Slow progress
October 10th--21stMonday, 10th October
We had a rare treat today. My brother John came to see us, along with his wife Margaret and friends Margaret & Farook. John and Margaret live in Spain, but were over here for ten days staying with their friends Margaret and Farook in Manchester. M & F brought M & J to see us, and they also fetched my aunt from Daventry, and so we repaired to the Admiral Nelson yet again, for lunch. Whilst we were in there a man came over to us, and I thought how much he looked like our friend Pete, from Canada, who had visited us last week on the boat with his wife. When he said Hello, I realised it WAS Pete. He'd brought his mum out for lunch as it was his birthday--yes, HIS birthday! His mum is Alice, the lady who came on our boat for a ride last year. She is now ninety-six, and has just come back from three months in France!
Tuesday, 11th October
After shopping in Braunston village, we set off for the Ashby Canal. We called in at Midland Chandlers for anti-freeze and then were on our way. I came over all domesticated and made a chicken casserole as we went along, though not without incident....... I dropped the frying pan on the floor, spilling olive oil everywhere. This dented the frying pan, and so I tried to restore it to its original shape, but then the glass lid wouldn't fit. So I put the lid on, to try to get the right shape and hit the lid with the hammer. Fortunately it only took a sliver of glass off the rim, and the lid is still OK. If I apply a bit of pressure, it sort of fits now! But the chicken casserole was excellent.
It was a glorious autumn day, the sun was high in a blue sky and it was warm enough to travel in shirt sleeves. It's getting dark now at about 6.45. The evenings are long and we find diversions to pass the time.
Wednesday, 12th October
I think I've told you already about the fact that today is "Mop Day" in Warwick.
Mop Day
It's funny how I still think about it, even when it's about thirty years since I went. But we have other things to do today. We were just getting ready to leave when friends Claire and Peter came round the corner on "Alexandra Jayne". They'd been moored about one hundred yards from us overnight. What a pity we didn't know the evening before and then we could have spent the evening together. However, we had about an hour together before they moved on towards their home mooring and we set off for Rugby.
We moored up at Bridge 58 and filled up with water and restocked the pantry at Tesco. Then on again to Yates's boatyard for fuel, where, traditionally, it has always been the cheapest for miles around. But sadly, the increase in fuel prices has reached here too, and we paid 51.4p per litre, the most we've ever paid. We also bought a new gas bottle and some coal. The man at Yates's was talking about a new EU proposal concerning blacking boat bottoms. The proposal is that when a boat goes in to dry dock to be reblacked, all of the paint which is scraped off must be collected up and disposed of in an environmentally friendly way, it can't just go in to the water. I wonder who it is who sits there dreaming these ideas up.
Then on again, all the way to Marsworth Junction where we turned right on to the Ashby. We went a short distance along and moored up for the night at Bridge 2. We just got everything sorted out and the covers on before the rain started.
Thursday, 13th October
We continued along the Ashby and moored up at Bridge 16. It's not a very nice mooring, there is litter strewn around, as though it's a local meeting place, and a motorbike came by on the towpath, quite illegal. However, I need to be here as I am meeting a friend tomorrow and we're going out for the day.
Friday, 14th October
My friend Margaret, from the narrowboat "Hepburn", picked me up at 10.00 and we set off for Leicester. The reason for this trip is that there is a great fabric warehouse there, which sells materials at greatly reduced prices, for patchwork and quilting. We navigated our way round the ring road and through filters and traffic lights and slip roads and eventually arrived. We had a great day, choosing fabrics, even though we had to fight through a coachload of quilters who'd come all the way from Mablethorpe!
When we got back to where we'd left Liberty Belle, she wasn't there! However, there was no cause for panic, as Trev had said he would probably move it to Trinity Marina, for the next two nights, if there was a space. There was and he had. We were moored outside the marina, on the marina moorings, and it was slightly better than where we had been.
Saturday, 15th October
There was a lot of noise during the night last night. First we had the shouting and screaming of the young people coming over the bridge nearby on their way home. That died down around midnight, and we went to sleep. Then, at about three o'clock, the people on the hire boat moored behind us came back from heaven knows where, and partied on the bank outside our bedroom until 4.00. Heigh ho.
Sunday, 16th October
Another glorious day, we're having a wonderful Indian Summer. We travelled along The Ashby, savouring the peace and quiet and the lovely views. About 2.30, we got a 'phone call from friends in Kenilworth, wanting to know where we were, and could they come and see us. We arranged to meet at the Battle of Bosworth battlefield mooring, and they were there almost as soon as us. They came on board and we spent a pleasant couple of hours together. Trudi & Ken run a guest house in Kenilworth, and we were colleagues until we sold our guest house in 2002. In the evening we went for a meal at the Dog & Hedgehog at Dadlington. This pub is right out in the sticks, and it was an amazing coincidence that when we got inside, Trudi realised she'd been there last year with a friend. The food was good and we enjoyed seeing our friends again.
Monday, 17th October
We moved on again, as far as Market Bosworth, where we had difficulty mooring as the space wasn't quite long enough, and the boats already moored there had left quite large spaces between. However, everyone kindly moved up for us and we squashed in. We walked in to Market Bosworth, which is about a mile from the canal, and shopped. We also used the internet at the library. The librarian there, Jane, deserves a special mention, she was so pleasant. Nothing was too much trouble and she had such a positive attitude.
We went back to the boat and moved on, mooring eventually by Bridge 45, right out in the country, in near silence. We take all of this for granted now, and maybe an experience such as that which happened last Saturday night gives us a much needed reminder of how lucky we are.
Tuesday, 18th October
We set off for the end of the Ashby Canal today. It was very peaceful all the way along. We met a few other boats, and a BW dredger, removing silt from the canal and using it to remake the towpath. As we travelled, I made soup, hoovered, cleaned, and generally tidied up. We went through Snarestone Tunnel to the very end of the canal, filled up with water and turned round. Then we came back through the tunnel and moored up. Tomorrow I am off for the girls' reunion! Four of us are to meet up in York. The last time we were all together was 1960........
Wednesday, 19th, Thursday, 20th October.
My friend Catharine, the post mistress!, came to pick me up and we set off for York. It's about a hundred and ten miles, and we took about two and a half hours to get there. We will meet our other two friends at the hotel in York. Lesley, lives in Canada, and is over here visiting relations. She arrived by bus from Withernsea, right out on the east coast, beyond Hull, and Hazel lives near Pontefract and drove up.
I think we were all probably wondering how we would get on, but we really had the greatest of times, and enjoyed it all so much. We started off in Betty's (a delightfully old fashioned cafe) where we had eggs Benedict and champagne! Then we visited the Minster. In the evening we ate in the hotel restaurant. On Thursday, we walked the city walls and shopped and said a very reluctant good bye. But at least we have all found each other again. And there is a rumour that we'll all go on a walking holiday together next year, though this time we shall take our menfolk! They'll be very useful for carrying things............
