As the map on the “What’s New” page is getting complicated I have added, where possible, individual weekly mooring maps
After a few enjoyable but virtually stationary days with Richard we got underway again early on Monday morning and after again topping up the water entered the bottom lock of the Napton Flight, seven locks all within walking distance of each
Napton Bottom Lock
other and with the added bonus of a volunteer lock-keeper at the bottom lock who did all the work for that lock while Sue went to set the next lock. All of the locks in flight were against us until lock 3 when we passed a boat going down. Hurrah the next four should be in our favour then disaster as we left the lock we collected a great clump of weed around the propeller we were forced to pull in to clear it and the boat following us passed us and was able to take advantage of the correct set locks. An interesting and unusual sight half way up the locks is a herd of Water-Buffalo in fields alongside the canal. Indigenous to south-east Asia, they have been successfully farmed in Napton for a number of years. We have found a place to buy the meat and hope to try it on the way back
After clearing the Napton Flight there were two more at Marston Doles both, of course set against us.
That took us onto what is called The Summit Pond, around 11 lock free miles and we found a mooring for the night having travelled just 3.1/2 miles in 5 hours, but of course that included the 9 locks most set against us.
The HS2 site goes on for miles and all for what??
On of the most dominant sights at the north end of the summit pond was the HUGE HS2 (please note this website is operated by the rail company and “may” be biased) site it goes on for miles. What an eyesore!!
Tuesday was a relatively easy day with no locks so the 6 mile cruise took us just 3.1/2 hours. We moored a short distance from the village of Fenny Compton almost outside the Wharf Inn which boasted not only good food but a small laundrette and shop in an outbuilding in the grounds. Not only was the shop and launderette closed permanently the pub was closed all day for maintenance to their electrical systems.
Wednesday was also supposed to be an easy(ish) day. We planned to go as far as Cropredy, most famous as the location of an annual music festival centred around the folk rock group Fairport Convention, less than 6 miles but with 8 locks. All went well until we reached Claydon Middle Lock No 19, where there were a whole group of CRT guys, some volunteers some employed, who informed us that the lock was being closed behind us as “ . . . a gate component has failed and the lock must be closed until a repair can be made". I asked one of the lock-keepers how long it was likely to take to repair and was told it could be weeks rather than days. This we thought was pessimistic as there is a daily fine for unplanned canal closure during the holiday period and of course hire companies with boats trapped on the wrong side would be queueing up to claim costs and compensation. In fact the lockies seemed to continue allowing boats up and down despite an official notice of stoppage being sent out until at some point in the afternoon the original notice of stoppage was followed by another saying that: -
Update on 04/08/2021:-
Local team have successfully completed repair Navigation now open
Original message:
Navigation closed due to lock gate component failure
Staff on site assessing situation and planning repair
Further updates to follow
Well that was a quick repair reduced from weeks to minutes. I asked one of the CRT guys what he thought the name for a group of CRT guys would be, he suggested a “fluster”.
We continued towards Cropredy getting quite tired now as the section of the canal before the locks was stunning but quite difficult being in places very narrow particularly where a narrow tunnel had been turned into a narrow (not much more than 7’-0”) cutting by removal of the roof. We were relieved when Cropredy finally hove into sight but sadly not a single mooring was available. None. Nada.
Without a choice we carried on . . . and on . . . and on . . . The first available moorings we found were on the outskirts of Banbury and pulled in gratefully only to find they were “long term permit holder only moorings”. On we went into towards Banbury town centre and to our great relief found a 14 day mooring just outside the town centre
Thursday, I’ve got the right ache now, I needed some replacement blade (car type) fuses so tried on Halfords web site which did not want me to buy from Banbury and insisted on me buying from Bicester so I thought I would ring the number listed for the Banbury store that took me to the main Halfords switchboard Metal Mickey that suggested I press 1 to speak to a store or 2 to speak to a garage. I pressed 1 and was answered by a lady who immediately asked for my name. I said you don’t need my name to answer a simple question to which her reply was we must have your name to put on our system. My response was to put down the phone. A customer lost to Halfords, can they afford that? Particularly as I popped into Tooleys Boatyard and bought them significantly cheaper than the Halford web site price. Thursday is market day in Banbury, there was a fish man there that sold us a large fillet of Hake, very common in Spain and Portugal but quite rare here. Sue simply steamed it in the oven in tin foil and served it with sourdough bread and butter. Superb.
The weather is windy and wet so we are going to stay on the Banbury mooring until it settles a bit and today, Friday, we visited the town centre farmers market held on the first Friday of each month. There were a number of good quality stalls that sold us some fabulous produce. Smoked eel, smoked trout and trout pâté from the owner of a trout farm and wonderful belly pork, sausages, dry cured bacon and venison from the farmer that reared the animals and every item with a distant “use by” date.
Banbury is the home of the famous Tooley Boatyard operating continuously since 1778 it is still a working boatyard with the oldest dry-dock on the system again believed to have been in continuous operation since 1778 and from the same date is the blacksmith’s, also still in operation. Much of the boatyard has been designated Scheduled Ancient Monument status we had a tour this morning (Saturday) which was informative and interesting.
Tooley Boatyard.
We moved this morning (Sunday) it is still windy and wet but the signage that we thought gave us 14 days on the mooring we were on MAY in fact have meant up to 14 days mooring with only the first 2 being free the others costing £25 per day so I suppose we could get a £50 bill or, with luck, we may not. We are now 1 mile further on almost outside the local Morrison and a couple of miles from the nearest launderette.
This week we have added 18.1/2 engine hours, passed through 22 locks and travelled 21 miles.