9th August
On Sunday we left the Thames via Dukes Cut to join 'our' canal and make the journey back to our mooring. The bad weather spurred us on to cover longer distances in order to finish this trip, sadly. We have got more and more fed up with wind, rain and low temperatures. We stopped at Thrupp and had a good pint in the Boat Inn, then a longer day to stop in Aynho where we had an average dinner in The Great Western Arms, then yesterday pressed on to Banbury, a short trip in incessant heavy rain but with long waits at locks. All the moorings in Banbury centre were taken by the time we got there, so we moored further along and because we had got so wet and miserable throughout the day, we lit the fire and enjoyed warming red wine with our dinner. Anyone would think it was winter with the rain hammering down outside.
Today we did a long day, once again in pouring rain, to get back onto our Fenny mooring. Fire alight again! Coming through Cropredy the moored boats ready for the festival this weekend looked sad and bedraggled with their dripping bunting and flags flying - still hopefully it will be fine by Friday and the field won't be too muddy! We passed John and Tina's boat, they never fail to make the music festivals!
Strange the things you see as you travel. A man stripped to the waist shaving his head on the back of his boat. Deer on the towpath, Pete thought it was a dog!!! A specially built set of steps to a cat flap in a downstairs window of a property fronting the towpath. All manner of TV aerials and their contraptions to get them high enough for a signal. All sorts of flowers, vegetables and colourful containers on boat roofs. Moored boats with peculiar mannequins in their windows to put you off breaking into them. Lots of skulls, skeletons and ghouls hanging in windows to do the same. Lots of signs: "there are good souls who pass slowly by moored boats and there are souls who don't" . People you chat to in passing; a couple who were out just for the day with 3 grandchildren, attempting to instill a love of narrowboating into them as they had found for themselves. A couple who live aboard, they let their house and have not looked back - living their dream. A couple who had come out for 3 months cruising and were headed for Cambridge but said they may not get there in time for getting back to their duties looking after grandchildren after school. Snippets of chat as you lock through with people who have been captured by this way of life as we have, some locks so slow you can get a life story in!
And so we finish some touch-up painting around the windows, sweep out and clean up our little home, pack up the car and leave. The scars of the journey will have to wait for another time - bangs and scratches unavoidable in some situations and Ani bears the brunt. But once again, she has proved to be an amazing vessel with all we need for a comfortable travelling life. We just wish we'd had the weather to properly enjoy it.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
On Sunday we left the Thames via Dukes Cut to join 'our' canal and make the journey back to our mooring. The bad weather spurred us on to cover longer distances in order to finish this trip, sadly. We have got more and more fed up with wind, rain and low temperatures. We stopped at Thrupp and had a good pint in the Boat Inn, then a longer day to stop in Aynho where we had an average dinner in The Great Western Arms, then yesterday pressed on to Banbury, a short trip in incessant heavy rain but with long waits at locks. All the moorings in Banbury centre were taken by the time we got there, so we moored further along and because we had got so wet and miserable throughout the day, we lit the fire and enjoyed warming red wine with our dinner. Anyone would think it was winter with the rain hammering down outside.
Today we did a long day, once again in pouring rain, to get back onto our Fenny mooring. Fire alight again! Coming through Cropredy the moored boats ready for the festival this weekend looked sad and bedraggled with their dripping bunting and flags flying - still hopefully it will be fine by Friday and the field won't be too muddy! We passed John and Tina's boat, they never fail to make the music festivals!
Strange the things you see as you travel. A man stripped to the waist shaving his head on the back of his boat. Deer on the towpath, Pete thought it was a dog!!! A specially built set of steps to a cat flap in a downstairs window of a property fronting the towpath. All manner of TV aerials and their contraptions to get them high enough for a signal. All sorts of flowers, vegetables and colourful containers on boat roofs. Moored boats with peculiar mannequins in their windows to put you off breaking into them. Lots of skulls, skeletons and ghouls hanging in windows to do the same. Lots of signs: "there are good souls who pass slowly by moored boats and there are souls who don't" . People you chat to in passing; a couple who were out just for the day with 3 grandchildren, attempting to instill a love of narrowboating into them as they had found for themselves. A couple who live aboard, they let their house and have not looked back - living their dream. A couple who had come out for 3 months cruising and were headed for Cambridge but said they may not get there in time for getting back to their duties looking after grandchildren after school. Snippets of chat as you lock through with people who have been captured by this way of life as we have, some locks so slow you can get a life story in!
And so we finish some touch-up painting around the windows, sweep out and clean up our little home, pack up the car and leave. The scars of the journey will have to wait for another time - bangs and scratches unavoidable in some situations and Ani bears the brunt. But once again, she has proved to be an amazing vessel with all we need for a comfortable travelling life. We just wish we'd had the weather to properly enjoy it.
lads on holiday, music blaring, beers on the go and look at that lean!! Something wrong with the boat? They put it down to their weight, but when they switched sides it was still listing.
home mooring
THINK THAT IS ALL THE PHOTOS ADDED TO ALL POSTS NOW TOO!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Don't fancy that saveloy in the water
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