BACK TO OUR BOAT'S BIRTHPLACE AND MEETING OLD FRIENDS

Wed. 29th, Thurs 30th, Fri. Oct 1st
On Wednesday, we set off with our friends Jan & Don and their boat "Crandon".
It's quite a novelty for us to travel with another boat, and it was good to have company.

Some people travel all through the summer with another boat, or even a small flotilla!
In fact, there is a group of friends who moor their boats in Braunston
and they always do their summer cruise together.
Mind you, the cruises they do, they need company!
They really are adventurous.
This year they went right out on to The Wash from Wisbech and back in at King's Lynn.
They had a pilot with them and they went seven miles out on the tide,
and as the the water receded, they beached their boats on the sandbank.
There they had a barbecue and played rounders until the tide came in again!
All of the boats were narrowboats! Phew, and I thought I was brave doing the tidal Thames!

So, we continued northwards along the Oxford Canal, through glorious Warwickshire countryside.
There was quite a few boats about enjoying the tail end of the summer.
We went through the two locks at Marston Doles, which are quite isolated,
and then on through the Napton Flight of six locks.
We were in familiar territory now, we had done this stretch a couple of times.

Our intention had been to moor at the bottom of Napton Flight,
but we weren't the only ones with this idea!
There was no space at all.
Someone had even moored in the winding hole,
rendering it impossible for a long boat to turn there.
This is a very unreasonable thing to do.
There are few places on the canal to turn,
and one often plans one's trip around the winding holes.
If someone had come along expecting to be able to turn there and been unable to,
they would have had to go all the way up through the Napton Flight,
turn at the winding hole at the top, and come back down the flight again.
That would have been a total of twelve locks, and would have taken about four hours,
so you can see why it is just not the thing to do to moor in a winding hole.

We continued on to the Napton Bridge Inn to moor on the 14 day moorings there.
We stayed here for three nights.
On Thursday, we pottered around, cleaning the boat,
having drinks with Jan & Don, and a barbecue in the evening.

Then, on Friday, we went with Jan & Don on their boat to their mooring
where there car was, and Don took me to the dentist in Kenilworth.
I also shopped and caught up with a few things which needed doing.
Then Don took me back to our boat with all the shopping and we said goodbye.
We'd had a good couple of days with our friends, and they had been so helpful in getting me to the dentist.

I suppose the most difficult issues with living aboard are such things as
dental appointments, getting to see a doctor, receiving the post,
and registering to vote.
It's certainly one of the questions we're asked most often by freinds, and fellow boaters.
To keep my NHS dental treatment alive I have to go every six months.
At the moment I'm having a course of treatment, and will have to get back
to Kenilworth on Oct. 20th and 27th.
We shall have to make sure we moor near a station so that I can get back.

The post problem is well sorted by our friends Catharine and Mamdooh,
who are so reliable and conscientious about it all.
They either bring it, send it to a friend's house if we're passing near someone we know,
or send it Poste Restante to a post office for us to collect.

The biggest problem of all was staying on a doctor's list.
To be on a list one has to have an address.
And a narrowboat doesn't count as an address!
So we're registered at a friend's address, so that we can have access to a doctor.

Another thing which is not easy is being able to vote.
Again one needs an address--so again we are registered at a friend's address.

On Friday evening, we had friends for a meal--
well, we didn't eat them they came to eat with us!
They have a narrowboat and have lived aboard for seven years and so are old hands!
They told us of their hair raising trip on the tidal River Trent this summer.
They had been wrongly advised about when to travel and had encountered
very high tides and strong water and it had frightened them to death.
So much so that the female half had refused to come back on the river
and had returned overland!

Saturday, 2nd October
We set off early today to arrive in Braunston to meet friends for lunch.



IVOR BATCHELOR'S WORKING BOAT AT BRAUNSTON

We went to the Admiral Nelson, our favourite pub,
and had a lovely welcome from Diane & Bruce the landlords.

Sunday, 3rd October
A repeat performance, in that more friends came to see us
and we went to the Admiral Nelson again.
In the evening we caught up with Cherry and Russ who live on board "Cherus".
It was pure luck our paths crossed.
They had just come in from Northampton, having spent the summer on the Ouse,
The Middle Levels, and The Fens.
This is exactly what we're planning for next year,
so we were interested to hear how they had got on.
They told us it was VERY hard work!
Much harder than the Kennet & Avon, which we'd found fairly hard this year.
So, if we do it, may be we'll come back mere shadows of our former selves.
Which wouldn't be a bad thing!

Monday, 4th October
It started to rain last night at about 7.00 p.m. and continued unabated
all through the night. It was still raining when we got up this morning.
I was glad we weren't on the river, it would have been a bit hairy!
Today, we got a couple of little jobs sorted out by Dave, who fitted our boat out.
Then we had a pump out, filled up with water and set off.

We travelled along the North Oxford Canal, as far as Hillmorton Locks.
We had had a text message from Jen & Bill on Sweet William
to say they were on their way south along the Oxford,
and we met them at Hillmorton locks.
They came looking for us to help us through the locks.
Wasn't that kind?
We moored by them, and caught up with their news.

Tuesday, 5th October
We said goodbye to Jen & Bill--again!
We keep meeting them and thinking it will be the last time we see them
before the winter, and then we meet them again!
But this time it really was goodbye, as they were making their way home
to the Great Ouse, and we are on the way to Llangollen.



I'M SURE MY FRIEND MOFF WILL BE ABLE TO TELL ME WHAT KIND OF CATTLE THESE ARE?

We continued through Rugby, and shopped at Tesco,
then went through the tunnel and filled up with diesel at Yates's yard.
The diesel here is amongst the cheapest on the canals,
but the prices have gone up everywhere.
We paid 37p per litre. I suppose it compares quite favourably with petrol at the pump!



A PERFECT DAY ON THE NORTH OXFORD

It grew quite cool towards the end of the day, and we were glad to moor up at Ansty.
We shall stay here for two nights, as tomorrow, friends are coming to pick us up
and we're going for lunch at a Ghurka restaurant in Nuneaton.
That will be a new experience! Watch this space!

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