridge.

WILDLIFE AND NARROW WATERS

 

The Black Swan

Before I start writing about our journey over the last week, I just wanted to fill you in on some of the wonderful wildlife we have seen whilst on the Thames. The biggest shock, and surprise, was a large seal that joined us in one of the locks. I was in position at the front of the boat holding onto the bowline, when I thought I saw one of those foil balloons pop up in the water, then it popped down again, balloons don’t do that I thought to myself, so what was it? then a head appeared at the side of the boat, a big doey eyed black seal, swimming leisurely up and down the lock between the boats. It was an amazing sight.

The sea in the lock

Then shortly after we spotted one of the prettiest birds I had ever seen, a black swan with a bright red beak. These beautiful birds are native to Australia, but have been introduced into the UK because of their unusual plumage, a bit like mandarin and wood ducks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan

We have also seen, Little Egrets, sleek terns performing aerobatics above the boat, Great Crest Grebes, Cormorants, Herons and more Mandarin Ducks and Egyptian Geese. The usual run of Swans, Mallards, Canada and Greylag Geese, with their ducklings, goslings and signets. We hear but don’t see, Chiffchaffs, Wrens, Blackbirds, Robins and Black Caps. But it definitely has been the year of the Red Kite, and I don’t think a day has passed without seeing these magnificent birds over and over again, and we have seen a couple of buzzards too.

Right onto our journey. We spent a very quiet day in Abingdon and didn’t even venture out to the pub, the weather wasn’t great. It was better weather the next day and so we made our way to Oxford, saying goodbye to the wide river, and rejoined a very narrow canal at Isis lock. I felt that if I spread my arms out I could touch both sides of the canal as we went along. A narrow canal means narrow locks, and these you do yourself with your trusty windlass. I had gotten used to the friendly lock keepers who do everything for you, or just the push of a couple of buttons to operate the locks. It was now back to winding and pushing.

Sign in a Thames Lock

The moorings in Oxford were surprisingly quiet, and we moored up opposite the boatyard quite easily. We nipped for a pint or two. Firstly the Old Bookbinders Ale House, but no darks on in here, then onto the Harcourt Arms, a nice bottle of London Porter for the Captain, then the Rickety Press, a bit of a students bar but a nice pint.

We had to go into Oxford next day to pick up the Captains prescription from Boots, and decided to have a few pints and then tea at Cosmos. After visiting Boots we called in at the Royal Blenheim, a Titanic brewery tap house, so plenty of choice in here, then onto the Grapes, another great real ale pub. Tea was very tasty.

https://www.titanicbrewery.co.uk/pubs-and-bods/pubs/the-royal-blenheim

https://www.thegrapesoxford.co.uk/

Sweet Treats at Cosmos

We had intended on getting a pump out at the boatyard before leaving next morning, but it was the turn round day for their hire fleet, and it would have been late afternoon before they could have fitted us in, so we decided to head to Thrupp and use the pump out machine at the boat club there.

We are back in the realm of lift bridges and locks and we reached Thrupp after 3 lift bridges and 4 locks. We were very lucky and got moorings right outside the Boat Inn, and were soon joined by NB Nellie Jean who we had met a couple of times on the Thames. We had a chat with its Captain and Crew before heading to the pub.

https://theboatinnthrupp.co.uk/

The boat club services were busy next morning and we had to wait our turn, but soon we had it all, an empty toilet tank, a full water tank and rubbish binned, perfect. We headed off to finding moorings in the MONW for the night.

Sunday, and every man and his dog seemed to be out on the water. We met day boats, hire boats and private boats enjoying the good weather. We were following NB Even Balance, and at each lock I went up to help out and enjoyed chatting to its crew, who I think was called Julia. Another night in the MONW.

Don't ask me how !!!

The Captain had thought to take 2 days to get to our next stop at Banbury, but the rain that was forecast changed his mind, we had an early start and managed to get there just after lunch. We met up with Even Balance again, but they stopped at Kings Sutton, so we had to part ways.

We have been lucky so far with finding decent moorings, and this continued when we got to Banbury and we moored outside the GF social club and Banbury Museum, which is very handy for Lidl (3 mins walk) and the town centre. It is a very busy spot, and very narrow as boats are moored on both side of the canal, and there is always someone on the move.

I had wanted to get to Banbury by Monday so I could go to a Slimming World meeting to get weighed. There were a couple to chose from, but before that I really bit the bullet and went and got my hair cut, first time in at least 2yrs. I tried to explain to the very nice Turkish lady that I only wanted a little off the length, but she told me in no uncertain terms I needed more, so I let her get on with it and was happy with the result. Although I do feel like she scalped me, as I am used to having very long hair. It will grow back. I was also very happy when I got weighed as I had stayed the same, a miracle given the amount of beer I have drunk over the past 6 weeks.

On my return from SW we took a walk to the local Wetherspoons, The Exchange, the app was showing it had Broadside on, a favourite of the Captains, but when we got there the clip said Old Peculiar, not a problem, its another of the Captains favourites. However a rather confused barman tried to tell use that although the tag said coming soon, it actually meant they didn’t have any, so he had a Singha lager instead. Only 5 minutes later we spotted the barman was pulling a perfect pint of Old Peculiar! It wasn’t that they didn’t have any, it just wasn’t quite ready when we asked. So the Captain grumbled but eventually got his preferred pint.

The rain came the next day and we stayed put, only walking out in the afternoon to shop at Lidl, and then have a pint in the Social Tap in the food court in Lock 29. A very good pint of Dead Wax, a London porter from Orbit brewery, and at £4 a pint a bargain.

https://www.tapsocialmovement.com/pages/lock29?srsltid=AfmBOoon8syqbLAZpN_OczjFB7K5D07CMc7i4EhRUgkM0zMIfLgKflNb

We are slowly getting back home and ready for our adventure on the big ship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marella_Explorer_2

Marella Explorer 2

37 miles, 22 locks 9 Lift bridges 1 canal, the South Oxford 2 rivers, the Thames and the Cherwell