September 10th--13th

Thursday, 10th September
So, here we are again--off on our travels. It's good to be moving at last. We've had a busy two and a half weeks in Warwick. Our main reason for going was to visit the flat we own there. It's been let out to a tenant, but she has moved out and it needed redecorating. We naively though it would all be done in a week.........Ha ha! There were so many little things we needed to do, all of which took time. Not owning a car didn't help and Trev has worn a groove on the pavement walking backwards and forwards to Focus Do-it-All. He used his big rucksack and fetched several five litre tins of paint, polyclens, brushes, paint rollers, curtain fittings, screws, plugs and heaven knows what else.

It was disappointing to say the least to find things in the flat which had been broken and then balanced back in position so that they looked OK. This was done, of course, so that the tenant could get her deposit back, but it has caused us a lot of problems, as we only found the damage out over the two weeks we were in there. We need to buy a new washing machine knob; the other one fell off as soon as I touched it when I wanted to wash some curtains. We also have to buy a new ice box cover--the other one fell off when I went to put some frozen stuff in the fridge. These are on order, but hadn't arrived by the time we left, so it means a trip back to Warwick to pick them up from the Canal Centre and then fixing them. The toilet roll holder fell off the wall as soon as I tried to put a new roll on it, ditto the towel rail. When we turned the mattress it was stained and we had to buy another one. Of course, by the time we found all of this out, the tenant had had her deposit back. It would have been so much nicer if she had declared the damages. We would still have given her the deposit back, she'd been there three years, and it was mostly fair wear and tear. Trev has told me to calm down!

Whinge over. No pain, no gain. Suffice it to say that we were thrilled yesterday to close the door on the flat and hand the keys to the agent to try to relet it. One thing I must mention is the fantastic service we had from Godiva carpets whilst we were in Warwick. We needed to replace the bathroom carpet at the flat, as the tenant had spilt hair dye on it. So Trev walked to Godiva Carpets, in Wharf Street, quite a distance, and ordered some new Vinolay. It came within forty-eight hours and he walked down to fetch it, thinking he would be able to carry it. However, it was very heavy, and he stood there wondering what to do. He thought maybe he could carry it in stages, with rests on the way........Sue, the Godiva Carpets person, asked him how he was going to get it back to the flat. "Well, I had been planning on carrying it, but it's a lot heavier than I expected, " Trev said. "I wish I could help you," Sue said, "but I'm on my own today and can't leave the shop." "Never mind," Trev said, "I'll manage it somehow." "Just a minute," Sue said. "Here's the keys, take my car!" Absoutely fantastic--what a very kind thing to do. Thank you very much, Sue.

An Unashamed Plug for Godiva Carpets!

We've eaten for England whilst we've been in Warwick, catching up with old friends. It's been lovely to see them all again. I must be careful when I say "old friends". I once offended a good friend when I introduced her to someone as "one of my oldest friends". (She is about ten years older than me.) " Never introduce me to someone as one of your old friends," she said. "I am not old!" Oh dear. So, the friends we were meeting up with were old in respect of length of friendship, not age! I also went to my old church, The Unitarian Chapel, and was delighted to see how the congregation is expanding with the new minister.

Read about my chapel here

Whilst we were in Warwick, I went to London for the day with Cherry and two other friends, Pat and Carol. We went to see the Waterhouse Exhibition at the Royal Academy, and had a great time. I rarely get out with a "group of girls" and we had some fun. I particularly enjoyed the way they don't mess about with the underground. Oh no, taxis everywhere! I liked it! When Trev and I are in London, we always use the underground or else walk, walk, walk, till my feet ache, but this trip was most civilised, with plenty of coffee stops too! I really wanted to see the picture "The Lady of Shallot" and I wasn't disappointed, it was beautiful. Well, I guess to a serious art buff, Waterhouse is a bit chocolate boxey, but it suited me perfectly! Cherry and I finished at the exhibition before Pat and Carol, so we popped over the road for a browse in Fortnum and Mason's. I don't think I've ever been in there before--who on earth shops there? The prices are absolutely amazing. We saw a box of six crackers for £500! Yes, that's what the label said. When the others had finished in the Academy, we walked through Burlington Arcade, where Pat almost bought a pair of shoes, and then found a family run Italian restaurant where we had a superb meal. Then we took a taxi back to Marylebone and got home around 9.00. Thank you girls, it was a real treat!

Read about the Waterhouse Exhibition here

When we left Warwick we had two friends with us, Cherry and her neighbour Pat. They wanted to see the route the canal took through Warwick and Leamington, having lived here for many years, but never having been on the canal. We had glorious weather and they really enjoyed the cruise. We moored up at Radford Semele, and walked to the White Lion for lunch, then they took a taxi home. We stayed on the same mooring spot, as this evening we met friends for a meal at the The Stag's Head in the Offchurch. That was our last "engagement". Tomorrow we're free to get on with our Autumn Cruise up to Llangollen.

Friday, 11th September
We were up really early (for me) this morning and set off at 7.40. Almost immediately we were at the Radford Lock, and then we went on through glorious countryside, under the Fosse Way and through the Bascote staircase locks. A hire boat was negotiating the staircase, the water was overflowing the bottom lock, yet the top lock wasn't emptying. At last they realised what the problem was--the top lock paddles had been left open by a previous boat and the water was just running straight through the toplock and over the top of the bottom lock. I paddled through about six inches of water to let the water out of the bottom lock, whilst the hirers closed the top paddles. The problem was soon rectified and they came on down, then we went up with a hire boat with some very nice Begian people on board.

The Blue Lias was busy as we passed.















We stopped for lunch near Long Itchington, and then went on through the Stockton Locks, where we were really lucky, as we had them all set in our favour.

After that it was a pleasant cruise to Calcutt Locks and then onto the junction at Wigram's Turn of the Grand Union and Oxford Canals. They join together as one canal for about five miles, from Wigram's to Braunston. The weather today has been fantastic, a real Indian Summer. We continued on until we found a lovely mooring near Bridge 103. It was out in the country, and although there were other boats nearby, it was quiet and peaceful. The only disappointing thing was when a hire boat came into moor and gave us a good bump, but no apology.............

Saturday, 12th and Sunday, 13th September
Trev was up with the lark this morning, and by the time I surfaced he had picked a bowl of blackberries! He'd also had a chat with Iain from the working boat "Gosty Hill" and arranged for us to fill up with fuel and buy some coal from him as we passed by. So, after breakfast, we moved along a little way and tied up to Iain and Alison's boat to take on diesel.

The we carried on along the Grand Union to Braunston. There were lots of boats about and very few of them, private or hire boats, passed moored boats slowly, certainly nowhere near as slowly as we do. The weather was glorious and everywhere looked so pretty. The fields had been cut and we saw old fashioned bales of hay/straw (not the rolls) in one field. There are loads of blackberries, it seems to be a good year for them. We passed a little cruiser we had last seen on the Grand Union near Uxbridge, called "May Contain Nuts" which amused us.

Click here to see a video of the trip into Braunston

Then we arrived in Braunston and moored up opposite the Mill House pub. It was not from choice--it's quite a noisy place, especially on a Saturday night, as they have loudpseakers outside playing music--just to make sure we all get the full benefit! However, it wasn't too bad today. I walked into the village to fetch our post and do some shopping. It was a glorious day again, and the village looked idyllic.

Now we have to wait until Friday, as we need a job doing on the boat. So on Sunday we stayed put. We walked up to the Admiral Nelson--my word, has that pub changed. It used to be a delightful place, always busy, loads of people inside and out, especially on a lovely day like today. But there was only a handful of people there, the bar skittles table had been moved into the restaurant, and there was no atmosphere at all. The previous owners gave up when the brewery put the rent up by 50% and apparently there has been a succession of owners since. It certainly needs someone to love it again, as Diane and Bruce used to.

We walked back down the locks and went in to see Carol and Fred at the Boat Shop. Their shop was looking as smart and welcoming as ever, and we had a lovely reception from them. It was good to see them again. It must be about two years since we last saw them. Then we walked back to the boat and had dinner. There was no noise at all from the pub tonight.

Autumn Cruise Log

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