archiveMayJune2006

May 7

Our progress south continues at much the same pace. We left Hurlestone as planned, came through Nantwich and up the Hack Green locks with very few people around and were heading for Audlem when we spotted a familiar boat moored at Coole Pilate - one of our favourite moorings but not on our agenda this time. It was Joseph Cresswell of Barleyfirth, the first Heron boat-owner we talked with when we were planning Snecklifter. Within a few minutes we had tied the boat up and had joined Joseph and his wife Janet for morning coffee, along with Chris and Porky Mitchell who moor their boat Die Fledermaus next to the Cresswells on the Grand Union. (See Latest pictures) They were out for the summer, heading for the Lancaster canal. We caught up with their news and swapped Heron information before continuing on to a beautiful spot just to the north of the first of the Audlem locks, where we waited for Chris and David to arrive on Isis.

Long before that, however, someone knocked on the side hatch and as soon as we saw the four greyhounds we knew it was Sarah Levick and her husband Andy Jury. They had driven from Streethay wharf where they moor their boat Arcadia, confident that if we said on the website we would be at Audlem on Saturday that they would certainly find us there. Out came the chairs, the ham sandwiches and tea for the humans,and biscuits and water for the four dogs, Susie, Arthur, Miffy and Monty. They were marvellous and even Monty who is very nervous of men eventually moved closer for a stroke and a cuddle. (See them all on More News From Arcadia.)

Chris and David arrived about 3pm and joined us on Snecklifter for tea and cakes and then in the evening we went aboard Isis for a delicious meal that David had prepared - parma ham, asparagus and thinly-sliced tomatoes as a starter followed by his own version of beef bourgignon with mixed vegetables and new potatoes. All this washed down by bottles of Hobgoblin and Wadworth 6X he had bought specially for me - the others shared a couple of bottles of wine. The meal was topped off by another wonderful tiramisu made by Chris as well as a taste of her home-made chocolate mousse that Liz ate most of. A memorable evening.

Somehow, I still managed to get us away from the mooring by 6.30 - David had said to knock on their boat to say another goodbye but I didn't have the heart at that time of the morning - and we were lucky to find most of the 15 Audlem locks set in our favour. We were at the top of the flight in two and three quarter hours and were tied up at Adderley visitor moorings before 10 am. The Shroppie is at its best of this section. Tomorrow on to Market Drayton, some food shopping and another look at the town's excellent charity shops.

P.S. Belatedly, Liz has her own "spot" to say thank you to her colleagues at Eastern Cheshire Primary Care Trust.

May 11

An overnight stay at Market Drayton - where it rained most of the day - was followed by a bright morning as we came up through Tyrley locks, again set in our favour. We were moored close to the Anchor and High Offley by mid-morning and soon after were happily sitting with Olive in the main bar room drinking Wadworth 6X brought up fresh from the cellar. It was reassuring to see that Elaine had last year once again won the county's best pub garden award but we were too early by a month to see her laying out this year's blooms. We hope they'll still be going when we return up the Shroppie in September.

Yesterday I left early despite thick mist that stayed low over the canal until we had passed through Norbury Junction and Gnosall, leaving Liz to have a lie-in because there were no locks planned for the day. We took on diesel and gas at Wheaton Aston and moored opposite the pub where we intended only to stop for a midday pint. But we discovered they offered pensioner lunches at two for £6 so enjoyed an excellent gammon with mozarella cheese (me) and lasagne with garlic bread (Liz).

Back on board we sat out in the sun for a while, reading until I realised the couple chatting with the boaters behind us were Mike and Sue Richardson of Shania, who had been shopping in Cannock. They drank tea with us and we caught up news of each others travels and then an hour or so later I walked with them above the lock where they were moored. A quick return to Snecklifter, a rapid getaway * and we came up through the lock to moor a couple of boat lengths away from Shania. Here I'll stay with the boat for a few days while Liz takes off in a hired car tomorrow to see Jonathan, Jenny and Sienna in Norwich. They are half way through Jonathan's festival so there's added reason for Liz to visit this weekend. As soon as she returns we will continue our progress to the Severn, arriving there well before the end of May.

* Perhaps just as well. We had earlier noticed a strong smell of diesel and saw some floating around the stern of our boat but put it down to a small spillage above us - a little diesel goes a long way on a canal. But no, as soon as I started folding away the cover on the back deck so we could move, I realised the diesel was flowing back through the breathing hole on our fuel tank. Liz had filled the tank to just below maximum but we had not run the engine for more than another five minutes to reach our mooring and the heat of the sun had obviously made the fuel expand. We've never seen this before but the boater behind us, a much more experienced chap, said it had happened to them. I squirted washing-up liquid around to disperse the small slick and then fled. By the time we had negotiated the lock and tied up there was no further sign of leakage but I ran the engine for another 30 or 40 minutes just to be sure.

May 16

I enjoyed a quiet few days at Wheaton Aston but was glad when Liz returned to the boat yesterday - by which time I had cruised down to our quiet mooring just below bridge 15 at Brewood. On the afternoon she left, I was visited by old friends from Ashford in the Water, Clive and Joy Thrower, who were on their way home from Kettering - a 20 mile detour - and we nattered happily for a couple of hours over cups of tea. After that there was no reason why I should not pull up the drawbridge and indulge myself in a few DVDs and a few pints at the Hartley arms. In fact, I over-indulged the first and ducked out of the second when the weather turned wet.

This morning we return to normality. Liz is walking into Brewood to get some more dog food and milk and I will take the boat down to bridge 14 to pick her up so that we can move on to Compton on the Staffs and Worcs canal. More on this later.

Email update: Several very welcome messages including this from Bill and Michelle Johnson in Chapel Hill, North Carolina: "We are delighted with the coming of spring. We are enjoying it here where we are able to be out in the garden enjoying the fresh air; we are also pleased with it there as it means you are on the move again. Not that we don't enjoy reading your posts in the winter, but it is much more fun to imagine your doings when you are on the move. You are in an area now familiar to us. In fact, we made a very botched turn in strong wind to go up Hurlestone Locks on our first trip that way. We've very much enjoyed the Shroppie and the people we met there. When we moored at Audlem last year, we popped in to see the chemist who had been helpful to us three years ago and had a lovely chat again.

"We are not going to be able to come cruising this year as we are expecting a new grandchild in June. Bill and I will care for the baby during the week when my daughter-in-law returns to work. We'll do this for six months, and then in February he will go to day care with his three-year old sister. Since it's not cost effective to come for only a week or so, we find we'll just have to wait. We are giving thought to coming for six to eight weeks both spring and fall of 2007. With that in mind, we are considering buying a small boat to keep for a year or so. If nothing else, I am having a lot of fun looking at ads for boats."

May 20

Once again we have made fairly rapid progress - though it doesn't feel like it - and are just a couple of days away from the River Severn. Judging by last year's trip on the river, however, we have our doubts whether we will be able to drop down through the Stourport locks straight away if this rain continues. It usually takes little more than a day's downpour in Wales and the Severn rises rapidly. We are happily moored below Whittington lock, however, about a mile south of Kinver where we stopped this morning for an hour's shopping (two excellent charity shops!), and have no intention of moving before Monday morning. We'll ring BW at Stourport first to check on river conditions and pace ourselves accordingly over the last miles.

The first few hours after leaving Brewood were uneventful and we were able to fill our water tank at Autherley Junction but the late start (to accommodate Liz's walk into Brewood to get dog food) meant we hit the outskirts of Wolverhampton in the middle of the day and sure enough, as we passed a school, several boys hiding in trees on the offside of the canal threw a couple of stones at us,luckily causing no damage. It confirmed my conviction that starting early/finishing early is the best way to travel through towns or any other area that has a school in it.

Anyway, we spent that first evening on the visitor moorings just below Compton lock and were able to offer Mike and Sue of Shania a cup of tea when they walked past us on their way back to their mooring above the lock. Yesterday Sue rang Liz to tell her that two days after we left a tree came down right across the spot we had occupied. If someone out there is trying to get us their timing is way off!

From Compton we cruised to Swindon and spent one night there (the local chippie is superb) and then moved on to the Round House mooring above Stewponey before our final couple of hours travelling down to Whittington lock. At Swindon we had time to talk for a while with Gerrard and Jane Cox who arrived on Belle shortly after us (see Latest pictures) and this morning we had a text message from Jenn and Jim Thornell on dire straits who reached Kinver shortly after we left. If we see them over the next few days it will continue our remarkable run of meeting old friends that has characterised the event-packed three weeks since we left the Macc. Also on Latest pictures - see February 18 entry - I have belatedly added a lovely photograph of Isis, taken by David and Christine Owen-Roberts on a recent visit to Hurlestone junction.

May 22

We are still at Whittington lock and, with the rain slanting down, in no hurry to move. We couldn't get on to the Severn even if we pulled out all stops and reached Stourport in a couple of days because our latest intelligence (Gerrard and Jane on Belle who decided not to wait for river levels to drop and passed us yesterday travelling northwards) confirmed our earlier fears that it could be another week. The Coxes reported the river up by eight feet and BW warned them it would be Wednesday before any change. Since then the rain has continued to fall steadily, making a Wednesday descent optimistic in the extreme. So, we'll stay here until tomorrow and if there's a break in the morning will head for Wolverley to spend a few days there. We can check with BW later in the week.

May 24

With no sign of the Severn opening to narrowboats we have slowed to what is virtually our normal pace. After a weekend near Kinver we cruised to Wolverley yesterday, mooring below the lock and close to the Lock Inn where we sampled their excellent Banks' bitter at lunchtime. Liz walked up the hill to the doctor's mid-morning and they arranged to have two months supply of her medication ready for 5pm so while we waited we brought the boat down a few hundred yards to a quieter spot just above Wolverley Court Lock. When she returned for the pills she found they had mistakenly ordered only one month's supply so we have to stick around the pick up the rest this afternoon.

No hardship. It's still raining off and on and I have plenty to catch up on inside - including updating this site. The main change has been to Sienna's Page which has been redesigned so the latest pix are at the top of the page.

This morning Jim and Jenn Thornell on dire straits caught us up at last but we were only able to chat for a few minutes as they were going down through the lock. They have their own timetable, of course, but I think we'll see more of them before either of us gets on to the river.

May 26

A slightly later start yesterday brought us down to Kidderminster in time to moor close to Sainsbury's and stock up on heavy bags of dogfood, tins etc. For a while we had wondered if we would actually get there because we arrived above Kidderminster lock to find anti-vandal locks had been fitted and we could not find the special key we had bought four years ago and not used since we left the far north. Rather than wait for another boater at just after 9am, Liz had the bold idea of ringing BW and telling them our problem, with little hope of immediate help. Within 10 minutes one of the local BW men drove along the towpath in a van and sold us a key on the spot - an impressive display by any standard. The rest of the day we settled down under trees just below Falling Sands lock - an idyllic spot - where I caught up on staining external woodwork before eventual varnishing and repairing some of the other ravages of winter.

This morning we moved on little more than a mile to exactly the same mooring we found last year on our way up from Stourport (we sat for ages then, watching lesser-spotted woodpeckers chivvying and chasing each other through the low trees across the canal). No sign of them so far this year but it's a lovely, quiet place to spend the long weekend and we just hope that by Tuesday the Severn is at last accessible. Otherwise we have to take stock. We will begin to run short of diesel and according to Jenn and Jim on dire straits the local boatyard is charging 66p a litre (!), 16p more than anywhere on the rest of this canal or points north.

P.S. Some of you may have noticed we have had problems with the website again but they were quickly solved and things are back to normal. Well, comparatively normal.

P.P.S. Sienna has had her first tooth! Understandably, mother, father and grandmother are thrilled. I'm made of sterner stuff and am waiting for photographic evidence.

June 1

At last we are on the River Severn, moored just below a dozen steps that lead into the Wharf Inn at Holt Fleet - Everard's and Banks' bitters, so we are happy indeed. Our long weekend above Stourport was most enjoyable and the weather improved enough for varnishing and paint preparation jobs and yesterday morning we cruised to Stourport, mooring before the basin and close to Tesco and other shops. Liz was especially impressed with the Dolly Tub laundrette, not mentioned in the First Mate Guide, but first-class machines and friendly, helpful owners.

Early this morning we dropped through the one lock into the basin, took on water and emptied rubbish at the excellent facilities there (Liz had a swift shower) and then waited for Stroudwater Cruisers to open so we could fill our diesel tank and get a full gas bottle before descending on to the Severn with the aid of volunteer lockie Dave. An hour or so fast travel down a reasonably gently flowing river plus a longish wait at one of the locks and we were moored here by 11.00 am, a satisfying morning by any standard. Tomorrow we move on to Worcester, and will then find a quiet spot for the weekend before arriving in Upton sometime on Monday.

June 4

Over the last three days I have revised my early opinion of the Severn as a very dull river. It certainly is when you are cruising between the ubiquitous high banks that restrict any clear view of the countryside. But when you take the dogs walking through field after field filled with buttercup and other wild flowers you see a very different Severn. The river below you may be dull but the scenery in the opposite direction is lovely and the fine houses dotted here and there reinforce the conviction that is a very upmarket territory. So, we enjoyed our overnight stay at Holt Fleet, returning to the pub in the evening for a basket meal and another pint of Tiger and were fully refreshed before we resumed our trip down-river on Friday morning.

Once again we tied up close to Worcester racecourse and settled down for the weekend (happy to pay £3.10 for each of the first two nights' mooring and £5 for tonight - Sunday). The towpath here is overhung in places with weeping willow which has given us some shade from the unremitting sun. I know it seems churlish to complain after all the rain we've had but neither Liz nor I are sun worshippers and we prefer the shade when temperatures rise. The river here has been tremendously busy, of course, with a fair number of narrowboats, many more cruisers and too many rowers to count. Surprisingly it has not been uncomfortably noisy, even though the racecourse is only a few hundred yards away. Liz walked up on to the footbridge near us yesterday to watch the 4 pm race and thoroughly enjoyed it. She was lucky to miss the distressing sight of an injured horse being shot - it was witnessed by the couple on the boat moored above us and they were clearly upset.

Today, we plan another quiet day with cleaning the outside of the boat high on the agenda. It'll depend on the weather,but I can't do all that much when there is a slow but steady rain of leaves from the overhanging trees. Welcome shade has its built-in drawbacks.

Tomorrow we move on to Upton where we hope to see friends later in the week. The downside there, of course, is that there are so few moorings available. If we can't get in we will carry on to Tewkesbury where Roger Morgan of Ballard has said he can meet us just as easily as at Upton. We just hope that our other visitors will be able to do the same.

June 5

We arrived at Upton midmorning and moored on the floating pontoons, excellently sited for the local shops, the local pubs, especially the King's Head with Fuller's London Pride and a handful of other beers to sample over the next few days, and the local car park. It's still hot and sunny but we have a few trees to the west of us, so as the sun moves over we have a modicum of shade. And there is no-one moored behind us so we can run our engines to top up batteries without disturbing others. The perfect setup - well almost. There is a road just above us so we have to keep a close eye on the dogs.

June 7

Roger Morgan of nb Ballard arrived midmorning yesterday from his country cottage as promised, joined us in a coffee aboard and then took us to lunch at the Swan, an excellent hostelry but by no means cheap. Sausage, egg and chips not on the menu. But we enjoyed ourselves immensely, especially Roger when he was able to demonstrate there was a quick way back to the boat under the bridge - I had insisted it was blocked off and we had to walk along the roadway. The one disappointment was that his wife Sue could not visit us as well - she had a higher priority back home in Teddington giving moral support to one of their sons who had an important exam. With luck we'll see them next year when we travel down the Grand Union to the Thames.

The rest of the day was spent touching up the paintwork (i.e. covering the ravages of winter and many, many locks) and trying to keep cool. Fortunately there was a breeze blowing down river in the late afternoon so I sat out and read, an activity we've not had much chance to indulge in recently.

Today Liz has continued her assault on the local laundrette, washing curtains and duvet covers. I am finishing off some repair painting before my old schoolfriend Patrick Purcell and his wife Maggie drive across from Cowbridge in South Wales for our first meeting in at least 40, probably more like 45, years. We will have a lot of catching up to do.

We've met up with several familiar boats while we've been here. Ron Mattinson on Inkie and I is another of those boaters we keep seeing - on the Macc, the Ashby and now here on the Severn. Inkie was Ron's dog when we first met up but he died a couple of years ago and Ron now has a terrier called Ben. He has no intention of renaming his boat, I'm glad to say. Also moored here last night was Brian on Thursday's Child, first met at Stoke Golding on the Ashby, where he moors during the winter. The last couple of days we've also chatted with a lovely Israeli couple, Zvika and Dalia Hoch from near Tel Aviv, who have been holidaying on a hire boat. Zvika now has his own wine company and he gave me his website address which I'll be checking out this evening.

June 9

It's taken more than 45 years but at last my old schoolfriend, Patrick Purcell, and I have met again. He and his wife Maggie drove over from Cowbridge and arrived with us in time for a coffee on the boat. Later we moved on to the Swan for a pint and some lunch and from then on, polite general conversation over, we seemed to split into pairs with Liz and Maggie talking generally about the things women talk about while Patrick and I recalled the old days. Most of it I remembered when prompted but Patrick clearly has a keener memory for detail than I.

June 13

It's good to be back on the River Avon with its low banks, beautiful countryside views and abundance of birdlife. Within half an hour of leaving Tewkesbury this morning I had seen curlew, snipe and buzzards as well as the ubiquitous swallows and martins that skip along the surface of the water for flies. The overnight stay at Tewkesbury was pleasant, of course: it's a nice town with a few good charity shops and pubs like the Berkeley Arms where Wadworth 6X transformed our lunchtime stroll yesterday. But we are delighted to be back at Comberton Quay even though the shade of the woods behind us is not really needed at the moment. Temperatures have dropped to my relief and it's cloudy. This quiet little backwater four miles from Pershore is also ideal for the dogs who can run around for a while with no nearby roads or houses.

We enjoyed the rest of our stay at Upton, even though we felt a little guilty on Saturday when an inspector from the river authority informed us it was a 48-hour mooring. We had already been there for several days without worry because there are no signs to inform boaters of the restrictions - apparently they disappeared some time ago and I don't remember them from last year. But we stayed on until Monday morning, thankful for the overhanging trees that gave some shade after midday and for the breeze off the river that varied in strength but never fully died away. We were also lucky to have Paul and Margaret Jacobs on Grace Evelyn No 2 from Bristol as our next-door neighbour on the pontoon mooring (see Well Met on the Cut). Like us, they sat out much of the time and when we were not reading newspapers or books we chatted about life on the Cut and life in general - great company. Earlier, their slot had been filled briefly by Martin Turner who moors his boat Doinmein at Tewkesbury. He immediately declared himself as a regular reader of this website - and also follows Granny Buttons. Doinmein? No it has no basis in the German language. Split it up into three words and you'll get the point.

June 18

The hot weather has returned but we've managed to get in early to an excellent mooring at Craycombe Turn. There's a small wood behind us giving shelter until late in the afternoon and on the other side of this wide stretch of river is flat, open country leading the eye away to distant hills. Understandably it's also a popular place with local boaters and there has been a succession of small cruisers in and out behind us for short stays. Last night the mooring was filled to capacity, not surprising when you think of how few moorings there are on the Avon. It's the one downside to an otherwise marvellous experience - the river itself is beautiful and there are enough towns to ensure supplies of fresh food and milk. But there are so few good moorings (and many of those are 24 hour stay only) and when you've paid £44 for a 14-day licence it's annoying to find you're hard put to actually stretch your trip to a fortnight.

After leaving Comberton Quay we headed for Pershore, arriving early enough to visit the town's shops and then sit outside the boat for lunch. We had intended staying the night but a couple of lads came and sat close to us on a bench and though they were friendly enough we decided to move on and ended up above Wyre Mill for the night, a splendid spot for a short stay.

Yesterday we set off early and settled down here by mid-morning as the sun was becoming oppressively hot and sat out with the dogs under the sheltering trees. A lazy day in which we both caught up with our reading and worried not at all about the white fly husks that speckled the river side of the boat and made it look unsightly to passers-by. Today seems a little cooler so I might get out there with a soft handbrush. But no more. Tomorrow we move again - on to Evesham and points north.

June 23

It's been a busy five days since my last update but at last we have arrived in Stratford and will be here for the weekend. We're moored on the river - right across from us is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre - an ideal spot for our ex-daughter-in-law Sharon to visit us overnight, travelling from London by train this evening. Liz and I are both looking forward to seeing her again. If Bancroft basin is no fuller tomorrow morning than it was when we made a tour of inspection yesterday we will move up the lock and stay there for a couple of nights. If not our licence allows us another couple of days on the river and we don't want to begin our journey north up the Stratford canal until our mail has arrived. Besides, here we are within a short (40p) ferry trip to the Dirty Duck pub.

Our brief visit to Evesham earlier in the week was certainly a successful one for shopping but we decided against staying overnight after talking to a young couple whose boat had been walked on by drunks at the weekend, and instead tied up at George Billington lock - where you can see the pub but can't get to it across the weir! Next morning we waited until about 9.30 when Jeanne and Rob Boulton arrived on Tywardreath - they are heading for Sharpness in company with friends on another boat. Six months or more of news was exchanged over tea and biscuits and we then travelled on to Bidford for an excellent light lunch in The Frog and Bulrush, a much more attractive pub than its name suggests. The night was spent happily at Elsie and Hiram Billington lock before another couple of hours cruising to one of the loveliest moorings we've found anywhere in our travels, Stan Glover lock at Luddington. On one side of us were the splendid gardens of a private house whose owners keep the grass mowed and generally welcome boaters as long as they keep dogs on leads etc, while on the other we looked out towards the weir, the noise of the water restfully unthreatening after weeks of dry, sunny weather.

Yesterday we came up the last few miles and last couple of locks in time for a stroll around Stratford and a pint of Greene King at the Garrick Inn, supposedly the oldest pub in the town. After lunch I spent a couple of hours washing and waxing one side of the boat which was sticky after mooring under trees and had picked up dust and muck from locks and dry towpaths. Liz was happy despite a long walk - she was able to take another load of washing to a laundrette.

P.S. One thing I meant to mention was that Sankey Marine, a mile or so south of Evesham, has changed hands and is now run by John Payne and his son Doug. We called in for diesel well before 8.30am, happy to wait for the place to open but John came out immediately and topped us up - a really friendly and helpful chap who deserves to do well.

E-mail update: We were delighted to hear a few days ago from Zvika and Dalia Hoch, the Israeli couple we met at Upton on Severn. "After we left you," they wrote, "we sailed up the Severn into the Birmingham-Worcester canal towards Dunhampstead where we hired the boat. As we had one day left we decided to sail the other way - north - and discovered a wonderful countryside with tiny places and beautiful scenery. The way up there from river Severn is not too difficult - about 20 small locks. Then we went back to Dunhampstead to return the boat and went to spend another two days in London with our family. Now we are back home - getting back into the routine and envying you for your endless holiday in your boat. Be well and write us about your life on the canal system." At the beginning of the letter, Zvika had asked us to be patient with his English and his spelling etc. There was no need. I wish I could speak any language as well as he has mastered ours.

Also a gripping account has arrived from Joseph and Janet Cresswell on Barleyfirth who had just reached Whaley Bridge on their trip north - we last met them at Coole Pilate on the Shroppie, of course.

"After the failure of the lift bridge near Wigan we cancelled our trip into the Irish Sea and the Lancaster Canal," Joseph wrote. "We tried a couple of weeks ago to send an email from Nantwich, only to find that it was half day closing. Janet was walking back to the boat labouring under a load of Mr Morrisons' finest provisions whilst I made my way to the library. It was closed and so no email to you and a quick dash to catch up with Janet and revert to my traditional role of labourer and canal carrier. Sadly that night our oldest Scottie, Pippin, had a fit and has recovered but is so much slower than before.

"We have visited Chester where at 02.30am our mooring lines were untied, our life buoy stolen and our TV aerial dumped in the water. However, a few days later we were joined over the May Bank Holiday by friends who drove us into Chester from our moorings beneath Beeston Castle. Chester is a fine city but not too welcoming for narrowboaters. We travelled up the Macclesfield Canal through wonderful countryside and arrived in Bugsworth Basin a mile outside Whaley Bridge. The boat's engine would not start on Wednesday and we called in the canal's equivalent of the RAC. The engineer diagnosed a new engine battery and £92 later it was fitted into the boat. It did not sort out the problem. Yesterday, another engineer identified the problem as a failed connector on the end of an earth cable, leading to the engine. I will leave you to ponder about an earth on a boat in the water! We are both very well and tanned after the sunshine but for Janet it was too much some days and we sought shelter by lunchtime under parasols and tree foliage."

Somehow, despite their series of problems, Joseph still sounds so jolly - his usual self, in fact.

June 27

We've had another action-packed weekend - when we've not been sitting in the shade reading, chatting or watching the world's many races walk past us with cameras at the ready. Sharon Page, who used to be our daughter-in-law but is still our very good friend, (see Latest pictures), arrived from London on Friday evening and stayed with us most of Saturday until her return train left at 8pm. There was plenty of news to catch up on, especially about her marvellous new job at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London - she's a real high-flier! We indulged ourselves with a light lunch at the Garrick and ended the day with an evening meal at the Dirty Duck. So the brief burst of energy to bring the boat up through the lock and in to Bancroft Basin on Saturday morning was no hardship, even though we made a pig's ear of holding the boat steady in the wide lock - under the curious eyes of a couple of dozen gongoozlers, of course. Why is there always someone there to see when things go wrong, nobody about when you handle the boat perfectly?

In the basin we moored next to David and Barbara Kennedy on Liberty Bell who were travelling with two of our old friends Jim and Jenn Thornell on dire straits so we had good company for a couple of days (see Latest pictures) until they dropped down through the lock on Monday morning to moor on the river. We also had visitors - several of them. I was scraping some superfluous gunge from the front of the cratch when a familiar voice sounded from the pontoon and there was Mike Hecken (see right). We spent seven happy weeks with him two seasons ago on the K & A, the Thames to Lechlade and the Oxford Canal a year or so before he sold his Heron boat Ronarosa. He had been over in Braunston to enjoy a working boats rally and decided to drive across and see if we were where the last website diary entry had said we would be. He stayed with us the rest of the afternoon and set off for his home in Romsey in the early evening. On Sunday we were greeted by two strangers, Pat and Tony Thorne from Somerset. They have been following our website and chanced across us in the basin. They hope to have a boat of their own one day so they won't be strangers if we meet again on the Cut.

We'll be staying here for the rest of today - Liz has gone to Somerfields after hearing they will deliver right to the boat if you buy enough. We can stock up on tinned food, bags of dog food and all the heavier fruit and veg that usually has to be carried in our rucksacks. Tomorrow we hope to head up the Stratford canal when we'll make up for some of the time we have spent (not wasted) in this splendid mooring.
If it rains, maybe not.

Meanwhile, I have also posted some images of Stratford taken with my camera and through the eyes of a Japanese gentleman who sketched Snecklifter when we were moored down on the river. (See Latest pictures)

June 29

It was tough but we have finally torn ourselves away from the joys of Stratford after a couple more visits to the Garrick and the Dirty Duck. We left early yesterday morning and had come up through 17 locks in little more than three hours, mooring before 9.30 am at Wilmcote. This rapid progress was largely down to our luck in finding almost every one of the locks set for us and because four or five locks above Stratford we were caught up by a Challenger boat with four people aboard. Two of them, John and Shirley Simpson, once had their own boat but now live in the lovely Somerton Deep Lock Cottage on the Oxford canal. John helped us through most of the locks, walking ahead to open the next lock gate and then coming to lift the paddles on the free lock ready for his wife to open for their hired boat.

Our eventful trip was also marked out from the routine by meeting Derek Buckley from Telford below Wilmcote bottom lock. He and his wife Di, who have been following the website for some time and have emailed us from time to time, were also enjoying a holiday on a hire boat and he had spotted us through the window as we passed. We didn't have time for a long conversation but he did say he had one criticism to make of the website - it should be updated every day because he checks it out every day. The trouble is, I told him, it would become more repetitious than it unavoidably is already as we travel over well-known territory. But it was good to put a face to a name and we hope he and Di eventually realise their ambition to have a boat designed to their own spec.

This morning we left early once again, covering a greater mileage but only seven locks, a four-hour trip that ended with our mooring by 10.15 in an isolated spot below Lowsonford - last year most of the space between locks 32 and 31 was filled with long-term permit holders. Tomorrow we will continue our journey north and hope to reach Rowington for the weekend.

Email update: We were glad to hear from Zvika and Dalia Hoch in Israel that they are both well and, at least for the time being, not caught up in the crisis on the Gaza border where the young Israeli soldier was recently kidnapped. We just have to hope that this latest problem is resolved without more bloodshed.

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