Banbury to Cropredy.

We spent a lovely weekend in Banbury, but today was the day we had to leave and head back from whence we came.

Before we could head back we needed to wind, so we I walked ahead and set the lift bridge and then the lock.

As you can see from the photograph it was a beautiful morning.

Just outside of Banbury are the Tramway Moorings, which are for permit holders only. Just after those moorings is the winding hole. Having winded we then headed back into Banbury.

Back up through the lock and under the lift bridge, before waving goodbye to Banbury.

Sovereign Wharf is closed as far as the services are concerned at the moment. The notice does not say why, so if you need diesel or gas you cannot buy it there.

We also waved goodbye to Grimsbury Arm as well.

It was up the locks and back into Cropredy where we moored up below the shop for lunch. We had no radio signal and no signal for the laptop, so we decided we would move after I had cooked lunch.

With lunch done, we then moved above the lock, which is where we will be for the rest of the day. It was lovely to see Mike and Marion on Narrowboat Duxllandyn. They had been in the Saltisford Arm and I got nattering to Marion whilst doing the washing.

Banbury being enjoyed.

Our Banbury mooring has been such a quiet one. Even at night it is like the grave. Friday night I got a bit of a fright. I went to bed and could hear what I thought was a fire somewhere outside. I poked my head out of the back cabin doors and saw flames coming from the park by the stern of the boat. I wondered what the heck was going on, so put my slippers on and went and investigated. Due to it being the 7oth anniversary of VE day, the Banbury Council had lit the beacon and that was where the flames were coming from. Phew panic over with.

Saturday morning came and I was awake at stupid o’clock as was Keith, so I made us a cuppa and we sat and listened to the radio. It was of course full of the General Election. After the usual boat stuff and animal stuff in the mornings, we walked into the town and had lunch at our favourite Chinese Buffet for the second day running.

Ruby the owner immediately recognised us and we enjoyed a really good chat with her. Top Wok is an excellent Chinese Buffet, so if your in Banbury go and pay it and Ruby a visit. We paid Tooley’s Boat Yard a visit, to see if we could get a couple of bolts and nuts, but they did not have what we wanted and it looked as though they are running the shop down, because they had very little there. After another look around the town it was back to the boat for a well earned rest, before I took Paddy out to play ball in the park. The poor boy really struggle these days to play for any length of time and before long he was walking drunk back to the boat, so we cut short play time.

Sunday and once again awake way to early. There was a chill in the air when I took Paddy for his morning walk and the cloud hardly broke all day.

Keith and I paid a visit to our friend Bruce who moors at Grimsbury Wharf outside of Banbury. He showed us their railway and buildings.

It was fantastic to see him and to see him looking so well. Having left Bruce we walked into the town because we needed a cartridge for the printer. it was then time to get back to the boat and i got on with cooking some lunch.

After lunch, I took Paddy out for his afternoon stroll and then went out with my camera.

Banbury Cross.

There are some lovely buildings in Banbury and with it being a Sunday and very quiet, I got the chance to actually stroll around and take a few pictures. Castle Quay was busy with people though and so I had to run the gauntlet of kids and people who seem to like walking through you.

Tomorrow we will be winding and heading back from where we have come from.

Cropredy to Banbury.

It was another early morning wake up and this time I woke up all on my own. Absolutely no idea why but it must be a menopausal thing.

We let go at 8.00 am and our first port of call was the Sanitary Station, where we filled up with water, empty the rubbish and both the toilet cassettes.

We were very fortunate that at the locks we met boats coming up, so the locks were left ready for us.

it is sad to see Bourton Lock cottage is still not finished. We met the couple who were doing it up in 2009 and they seemed in full flow as to what was going to happen to the cottage. But it looks like nothing much has happened since.

A nice smooth cruise into Banbury, which was extremely quiet boat wise, which was somewhat of a surprise.

Having tied up at 10.45 am, we shut the boat up and strolled into the town to see what changes had taken place. We were actually hoping the Top Wok Chinese Buffet was still there and phew it was. So that was where we had a scrummy lunch. We had a lovely chat with the lady running it as we ate a very good lunch. With being pleasantly full, we had a walk around the town and of course did the charity shops, where we found Keith a couple of tank tops and I got some more DVD’s for 70p each in the Katherine House Hospice Charity Shop. Banbury is a fabulous town, but like with many towns and cities it has empty shops and is suffering.

We are going to stay here for the weekend, so we can enjoy Banbury a bit more.

Tied up in Cropredy.

Hello readers.

Finally after a couple of days of strong winds and rain, this morning we woke up to sunshine and not a breath of wind. I guess it was all blown out. I did not wake up leisurely though at  decent hour. I was woken up by the alarm call of a couple of Crows alongside the boat. Marmite was on her bed in the engine room, flashing her tail with such fury, that I think not only had she seen them, the Crows had seen her and that was why they were creating such a noise. All this happened at 6.15 am, so no lie in for me today. Wide awake I made us a cuppa and we sat in bed listening to the radio for an hour.

Up and about, the boat chores got done and the animals were sorted out. We prepared the boat for the off, leaving our mooring at 8.20 am. We were behind another boat as we approached the top lock at Claydon.

I stepped off the boat and went and helped with working the lock, so that the woman could move on to the next lock. We followed them down the locks and they decided to moor up after the bottom lock at Claydon, leaving us on our own for the rest of the locks down to Cropredy. We were fortunate, because boats were coming up the locks and so we just cruised straight in. A new sight for us heading to Cropredy was the new marina. This we knew about but it was out first sighting of it. We arrived at Cropredy at 10.30 am and tied up on the 24 hour moorings.

Having locked the boat up we strolled into the village to see what changes had been made since our last visit in 2009. The Bridge Stores is still there and there is also a small shop selling antiques and collectables behind the shop, this is well worth a look.

The 14th C church is an absolutely beauty.

Both the pubs are still going strong The Red Lion and The Brasenose. One new addition is the Wild Damson Cafe with its bright Green walls. With today being polling day the Village Hall has been called in to action for people to place their votes for who ever they want to be the new government. Cropredy is a lovely village and very picturesque.

On returning to the boat, it began to pour with rain and I looked like a drowned rat by the time I climbed down into the back cabin. Lunch was cooked and eaten and then it was time to take Paddy for his walk. I noticed the boat behind us from Facebook and so me being me, I just had to knock on the boat and say “Hello” to Ronni and Yogi on NB Witchcraft. It is always wonderful to put faces to names. Unfortunately the rain came down and our chat was cut short, but hopefully we will get to chat again sometime in the future.

Time to batten down the hatches.

Despite the forecast of heavy wind and rain over night, I did not hear a thing. The first I knew of the morning was the other half waking me from my slumber as he climbed out of bed to do his ablutions.

I looked at the clock bleary eyed to see it was 6.30 am. There was nothing else for it, but to get up and make us the first cuppa of the day. I clambered out of bed and marmite greeted me with s meow from her engine room bed and Paddy stirred in his bed as I put the kettle on. Paddy never actually gets out of his bed until we are up and dressed, he just lays in bed looking at me, as if saying “Why are you up so early”.

I switched the radio on and the weather forecast was not encouraging, so with cups of tea in hand I went back to bed and we discussed staying put for the day. 7.30 am it was time to leave the comfort of our bed. I put the bed away, but piling it into the bed ‘ole and closing the door. Non of this making it up every day for us.

Breakfast was cereal, before taking Paddy for his morning walk along a very windy towpath. Paddy does not enjoy getting wet or blown around, so he did what was needed and did an about turn and headed back to the security and comfort of the boat. He was also eager to have his breakfast. Paddy always sits and waits patiently for his food, whereas Marmite is very vocal when it is feeding time. In fact she only shuts up once the food is in her dish.

Because the weather has been so indifferent, we still have a fire going and so to make the most of it, I cook meatballs in a tomato sauce on top of the stove and let it simmer away. The smell wafting through the boat was sublime. Whilst lunch was cooking, I decided to pull out a book I have not read for some years “Idle Women” by Susan Woolfitt. I thought I would bury myself in a book for a while, so that I did not have to listen to the rain beating down on the cabins roof.

Lead coloured sky had announced that the rain was being carried towards us on the strong blustery winds, which is what is causing the white horses on the surface of the cut. Ducks could have gone surfing on the waves we have had today. The decision to not let go today was a wise one it seems.

Having had lunch, read more of my book, it was then time to do some cleaning, so I gave the back cabin Copper kettle some attention and the Aluminium floor beneath back cabin stove got a polish as well. I do so love it when the cabin looks tidy and clean. I had the back cabin doors open to the elements. The wind was competing with the bird song. Swallows were doing their utmost to fly against the wind, they were at times losing the battle. Feeding must have been so difficult this past couple of days for the birds.

It is now almost 6 pm and the weather has not really let up all day. I am going to settle in for the evening with a DVD and hope as the forecast suggests, that the wind is going to die down over night.

Blowing up a storm.

Hecky Thump, it is windy out now.

We decided to leave our lovely weekend mooring and head off towards Claydon Locks. Now when we left the mooring it was overcast and breezy, that soon changed into blowing a hooley and chucking it down with rain. The plus side of moving in this sort of weather is no one else is moving, so we only saw one boat and that was a Canal and Rover Trust work boat and we met that at a bridge ’ole. Bows touched but nothing to bother about.

The highlight of the journey was a rainbow in the dark skies.

We had our first lift bridge of this cruise and it was open .

With the thought there may not be any mooring spaces above Claydon Locks we decided to moor up on a mooring at Glebe Farm, which is just north of the locks. The wind actually helped with the mooring up, blowing us into the piling and it will definitely keep us pinned against it as it is really blowing up a storm outside.

Lunch is cooking and we will see what tomorrow brings.

Bank Holiday Madness.

We arrived at our mooring place on Friday and discovered during our journey that the starter alternator fan belt had broken, we replaced it on Saturday morning, without too much fuss apart from the sheared alternator bolt, but had a spare handy fortunately. Not a difficult job except there are 4 fan belts in all, and this one was the rearmost of the 4, so the other 3 had to be removed first to be able to get the new one fitted, so both the domestic alternator and the engine water pump had to be slackened to remove the 3 belts, a pain but such is life. Keith obviously his strength back to be able to shear a bolt!

Whilst doing this task. I Wonder about the mentality of people who allow their dogs to roam the towpath, next to fields full of nursing Ewes and their Lambs. We were doing a repair on the starter battery alternator fan belt, when two heads appeared into the engine room. There was no sign of a boater or walker, so I got off the boat to see if I could see anyone. Across on the opposite bank was a farmer and his son feeding their Ewes and Lambs. I asked if they were his dogs and he said "No", I thought they maybe yours. Having explained that they just appeared from no where, the farmer was not at all impressed. I told him I was worried about his Ewes and Lambs with the dogs running loose. I come from a farming family and have seen first hand what dogs can do to livestock. We arranged that he would come over and get them. He had no idea whose dogs they were. The farmer duly arrived across the bridge and into the field by the towpath, where I handed him the two terriers. Whilst the dogs were friendly enough they both had dirty coats and looked unkempt. The farmer was very thankful that I had collared them both and kept them for him, he went on to tell me about the 120 sheep/lambs that were killed last year in two cases. The first was a pack of 4 chocolate labs and the second was 2 black labs. This happened to a farmer not far from him, which is completely horrifying. If a farmers stock is killed like this, the farmer has to foot the bill for destroying the stock and he therefore is left totally out of pocket. The insurance will not cover him for this kind of lose.
About half an hour after he had taken the dogs, he rang me to let me know he had found the owner of the dogs. The owner was off a boat. Please, Please if you see anyone's dogs running free near livestock, please ask the owners to secure their dogs. No farmer should have to lose his livestock because of irresponsible dog owners. It really made me quite mad. I then found out these two dogs had been on another boaters boat in the early hours, they got the shock of their lives to see the dogs sitting on their deck, but could not catch them. Another boater who then came past, said he had seen them running along the towpath. So they had been out for hours and yet the owner clearly did nothing about it grrrrrrrrrrr.

Sunday and another boat job to be tackled after breakfast and the other boat chores. This one was fun and games , this was not to be a restful Sunday.
Keith started the generator and after a few minutes it stopped. Had this in the past which then was a blocked fuel filter. New fuel filters fitted, but lift pump wouldn't pump fuel up so out comes the manual pump, still no fuel coming through both filters, so refitted manual pump above remote filter, still no joy. Filter off again and re-seated, worked this time. Decided that whilst he was in the vicinity he would bypass the small filter mounted on the engine as it is not needed (something he had discussed with BSS as the plastic bowl doesn't meet their safety standards). It also cuts down having to buy 2 types of filter when only 1 is necessary. Restarted generator and everything is hunky dory until it stops again! Changed the oil filter just in case it was blocked, but no joy, only left the cooling water. Undid the pressure cap on the top tank and topped up with water. All working fine again now grin emoticon. I did wonder of it was the water at the time. So that was Sunday done and dusted.

It is now Monday and we have already greased the nipples on the prop-shaft etc. Wonder what other delights are coming our way??

Moored on the Napton Summit.

We had a lovely cruise up the Napton Flight, with Kevin the Volunteer lockie setting all the locks for us. He was lovely. We are now Moored at Bridge No.126 on the Southern Oxford canal, on the summit level midway between Wormleighton and Priors Hardwick. We plan to spend the Bank Holiday weekend here.

Short posting, as I have almost run out of battery life.