morgandiary

August 1^st

Left work mid-afternoon - managed to get to the boatyard at Napton by 6pm. Forty five minutes later we had loaded the boat and we were off! Although the weather had been poor on the drive to the boat, the skies had got much lighter as we packed the boat and seemed to be consistent with the forecast of better weather for the weekend. We cruised round to the bottom of Napton locks and were able to moor up close to the corner. The boys and I went round to “The Folly” for dinner consisting of sausage, egg and chips (plus a pint or two).

August 2^nd

Lovely morning — blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Sue and I walked up to the village for a paper and we then set off up the flight just after 9am. All went smoothly until we ran into a jam at the bottom of Marston Doles — two boats queued up waiting for the lock. However, we still made it up in by about 11:20am. Tied up for lunch by the mast with lovely views back to Napton. Relaxing afternoon cruise to Fenny Compton where we had dinner at the Wharf — pleasant, but not as good as last year when we had really enjoyed our anniversary dinner there.

August 3^rd

Set off at 8am as we had lunch booked at the Brasenose Arms in Cropredy. It was one of those mornings that you dream of — cloudless sky, calm, dew on the grass and bunnies hopping along the towpath as we approached “the tunnel”. We arrived at Claydon top lock at 9am and with the boys working the locks we got down in a record 30 minutes! Eventually we tied up above Cropredy Lock at 11am. Lunch was superb — as always at the Brasenose Arms — and it was a contented crew that made their way down to our mooring for the night at Little Bourton. Despite lunch, we still managed to find room for a barbecue on the towpath in the glorious evening sunshine.

August 4^th

Set off after breakfast and arrived in Banbury mid-morning. With the temperature clearly rising and a heat-wave forecast Sue and I scoured Banbury (to no avail) for a parasol to replace our old and rather small sunshade. Apparently only winter goods are sold from end July onwards! We then pressed on and had a quiet lunch under a stand of trees half-a-mile above Grant’s Lock. On arriving at Grant’s Lock, we discovered a short stoppage while the “boys in blue” replaced the T-piece of the cill which had been pulled off by a boat the previous week. We were the first boat above the lock, but seven were waiting below. After much huffing and puffing (and some hilarity amongst the on-lookers as the BW maintenance barge operator started off away from the lock and pushed water over the top gate, thus soaking his colleagues in the lock below) we were able to go through after a hold up of about 90 minutes. The weather is now seriously hot — and the promised “heat wave” is yet to arrive! We cruised down through Aynho and moored up quite late for us about 5:45pm at a quiet mooring we had spotted last year about 600 yards above Somerton Deep Lock. Another barbecue completed the day!

August 5^th

Another tranquil morning as we set off about 8:30am — arrived with no-one ahead of us at Somerton Deep Lock, a sharp contrast with the queue of 12 boats that had greeted us when we arrived at the same place on a Wednesday lunchtime last year! An uneventful hour passed until we reached Heyford Common Lock where the boat was very sluggish coming out of the lock and the exhaust was looking unhappy. The usual ploy of heavy reverse to throw stuff off the prop failed and we had to stop for an examination of the weed hatch. We had clearly run over a huge ball of weed in the lock as there was a diameter of six inches of weed around the shaft. We cleared it in a few minutes and set off again — no damage done. Stopped for lunch below Dashwood Lock. Above Pigeon’s Lock we stopped at the farm shop and bought some delicious bread, cheese, pate and four home-made ice-creams! We eventually moored up (with some difficulty with the stern some way out from the bank) in a line of boats just below Shipton Lock. Another barbecue followed. However, the boats behind us was running an old generator which after two and a half hours was becoming really irritating, so with some trepidation, knowing how tough it is to moor in Thrupp, we set off into the gathering gloom just after 8pm. Fortunately we found a spot where we just sneaked in between a boat and the bridge hole at Br. 212.

August 6^th

It is now getting seriously hot — we started off just after 8am and filled up with water at Thrupp 15 minutes later. By the time we had left the water point the temperature was already 75 degrees! As we had never done the stretch of Thames between King’s Lock and the channel from Isis Lock, we went down through Dukes Cut and onto the Thames at King’s Lock and from there down to Godstow. We moored up about 11:45am and headed for “The Trout” — although we arrived at 12:05 we got the last available outside table with an umbrella! The food and ambiance was excellent with a side stream of the Thames running outside the pub. Apparently the pub was the model that Tolkien used for the inn at Bray in “The Lord of the Rings”. After lunch, we left our mooring with some trepidation as we could see large numbers of kids jumping into the river from the bridge. However, nothing untoward happened and went through the bridge without incident. After going through the lock, we cruised slowly down passed Port Meadow to Osney Lock. The great Masterplan to moor up above the lock and walk into Oxford came to nothing as the moorings were full (last year we were the only boat!) so we went down and eventually moored up on the last space on the moorings below Folly Bridge almost opposite the College boathouses. Sue and I then walked into Oxford for a few things and we spent a pleasant evening watching the various rowers enjoying their sport, some continuing until it was almost too dark to see the other bank!

August 7^th

A pleasant morning, quite cool — about 70 degrees — until about 11 o’clock when it got very hot in the space of about 20 minutes. We cruised gently down the Thames and moored by the park in Abingdon for lunch, grabbing a shady spot under a tree. Setting off about 1pm, we reached one of our favourite mooring spots above Day’s Lock about 4pm to find the best places already occupied. After some manoeuvring we eventually got the bow in tight to the bank but the stern was even further out than last night — a good 15 feet from the mooring pin. We enjoyed a barbecue and our traditional game of boules (this seems to be the only spot on the system where we get the set out!) as well as a fantastic sunset. This is a great place to see a sunset as the moorings are on the east bank and the river runs due north to south so the sun sets directly across the river.

August 8^th

On looking outside, I discovered we were in thick fog and could not see the other bank of the river. Fortunately by 8:55 it had thinned sufficiently for us to potter down the 100 yards to the lock in time for the lock-keeper’s 9am start. By the time we reached Wallingford a little after 10:30am it was warm enough for kids to be jumping off the bridge! We moored up on the rough pasture just below the bridge and went into town for provisions. After lunch we went through the beautiful Cleeve and Goring locks and moored up at Beale Park — the home of the Waterways National festival in two weeks time. Ironically, we moored right next to Nuneaton and Brighton, the two working boats belonging to the Narrow Boat Trust that I had taken from Teddington to Henley only three weeks before! The boys enjoyed looking round the boats and their cramped cabins.

August 9^th

We set off about 8:30am and reach Whitchurch lock in 20 minutes — the last 800yds or so were quite strange as it looked from the boat as if the weir stretched from bank to bank and only in the last 50 yards or so could you see the lock cut a sharp left from the weir. As the lockie had not yet arrived and the lock was set for us, we did the first half of the lock manually with the electronics kicking in to open the bottom gate. Despite the heat (temperatures were now well into the 90’s) we decided to go straight through as we wanted to moor at Henley that night and I was concerned about space on a Saturday. Immediately after the Shiplake Lock, we had to negotiate the local Wargrave regatta — quite hairy but great fun! In fact we need not have worried and we moored up in Henley at a good spot on the Royal regatta site about 3pm. (albeit one that cost £5). The boys and I walked up into the town for a paper and I scouted the eateries for dinner. In the end I booked Villa Martin, just behind the Swan. Sue and I left the boys on the boat and went into town about 7pm. As we got there I remarked that the mist was rolling in early tonight — only to discover that a bookshop was on fire! We had a pleasant drink at the Swan before an excellent meal at Villa Martin — it is highly recommended.

August 10^th

Before setting off I had to sweep ash off the top of the boat from the fire the previous evening (and we must have been moored at least 500-600 yards from the town centre) and it was another warm, cloudless morning as we set off toward Hambledon Lock along the regatta course. We arrived in Marlow about 11am, grabbed a space under a tree in the park for lunch and sat down to read the Sunday papers. After a pleasant lunch of Stilton, crackers and a glass of red wine I felt ready to face the warm afternoon sun (98 degrees at Heathrow a few miles away!). We sauntered the 400 yards down to Marlow Lock to discover a huge queue at the lock. This was the only lock on the Thames where we didn’t get in first time. We cruised for a couple of hours — buying ice-creams at Cookham Lock along the way — and moored up for the night on an island in the middle of the Thames in Clivedon reach. It was quite magical.

August 11^th

Another beautiful day, we set off according to what was now our routine at about 8:30am so that we could get to the first lock of the day (Boulters lock in this case) at 9am when the lock-keepers start. We arrived at Windsor about 11:45 and moored up for lunch at the Royal Oak (just past the railway station) which was very good. Still very hot — we left Windsor about 2pm, bought gas at Datchet Cruisers and moored up at Runnymede about 4pm. Very pleasant evening, although the kingfishers which we had seen three weeks ago seem to have moved on.

August 12^th

Set off just after 8:30am, arriving at Bell Weir lock 20 minutes later — several boats were already there and one of them knew how to operate the electronics, so through we went! We enjoyed a pleasant cruise until we arrived at Chertsey lock and the fan belt snapped. However, previous experiences have meant that I was able to fit a new one in 10 minutes or so and off we went again — pursued by a very large working barge! Despite the very hot conditions (“only” 90 degrees) we decided to go straight through to Kingston, which proved just as well as we got the last mooring at the wharf at 2:45pm.

August 13^th

We set off downstream at 10:30am and moored up above Teddington lock 20 minutes later. The advice from the lock-keeper had been to exit Teddington Lock at 4:15pm to catch the tide downstream. However, by 3pm I was anxious to be off and decided to go through anyway (reckoning that if the tide was too strong, we could always tie up for a while at “The Wharf” restaurant mooring!) In fact, the trip was not too bad, we averaged a little over 2 mph over the ground against the tide and the only place where we truly noticed a strong current against us was Richmond Bridge. We eventually locked up through Thames Lock at 4:50pm, a passage of 1 hour 50 minutes for the five miles. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the Brent to drop to allow us under Brentford High Street bridge and we then proceeded up through the gauging locks. We moored up in a significantly smaller (thanks to the redevelopments) Brentford Basin. It was a little incongruous environment for our barbecue, with cyclists on their way home from work dodging round us, but it was great fun.

August 14^th

We left Brentford about 8:30am and went up the Hanwell flight. After stopping for provisions at Bulls Bridge — hats off to Tesco's for this and all the other excellent shops on the cut with purpose-built wharfs — we pulled up for lunch in Drayton. Soon after setting off after lunch we realised that the cut had become very clear with a fantastic view of all the fish. We moored up just below Uxbridge lock about 4pm. Sue and I then went to explore the excellent and comprehensive shopping only five minutes walk from our mooring. Despite the urban environment, we had a quiet evening disturbed only by a police helicopter with a very powerful searchlight at about 9pm — it felt like something out of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind!”

August 15^th

Sue and I set off at our usual time and went through Uxbridge and Denham Deep locks before the boys emerged. We spent all morning ‘fish spotting’ in the clear water as we went along and eventually moored up below Copper Mill lock about 11am outside “The Coy Carp”. The location and food here is excellent! After 25 years on the cut (and a few more living by the River Wye) I saw a most unusual happening at this pub — ducks catching and eating fish! I had always thought they were herbivores. We left about 1pm and moored up outside Tesco’s at Batchworth. As a result of the on-going hot weather we decided that we should invest in a bottle of Pimm’s, our first experience of this refreshing fruit cocktail. Although Sue and I enjoyed them, the kids were not too impressed! We moored up in a pleasant location in Cassiobury Park and had a great barbecue. However, about 8:45pm, the owner of the boat in front of us came home and proceeded to fire up both his generator and a loud radio. We moved on 400 yards around the bend to a new mooring, although it was so dark we had to use the headlight to find our way along the cut.

August 16^th

As our mooring in the dark had necessitated the back being out rather further than I would like, we set off early about 8am, passing under the M25 a little later — I felt quite sorry for the people in their traffic jam above us! We were now in the thick of the ascent through Hertfordshire and made steady progress through the day before mooring above Apsley top lock. In the evening, Sue and I walked long the tow path to the K2 Indian restaurant, very close to Boxmoor lock, for dinner — it was excellent.

August 17^th

Woke up to discover we were in the midst of a prospective fishing match! As we only had a short distance to go to the Fishery Inn, where we had planned to eat lunch, we had a late start and cruised about 30 minutes through Boxmoor lock to the pub. A very enjoyable lunch - the food was very good. After another lock or so, we manoeuvred through Winkwell swing bridge without difficulty, providing entertainment for all the people enjoying their late lunch in the pub. I suggested a 50p per head facility fee from the onlookers, but regrettably no-one took me up! We moored up in the ‘long pound’ (all of three quarters of a mile) just below Berkhampstead. A pleasant location for yet another barbecue and a quiet evening, although I became slightly concerned about the level of the pound as the evening wore on.

August 18^th

Woke up about 1:30am with the impression that we had developed a bad list. Looked outside to see that the pound had dropped at least a foot, so I put on some clothes and slackened the lines — fortunately I had caught it in time and I was able to push us off the mud and we floated about four feet out from the side. Got up about 6am to check the level of the pound — seemed about the same as the middle of the night. As we didn’t want to get stranded we set off about 7am to find a pound with more water! We crept down the middle of the cut to the next lock observing several boats that were high and dry en route. The next short pound of about 250 yards was also down, but navigable and we breathed a sigh of relief when we locked up into the styled “Port of Berkhampstead” pound and found it at normal levels! After breakfast we move on to the excellent moorings outside Waitrose and popped in for a few provisions. After a further hour we stopped for a barbecue lunch in more glorious sunshine. In the afternoon it started to cloud over and by the time we reached Cowroast it was decidedly overcast, so our cruise along the summit level was very pleasant but not as picturesque as it would have been in the sunshine. We moored up opposite the BW depot at Bulbourne with the intention of eating dinner in the pub, but discovered when we got to the bar that it didn’t serve food on Mondays. However, we were entertained during the evening by the sight of three huge carp feeding alongside the boat — perhaps they had read the ‘no fishing’ notices on the bank! Then, shock- horror, as we were eating our dinner, it rained — for two minutes (first and last time on our holiday!).

August 19^th

Set off down Marsworth flight about 8:30am, very pleasant in lovely sunshine (although by the time we got to the Aylesbury Arm junction it had clouded over again). After an uneventful day, we found a pleasant mooring below Slapton lock and walked up to the village for a paper etc. On arrival, we discovered that the village stores - prominently displayed in our Nicholson’s - had shut down three years before! We walked back to the boat and returned to the village at 7:30pm for dinner. We were somewhat surprised to find that the dining room consisted of us and another couple with all the other tables empty (“booking essential” according to Nicholson’s). We soon discovered that the previous landlord had left 12 months before, taking the second-hand book shop with them — even buffalo was off the menu. Although the meal was pleasant it was not quite the treat that we had been anticipating.

August 20^th

Just like yesterday the day started with beautiful sunshine but clouded over about 10am. However, this proved to be irregular and we had much more sunshine today. We were delighted to discover during our breakfast, taken outside, that the large splashes in the cut that we had noticed the previous evening were being caused by a pair of otters. We set off about 8:15am wending our way down the irregular locks to the Fenny pound. We were very impressed by the moorings by the Tesco’s in Leighton Buzzard where we stopped for provisions, this was followed by an excellent lunch at “the Globe” at Linslade — it also looked very picturesque in the sunshine. We had originally planned to moor up just below Fenny Stratford lock, but on arrival the rather sickly smell from the adjacent sweet factory meant that we moved on about a mile to moor at Priston. Given the pleasant evening sunshine, another barbecue was enjoyed by all.

August 21^st

Set off about 8am with the sky overcast to run through the Fenny pound, stopped for a paper close to the end of the conurbation and moored up at Cosgrove for lunch. We had an OK but unspectacular lunch at the Barley Mow and set off for Stoke Bruerne about 1pm. Although a pleasant run under the cloud we were disappointed by how heavy the locks on the Stoke Bruerne flight were to handle. With the almost total lack of rain, the River Tove had completely dried up and the level of the cut was a good six inches below the spillway. After much effort we got to the top lock and were fortunate to be able to moor just above the Museum. Due to the busy towpath, we decided it would not be safe to have a barbecue so we ate in the boat before I took the boys down the “The Boat” for an excellent couple of pints and several games of Northamptonshire skittles (three wooden ‘cheeses’ per go to throw down nine skittles on a table 10 feet away). A very enjoyable evening!

August 22^nd

With the latest fan-belt on its last legs, I opted to change to a new one for the trip through Blisworth — I didn’t want a repeat of the Chertsey experience in the middle of the tunnel. We set off under grey skies at about 8am — we followed two other boats into the tunnel who were about 500 yards ahead of us. With Sue on the back with me to help spot the drips (and for moral support — long tunnels are not my favourite parts of the system) we were able to navigate around most of the really bad wet spots and emerged 35 minutes after entry having not met a single boat coming the other way (phew!). We stopped for lunch at “The Narrowboat” just before Weedon water point — food was pleasant but the welcome and service rather perfunctory. We set off for the Buckby flight about 3:30pm. We had intended to moor up below the top lock, but on arrival (about 5:30pm) discovered that there was no room. Nor could we find a mooring above the lock and had to motor on to past Bridge 8 until we could find a spot, where we moored up a bit haphazardly due to the shallow sides — but the usual gin and tonic plus a barbecue soon restored our equilibrium.

August 23^rd

Another day, another tunnel! Another overcast day. This time we met two boats coming the other way about two thirds through Braunston tunnel, but were able to slowly inch past without too much trouble and emerged into the open air after little more than 20 minutes. Although we came down the locks reasonably smoothly we were surprised to see five boats queuing to get up through lock 3 - it is a mystery to me why people leave a lock in a flight when they can see that there is a queue ahead. We stopped just after the puddle banks and winding hole for an eat-it-up barbecue. By this time, the sun had come out and the temperature was back into the 80’s, so Sue and I enjoyed the last of our pints of Pimm’s as we cruised up to the Napton Bridge Inn. We had a very pleasant dinner at The Bridge before wandering back in the dark to the boat.

August 24^th

The last day of the holiday! We got up early and set off about 7:30am. We went down 100 yards to the winding hole and were surprised to see that it appeared to be an ex-winding hole as all the signs had disappeared. However, it still served the purpose and we headed back to the marina. As we got to the entrance I went straight past, much to Sue’s amazement — it was partly a joke, partly to get a little extra cruising in and partly as it is easier to get into the marina from the Napton Junction direction. We eventually moored up in our berth at 8am — packed up in record speed and headed home by about 9:30am.