THE BIG SUMMER CRUISE--October 6--8th


Monday, 6th October
Up and off today to do the Atherstone Flight of locks, eleven in all.
Just as we were about to set off, "Jessop" came by,
a boat belonging to friends of friends.
We just had time to wave before they disappeared.



AN AUTUMNAL SCENE NEAR ATHERSTONE

The Atherstone Flight is very pretty, and it was a pleasure to do it
after the Birmingham and Wolverhampton flights.
I used the bike to travel from lock to lock.
Most of them were set against us, so it took a few hours to complete.
At the top lock, No. 1, there is a lock keeper's cottage
and he has made the whole area very attractive.
We were particularly amused by the figure of a BW worker
apparently falling in to the side channel.
All we could see were his boots and leggings, upside down!
A closer inspection reveals that it's only a dummy.

We carried on, intending to make for Hartshill, but came across Jessop moored up,
and stopped to talk to the owners, Joy and David.
They came on board and we spent a pleasant couple of hours
swopping summer adventures, and drinking wine.
The weather closed in and we decided to stay the night.

Tuesday, 7th October
It was pouring with rain when we woke up this morning.
We wondered if we would move at all, but eventually it began to ease up,
and we set off, waving goodbye to Jessop, well, to Jessop's owners.
We were keen to get back to our mooring, as Trev has a day's supply teaching on Friday.
We were also aware that the car has a flat battery
and so needed to ensure that it would get Trev to work.
As we travelled, the weather gradually improved.
We passed Marston Junction, where we had turned in May to do the Ashby canal,
and Hawkesbury Junction, where the Coventry Canal meets the Oxford Canal.
We turned on to the Oxford, on and on. We did a lot of miles today, but no locks.
Well, just one, a titchy lock at Hawkesbury,
where the water level difference is less than a foot.
It's called a Stop Lock, and there are quite a few of these on the canal system.
In the 'old days' when canals were built and owned by private companies,
each company jealously guarded its own water supply.
So, when two canals met, and there was a slight difference in the levels,
a stop lock was installed, so neither company could poach the other's water.

We were hoping to get through Rugby, and moor at the bottom of the Hillmorton Flight,
but we got in to a convoy of boats,
the first one of which was travelling slower than a tortoise,
so we gave up and moored up for the night.

Wednesday, 8th October
A very special day--the last one of our summer cruise.
Tonight we shall be back on our mooring in Braunston.
We filled up with fuel at Yates, one of the cheaper diesel suppliers on the cut.
We also bought coal.
We went on through the three Hillmorton locks, and on along the home stretch. Braunston church stands on a hill, and can be seen for miles, and we were looking out for that.
Round the corner, and there it was.
We passed the usual boats which were moored all along the canal, and we turned in to the Marina.



TURNING INTO BRAUNSTON MARINA

We went in for a pump out, dumped the rubbish, checked for post
and then went to our mooring.



LATE AFTERNOON & OUR MOORING SLOT AWAITS US!

We're home, and I'm glad.
I'd sent an email to the marina to say that we would be back in a few days,
in case they'd been using our mooring whilst we were away.
It was a little disappointing not to have had a reply
to the effect that they would be looking forward to seeing us again.
After all, we'd paid them an arm and a leg for a year's mooring,
and it would have been nice to have had a response.
In fact, there was no warm reception from anyone. A bit of a damp squib!
I suppose it meant more to us that we got back safely than it did to anyone else.

However, we were not downhearted!
It takes more than that to put a pair of stalwarts down such as us!
For we'd been "to the Lakes and the Torrible Zone, and the Hills of the Chankly Bore"!
(Ack. E. Lear--I think)

In the evening we went to our local--The Admiral Nelson.
The welcome there was the exact opposite.
They wanted to know how we had got on, where we'd been, if we'd enjoyed it,
and they were delighted to see us back!

REFLECTIONS
We've had a wonderful, wonderful summer.
I would rank it as one of our best.
The weather, of course, helped to make it memorable, plus the super people we met,
the fantastic scenery, and the whole new experience.
When fellow boaters learned that we were living aboard,
one of the first questions was always--have you been boating before?
Now we can really say we are experienced boaters.
Trev is a brilliant steerer, and gets compliments about his nifty manoeuvres!

We did six hundred and fifty-five miles and four hundred and twenty-one locks!
My arms certainly feel like they've done four hundred and twenty-one locks......

I would do it all over again next year.
I had my bad moments,
occasionally wondering whatever we were doing living in a 70' steel tube.
But, on reflection, it's been like no other experience I've ever had,
and I now look back through a rosy glow!

But Trev has his eye set on London in 2004.
He wants to do the tidal Thames, and take Liberty Belle past the
Houses of Parliament and under Tower Bridge.
I've told him I'll take a taxi and meet him at the other end.

There won't be any more weekly updates this year, since life will be
somewhat less adventurous through the winter.
We shall do shorter cruises, depending on the weather, and our commitments.
Also, BW has a programme of stoppages from November to March,
when they do major works on the canal,
and close sections of it down for a week or a month or more.

If anything special does happen, I'll post it here,
so do come and look from time to time.

A great big Thank You to all our friends who've supported us this summer in so many ways.
I'm loathe to single anyone out, as there has been so much good will
from so many people in so many ways.
So, just a big thank you to you all.

Another thing of which I was unaware until only this week.......
As we were coming through Atherstone locks,
some people who were walking on the towpath saw the name on the side of our boat
and asked if we had a website.
Trev said yes, and they said they'd followed our adventures on it!
They said how much they'd enjoyed it.
I was thrilled to know that they had found it, and I suppose
there may be other people reading this website of whom I have no knowledge.
So we may well be reaching a far wider audience than I had ever imagined.
To everyone who has read our website,
thank you and come back next year!

And, since we've been back, I've had emails from all over the world
from people to say how much they've enjoyed reading the website!
Isn't that nice!

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