archivejulyaug07

July 1

Pinned down by the weather we may be, but our social life here at Abingdon has been one mad whirl. Well, not quite. But we've been for tea and cakes with John and Helen on Karen E twice in the last few days, they've been to us once, we're invited out for lunch today with Ken and Barbara Worrall of Summer Breeze to celebrate Ken's 70th birthday and last night there was a knock on the side of the boat and it was Martin Howes of Ashted and Wolverhampton Boat Club. For once Mike Hecken had a quiet hour or so on Snecklifter while we joined Martin and Jenny for a glass or two of beer or wine and caught up with their news. They are out for a month and were heading upriver for the Oxford canal when they spotted us as they came in to moor about 50 or 60 yards closer to the bridge.

The river level has actually dropped considerably in the last couple of days and the angry swirl of current has abated but we've been hearing stories of problems further ahead that have encouraged us to wait and see. Several reports have filtered back from Thrupp and the places above where the River Cherwell crosses the canal - large numbers of boats backed up waiting for the water levels to subside. They may be little more than towpath telegraph distorted by distance but we've not wanted to take the chance. If we are going to be stuck somewhere we'd prefer it to be Abingdon. By tomorrow or Tuesday morning we should be able to gauge the effect of this weekend's rain and if it is not severe we hope to be on the move again soon.

Later: The lunch with Ken and Barbara at the Crown and Thistle was excellent (that's Ken to the right, with another pic of both Ken and Barbara on Latest pictures) and we had John and Helen, their two sons Peter and Tony and daughter-in-law Kathryn as neighbours on the next table.

Back at the boat we said goodbye to John and Helen who had been worried about getting their high-profiled cruiser under the low Clifton Hampden bridge. They needn't have worried - a phone call from them confirmed they had made safe passage and were moored at Shillingford. The rest of their trip back to Shepperton Marina should present no further serious obstacles.

Shortly after they left, Mike Hecken's son Lee arrived to collect him and after cups of tea and hot chocolate they set off for Romsey an hour or so later.

So we're alone at last! And it's so quiet after all the activity of the last week. No doubt we'll settle back into our solitary ways eventually.

July 3

With rain showers continuing, many of them heavy, the river level here at Abingdon is rising and falling like the proverbial garment owned by a lady of the night. We were away from the boat for two hours yesterday and when we returned the water could be seen lapping a stone in the wall opposite us three or four inches higher than when we left. This morning it had dropped dramatically but the flow is still disturbingly strong. Stories and rumours abound, of course. While Liz was in the laundrette she talked with several other boaters, two of whom had been advised by the lock keeper to stay on the 24 hour mooring above Abingdon lock. Their friend had telephoned from above Iffley lock to say he had been swept nearly a mile trying to turn his boat - his most frightening experience since living aboard. And there was talk of one boat trapped above a weir, another that had been stuck for a time under a low bridge.

So no-one will be surprised to see we have not moved yet, even though we've been here eight days. Until the river calms again and we hear that the holdups above Thrupp caused by a flooding River Cherwell have cleared we are staying on this comparatively safe mooring. As the picture left shows, we are in a beautiful spot with a splendid view from the side hatch - and you can see the stones we keep watching as the river level rise and falls.

Another advantage is that today, our 38th wedding anniversary, we can return to the Broad Face for a celebratory lunch. Our Thames license expires on July 8 so we have five more days before we need worry about overstaying on the river. We're already past our right to remain at Abingdon but with the river as it is, nobody has said we must move on.

Meanwhile it's very, very quiet without Mike Hecken on board. Not that he was noisy. He was just good company and we talked incessantly of this and that. The boat seems empty and it's back to television and the ninth series of the X-files on DVD. Thankfully the latter was bought in a special cut-price offer. Otherwise, we are coping with a steadily emptying water tank by washing down rather than showering and we've bought or been given several empty containers that can be filled at the chandlery just across the river. Waitrose is not far away so we can replenish our food supplies easily. And there's always the laundrette if Liz feels bored or we need up-to-date rumours about the state of the Thames between here and the Duke's Cut!

July 5

The view from the hatch is still discouraging. River levels have not risen greatly but the water is still flowing fast. Yesterday morning a 45-50 foot narrowboat set off up river but had to give up under Abingdon bridge because it could not make any headway against the flow. The chap aboard told me they had also smashed a side window on the jetty. Other rumours abound, as I reported earlier, but the advice we are following is that of Abingdon lock keeper who told Liz yesterday that we would be sensible to wait another two or three days. If this happens we will be running out of time on our license but a phone call to the Environment Agency has removed any worry - lockies are not likely say anything but if any does try to charge us extra we should pay up and return the new license to the EA for a refund.

Our main problem is that we are getting a little bored. Abingdon is a splendid place to be trapped for a week or so but we've now been here 10 days and would like to be on our way soon, if only for a change of scenery. The last time this happened - over the very rainy Bank Holiday - Mike and Sue Richardson on Shania were here for over a fortnight. Ah well, I see another trip to Oxford and the Turf Tavern looming.

July 8

Today is our last day on the Thames - officially, that is. Our license runs out today but we are still at Abingdon and not worrying just yet about having to pay more (see above). We had hoped to continue our journey to the Oxford canal today but a chat with the local lock keeper changed our minds. The stream is decreasing, he told us, but it's still "hairy" out there, especially where the river channel narrows. Also a friend on another boat had telephoned another friend on another boat to say that he had just got through Duke's Cut and was still trembling - he had been really scared by the force of water over the weir as you turn right above King's lock and on to the Cut. Thus does news travel!

Anyway we are staying here another day and will assess our chances when we talk to the lockie this evening and receive more phone calls from the "front". In the meantime we are still enjoying in retrospect a Saturday off the boat. On Friday our friend Mike Hecken rang to ask if we'd like a run out by car to Didcot Railway Centre the following day. He had read the website, seen that we have not moved a jot since he left us last Sunday after nine days holiday with us, and was ready to drive up from his home in Romsey. We accepted his offer without hesitation and spent a fascinating four hours at Didcot and the Pendon Museum of railway and country village modelling.

Didcot is the home of the Great Western Railway Society, of course, and it was marvellous to wander around the sheds looking at locomotives and carriages that could well have featured in my life as I grew up in South Wales. The visit began with two short train rides - in a 1937-built carriage pulled by a 1937-built pannier tank engine number 3738 (the same vintage as me) and then behind a 1892 saddle tank loco. But the highlight for me came when the duty manager of the day gave me a chit to ride on the footplate of 3738 with driver Kevin and fireman Rick. This was a first (I have "driven" GWR locos - but only on the computer simulation Trainsim and then using the simplest of controls) so it was an education and a pleasure to see the two-man crew working the train over its short route and then returning. The pic on the right (taken by Mike Hecken) shows my obvious delight to be in the cab with the driver and there are more photographs of our half-day at Didcot on Latest pictures.

The hour we spent at Pendon museum was short but equally enjoyable. The quality of model building is superb and watching the various trains travel around the two working layouts (Madder Valley, the third, is operated rarely because of its fragility but undoubted historic value) made me realise that when we amateurs built layouts ostensibly for our children the rolling stock we always ran the rolling stock too quickly.

July 9

Yes, you did read my home page correctly. After 14 days and of "idleness" we have at last left Abingdon and have come within an hour or so of leaving the Thames. The stream has still been a bit difficult in places, especially in narrow lock approaches like that above Osney, but generally it has been a smooth run today, marred only by the shortage of moorings in the one or two places we had planned to stop. Still we have tucked ourselves in on one of the many wide bends of the river between Godstow and Kings locks after a six-hour cruise that has included five locks. We filled our water and diesel tanks before we left, and emptied our full cassettes above Abingdon lock. So we are once again self-sufficient and not having to flush the toilet with river water.

Tomorrow we should be back on the Oxford canal and until then there's little more to report. Except, that is, to say again that we were lucky that if we had to be trapped for a fortnight that it was at Abingdon, where there were most facilities, an excellent Waitrose and several charity shops to while away the hours. And we should thank again the various keepers who manned Abingdon lock through this fortnight. They were unfailingly patient with our many enquiries, were always helpful and were sensibly cautious in suggesting we stay put when it was not really safe to move.

July 11

We've made it - safe at last. Mind you we were fairly safe yesterday as we left our country mooring, came up through King's Lock and through the Duke's Cut. The warning we had received about the flow over the weir as you turn onto the Cut was undoubtedly accurate at the time but we sailed past without the slightest tug of water on our starboard flank and by 9.30am we were back on the Oxford Canal. After months on the Grand Union and the Thames it was a bit of a culture shock. I had forgotten how narrow narrow canals can be and there were so many boats moored in line that we seemed to make very slow progress up to Thrupp. We were not expecting to find a mooring but there were two, in fact, and we chose the one nearer the lift bridge, picked out for us by our old friend Harry who stepped off Kerry Blue to greet our arrival. Later we joined him and his wife Linda in the Boat Inn to talk over old times and especially remember our common acquaintance, Alan Williams, who died recently.

Also moored here are Paul and Margaret Jacobs on Grace Evelyn, last seen in June 2006 when we were side by side on a pontoon at Upton on Severn. Their dog had recently died and they now have a four-month-old brown labrador, Bruno, who is an absolute delight (see right). An earlier photograph of the humans can be seen on Well Met on the Cut.

July 12

Shortly after uploading yesterday's diary update, Liz and I caught a bus to Oxford in company with Paul Jacobs of Grace Evelyn. He was heading for the market to top up on fresh vegetables, I was intent on returning to the sale that HMV had started when we were there a week or so before, and Liz wanted to sign up for one of those 90 minute tours of Oxford colleges. From what I heard later, we were all successful. Liz and I eventually ended up in the market, of course, and wandered for a while around the many mouth-watering fruit and veg, meat and fish shops before finding our way to HMV and a marvellous 12-CD set of Glenn Gould playing Bach, mostly on the piano.

After another excellent BLT and sausage sandwich lunch at the famous Turf Tavern (see left), where Liz tried a wheat beer while I sampled a lovely pint of Bateman's, I caught the bus back to Thrupp to be with the dogs. Liz stayed on to enjoy her guided tour - though not as good as the one she joined in Stratford on Avon, she reports, because the Oxford guide was dull, and certainly not up to the standard of our unofficial guide on our previous visit, Mike Hecken.

Coincidentally we received another e-mail last night from said Mr Hecken which I quote almost in toto: "Off the Thames at last, and a decent mooring at Thrupp, well done. Abingdon will miss you, Waitrose profits will dip, the WI will wonder why they have cakes left over, and the charity shops will be able to re-stock. Still there were benefits to the unplanned stay at Abingdon. A nice trip to Oxford and new glasses, and a ride on the footplate at Didcot. Have a good trip up the Oxford canal. All the best, Mike."

Four sentences and he summed up our last few weeks perfectly!

p.s. While we were at Pangbourne we acquired a new mini satellite dish and ever since we've been in no good position to test it out fully - too many trees in the way, especially during the fortnight at Abingdon. Here, at last, we have got it working.

July 16

Six days at an excellent mooring at Thrupp and we were beginning to settle in again, so this morning we shook ourselves out of our torpor, came up the Oxford canal for three hours and decided to stop on a long, quiet country stretch just below Old Brighton Bridge, which is in turn about 90 minutes cruising from Lower Heyford. One major advantage of being back on the canals is that we no longer have to wait for lock keepers to man their posts at 9am so we were able to return to our habitual early morning (6.15am) start and had settled in for the day before most boaters had begun theirs.

Yesterday we had two separate visits - the first from Mike and Di Bridges of Quinquireme 2 who joined us for a coffee midmorning. The night before they had arrived for a barbecue with some friends who keep their boat at Thrupp, Di had gone straight to the party while Mike had driven their car back to the hotel they were staying at overnight. On his way past us he knocked on the boat to let us know they would be calling next morning to catch up with any news since our last mid-June meeting at Henley in that unforgettable thunder storm. When they left us yesterday they were returning to Q2 which is poised for the Caen Hill flight on the K & A.

Later, another tap on the side of the boat announced an unexpected call from Peter Gregory, bearing with him a bottle of Hop Drop Champion Ale (ABV 5.3) from Darwin Brewery in Sunderland. He needn't have explained that he's a regular reader of this website - the beer was proof enough - but I did remember him hailing us when we were at Alrewas on July 17, 2003 when he told us he read it whenever he was suffering withdrawal symptoms after finishing his own cruises. In fact, Peter and his wife Judy, who have a share in nb Stella, based at Blisworth this season, are now out on their main two-week cruise.

As soon as I've sampled the Hop Drop I'll report back - and that should be by the time Peter and Judy return home!

July 18

We are really "moving" now. Since Old Brighton Bridge we have cruised for five hours. Mind you, that's in two days. But we are in no hurry and it's reassuring to return to our old routine of moving slowly up country to arrive in Braunston some time before we are due into "dry dock" on the first weekend in August. Twice in two days we have watched storm clouds gathering over our shoulders and then tied up just before they emptied themselves upon us, this time mooring just after 8.15 at a spot above Nell Bridge lock and Haddons lift bridge that we have used on previous transits of the Oxford Canal. We arrived a little before most of the other boats here departed, among them India with old Macclesfield canal friends Roy and Mel aboard.

Tomorrow,we plan another early start to arrive in Banbury about 10am where we hope to stop for some much-needed supplies. If it weren't for bread and butter, however, we'd be in no hurry to leave this lovely mooring. We've also run out of wine and beer - I drank Peter Gregory's excellent bottle of Hop Drop yesterday - and though this is no real hardship, a glass of Robinson's orange squash with our evening meal isn't quite the same.

July 21 - Flood edition

Well, as my late mother-in-law used to say, would you believe it!

We escaped the flooded Thames after two weeks at Abingdon to enjoy a happier state that I described on July 11 as "safe at last" on the canal system. I should have kept my big mouth shut. We arrived here at Banbury on Thursday, spent the day topping up supplies at Morrisons, revisiting the many charity shops in the town and lunching at the Old Reindeer pub recommended to us by Harry on Kerry Blue. Our early start yesterday was thwarted by heavy and persistent rain so we sat it out all day, I went to bed at my usual 9pm, Liz at her normal 11.30pm. We slept well until Liz got up at 1.30 am to use the lavatory and told me we were leaning heavily to starboard.

So I got up, donned trousers and wellingtons and went outside to see what was happening. I stepped off the boat into about a foot of water covering the towpath (it was certainly above the top of the wellies) and set about loosening off the ropes, especially the centre line which was pulling us over.

We decided to take it in turns to watch through the night and I (being the older and more grizzled) went back to sleep while Liz continued reading a rivetting Terry Pratchett.

I was woken again at about 3.30am by shouts from a motorised dinghy carrying three firemen. "Did we know about the flooding and did we need help?" I said we were managing all right but had not looked out of the back hatch - when I did, I realised the smaller narrowboat about 25 feet behind us was already floating above the towpath. That's owner Johanna Smart on Pusser's Rum (pictured right) with her brother Sean Butcher whose boat Horus is just out of camera sight.

A quick check on our position made me realise we were clear at the stern but the bow was already in a dangerous position, riding over the towpath - a narrow concrete strip edged with softer ground. While the firemen concentrated on the boat behind, taking Johanna and her dog Jet to safety in case the water dropped suddenly and the boat capsized, Liz and I spent the next hour devising ways of holding our bow well out using our long pole. Eventually we dug it deep into the soft muddy part beyond the concrete and wedged it up against the top hinge of our opening cratch frame. (See left).

Neither of us slept after that. We drank tea, ate a bowl of porridge and wondered how we could get the dogs to carry out their normal functions. A dozen times we took Molly up on to our large cruiser stern deck that was already covered with a piece of tarpaulin left over from the roof box - but training told. She whined, whimpered, looked pleadingly at us but would do nothing.

At last, on the umpteenth attempt, she settled down and peed for a long, long time. But nothing else. So I took Bess out. Nothing. And then, as I came back into the boat I smelt the unmistakeable aroma of something more solid from Molly. Thankfully, I had already put down sheets of newspaper as we always do when we leave the boat for more than three or four hours. She had used that. At least there'll be no more whining from her until late this afternoon.

At the moment - just before 10.30am - the situation is fluid (pun intended). We are told the River Cherwell is the cause of this and we can believe it. The towpath was under 33 inches of water at the last measurement, and the speed of the stream outside our side hatch is as rapid as we saw on the Thames. This is river, in fact, not canal. And it's raining again.

However, we have plenty of food and drink, our diesel tank is almost full and there are two full gas bottles standing by. Our one problem is water. Our tank is just over three eighths full (we had planned to water at the facilities below Banbury lock!) but our time at Abingdon taught us how to conserve and we should last a week. If the pessimists around us are right and this problem lasts longer we'll have to hope that the local authorities will bring us some. Should we have gone up through the lock yesterday instead of staying here on these 14-day moorings? It would have made little difference. Our friend Roy on India rang us this morning to say they are in difficulty above the lock as well and we are told that BW have closed the entire Oxford canal because the flooding is severe all the way down from Napton.

We'll see. And if there are any major developments I'll update this later in the day.

STOP PRESS: It's raining again but the water level has dropped rapidly through the day and there's now about six or seven inches covering the towpath. Our "pole position" worked well and we stayed clear of the concrete as the water level fell, but there's no guarantee it won't rise again overnight if this rain continues.

We've had a number of supportive emails and thank you all for your concern. Hope there's better news tomorrow.

July 22

Will the excitement never end? This morning brought a complete change of fortune - the waters had subsided (see left and compare with above), we could get off the boat to walk the dogs and there was the reassuring sight of a BW workman clearing the debris from the lock above us. As far as we could tell from BW's website the Oxford canal was still closed and the night had not ended well for one boat downstream of us that had broken loose on one mooring rope, swung across the canal and was listing to one side, suggesting that there was water inside. But we had a sunny day to start cleaning up the boat and we could hope to move on the next day.

A few hours later things changed dramatically. The BW chap came down the canal to tell us that they had to let more water down, the lock would be sealed and unuseable for three or four days and we'd be wise to move above the lock. So we did, behind four other boats with the same intention, giving us time at the facilities to top up our dwindling water supply, empty cassettes and dump several large black bags of rubbish. When we did get into the lock we found we had to do little. A small team of BW men worked the lock for us and after Liz had walked ahead to open the lift bridge we found enough mooring space on the left hand side of the canal for Snecklifter and our two new "wet-weather" friends - Pussers Rum and Horus - near the shopping precinct and car park.

We are now tied up on bollards usually reserved for handicapped boaters but have been reassured that nobody will be around to check on us and there will be no pressure to move immediately. So here we are until tomorrow morning when with luck we'll be on our way by 6.30am. The canal between Banbury and Napton is now clear and safe for cruising, we are told. Let's hope there's no more heavy rain in the meantime.

July 23

Heavy rain between 5am and 7am changed our minds about moving today - at least my mind : Liz was still asleep at the time. But she says she is relieved. She can now make another visit to the laundrette with mud-stained jeans and dog towels and I can try to get rid of the mud that still clings to the back deck and the side of the boat. BW are still advising boaters not to cruise on the Oxford canal and if we ignore this and have an accident we could lose any right to insurance. We'll see what today's BW update brings before making further plans.

In the meantime, we can only hope that so many of our friends who are in greater danger than us will be all right. Mike and Sue Richardson on Shania are moored at Goring on the Thames and they are understandably very worried indeed. They are already up to the top of the very high mooring, their ropes are stretched near to their limits, with anchor in the river. Local people have brought scaffolding poles to help keep them from drifting over the mooring as the water level rises and the keeper has even suggested bringing all the boats moored there into the lock for safety. Their problem is getting under the bridge against the rapid flow and the increasing pressure of the water coming sideways from the weir. Sue says the rumble of passage of water around the boat sounds as though they are in an earthquake.

So far the Canvins on Gypsy Rover are not quite so threated at their mooring above Osney lock, but the houses flanking them have been evacuated by the police and Dot and Derek have been keeping a constant vigil on water levels (see their own website here). The flow in that section between Osney bridge and the lock is always a bit faster because it is so narrow. The radio news is not reassuring either : the Oxford area is threatened as more water comes downriver.

We'll be keeping in touch with both boats over the next few hours and days.

Latest: Shania is now safe in the lock.

p.s. On a lighter note we received an email yesterday from Richard and Marion Tanner on Cartref: "I thought I recognised the name when I wandered up the path this afternoon and when I got back to the boat I went online and checked, and it was you. So there's a surprise for you, you are you. Interesting times recently, where were you in the flood? Happily we were just where we are now. Give us a knock if you pass." So we did and chatted for half an hour about this, that and the other.

July 24

At last we have been able to return to our normal "canal time" with an early (5.40 am) start from Banbury, a lovely place but one that we were quite pleased to leave behind.

Mind you, while we were there we made so many new friends in adversity and yesterday afternoon Andy Edwards arrived on Khayamanzi with his brother Steve (see right). We've been in touch with Andy for some years through email, have hailed each other in passing several times but yesterday was our first chance to sit down with him and talk about experiences, both recent and old. An hour on his boat drinking coffee and eating cakes was a highlight of another day of waiting.

But by last night BW had told us over the telephone that the canal above Banbury was safe for cruising - while still asking on Waterscape whether boaters shouldn't consider whether they really needed to cruise. Mixed messages,eh?

The trip up here to a country spot about half a mile above Cropredy - the moorings in the village were all full at 8am - was easy and uneventful after the drama of the last few weeks. Let's hope it stays that way as we progress to Fenny Compton tomorrow or Thursday, depending on weather.

And let's hope things improve on the Thames for Mike and Sue on Shania who last night were able to leave their boat in the safety of the lock and have a meal in Goring, as well as for Derek and Dot on Gypsy Rover who had another disturbed night but this morning were still philosophically waiting to see whether the water rises much more at their mooring between Osney lock and Osney bridge.

Again, we'd like to thank all those who have emailed, telephoned or texted their good wishes to us - especially John and Helen Ray on Karen E who we met at Cookham and Abingdon, now safe at home in London. It's good to know we have so many friends out there who have been concerned about our safety.

July 27

From Cropredy to this "out-in-the-wild" mooring below bridge 125 has taken us little more than six hours, spread over two days. We really are back to normal.

For much of yesterday we sat inside the boat on the 14-day mooring above Fenny Compton watching the rain beat down once again on the already-soaked towpath. Fortunately the sun had returned by 5.15pm when we set off for The Wharf to meet old friends David and Ruth Tomlinson of Windrift - first encountered at Yelvertoft in 2003. Ruth has been suffering severe back and leg muscle problems recently and they were on their way back to Brinklow marina after receiving treatment from a boating friend at Cropredy who specialises in deep massage. We sat over a couple of pints of beer and a few glasses of wine, catching up with the news since their boat was launched 18 months ago. This morning we filled our water tank before cruising the five miles to this isolated spot where we'll stay the night and tackle the Napton flight tomorrow (if it's fine) or stay the weekend and tackle the Napton flight on Monday (if it's wet).

In any event we have plenty to do, including sorting out recent photographs of our grand-daughter Sienna. I really have been remiss in not updating her page but here's one of the latest pix, taken when she was staying with her other grandparents in Mallorca, so you can see how she is growing.

Email update: We've had so many messages from readers old and new in the last few weeks that we can't mention them all by name - but it was reassuring to receive them. One is worth special mention, however. Remember our giving some sealing mastic to some holiday boaters at Henley way back in the distant pre-flood days? They were kind enough to give us a bottle of white wine as a thank-you and even though it was unnecessary it was certainly appreciated when we drank it chilled a few days later (we did have a few warm days in early summer). This email arrived from Maurizio, Carol, Adam and Paul Colasanti and it is fascinating to hear the views of first-time boaters:

"We have been thinking about you and today logged onto your website to see if there was any news of how you are coping. We were amazed at the amount of information and the interesting news you have put on there. We were pleased to note that so far you are all safe and the boat is still in the canal - we have seen pictures on the news of some less fortunate and their boats have drifted into fields or worse. Thank goodness we were not taking our first adventure on a narrow boat at this time. Truth is we had enough moments without the extra problems caused by the floods. We have been wondering about those who are taking their holidays on narrowboats, especially first timers, and how they are coping. We guess that some have had their holiday cancelled but those who went before it got too bad and were caught in the floods must be struggling.

"We are planning another holiday on a narrowboat, hopefully some time in October, probably in half-term week. We would have liked it sooner but as farmers we are also suffering from uncertainty about when the harvest will be. So far it has been impossible to make hay and although we haven't been flooded it hasn't been good for us at all. Hopefully by then the weather will have settled down and we will be getting a late summer! Your lifestyle sounds wonderful, apart from the weather at the moment, which in a way adds to the challenge I guess, so relaxing and a great way of meeting people and making new friends. Hope the dogs are managing to get off and on. We have five dogs, so understand the problems it could cause."

July 29

A phone call from son Jonathan on Friday afternoon making arrangements for a short weekend visit galvanised us into an even earlier start yesterday, yet shortly after 5.40am, two bridges from our overnight mooring, we met another boat coming the opposite way! And, inevitably, we had to meet right next to a row of three moored boats so I had to hold back for a while to let the other craft through. At least it wasn't a narrow bridge hole. Still, the next few hours were incident free and we came down the first eight locks of the Napton flight to find an excellent 48-hour slot above the final lock by 8 o'clock.

Jonathan and Jenny duly arrived about 3pm and we spent the next few hours playing with granddaughter Sienna before descending on the Folly Inn for a meal and a few pints. I had an excellent sausage, egg and chips, washed gently down with Hancocks HB, a bitter I have not come across for many years. It was delicious.

This morning we waved goodbye to the family as they set off for their home in Norwich, unlikely to see them for a while because they are travelling for a few weeks to Edinburgh, Holland and Poland. Sienna is going to be one of the best-travelled under-2s around. Us? We'll cruise for a couple of hours tomorrow and find another rural spot - after all, we still have four days to reach Braunston.

August 1

We are back in Braunston, two and a half months after we set off from here on our cruise down the Grand Union, up the Thames and back up the Oxford canal, a cruise that will be memorable for floods, heavy rain and more floods. The last couple of days we moored near bridge 103 and almost constant sunshine gave me the chance to finish off the cream lining on the port side of the boat between chatting with Ken and Liz Towell whose boat Weasel was just around the bend towards Braunston. They were setting off on a round walk via Flecknoe and fortunately came past us en route. They had morning coffee with us, we had afternoon tea with them and in the evening Liz joined them for the games of Scrabble that have become a tradition whenever we meet.

This morning we had a much later start (about 9.15am) and just before we set off Dave and Liz Dressler on Anon pulled in to moor near us. They are coming to Braunston tomorrow so we should have more time to talk then. In the meantime, I am readying the boat for our three day "overhaul" by engineer Justin Green at Braunston bottom lock. When that's over we head north for the Macclesfield, our ETA sometime in the first week of October.

August 6

Five days without an update to the website but it really has not been through laziness. I've been so busy DOING things I haven't had time to write about them. Three days were spent keeping out of engineer Justin Green's way as he put this boat back into something like full working order - replacing stern gland, prop shaft and tiller arm bearings, giving the engine a full service and rewiring our 110 amp alternator.

He worked on it for more than 12 hours over Friday and Saturday, in between hauling us up on to a slipway on Friday evening and returning us to the water on Sunday morning. To my admittedly less-than-expert eye, he made an excellent job of it, stopping only for midday meals and to pose for the photograph on the left. And the cost fell well within the bracketed estimate he gave us two and a half months ago. There is no longer water leaking into the stern at a rate of one to two drops a second, depending on our rate of travel, and the engine is running sweetly. His telephone number for anyone out there who wants help or advice, by the way, is 0790 3946196 (and his email address is boats@jgmarine.com).

Meanwhile, our social life has been a whirl, starting with visitors passing us on the towpath like John and Sue Richardson who have been following the website for some years and three months ago bought a secondhand narrowboat Sheba that they keep in Braunston marina - "testing the water" before deciding whether to live aboard when John retires in about four years time. Both Ann and Chas Moore from Moore2Life came past several times, Ann walking their delightful young Jack Russell who is also called Molly, Chas to talk about internet connections. And when Dave and Liz Dressler turned up on Thursday we joined them on Anon for a cup of tea and some cake. On Friday evening Liz walked up to the village to bring back fish and chips that were as good as we've tasted in many years.

The highlight of the weekend, however, was another barbecue with Carole and Brent Walker in their lovely house in Braunston. Since meeting them in July 2004 at Hopwas (when they were cruising on the Challenger boat Black Watch in which they have a share) we have never come to Braunston without enjoying their company and tucking in to delicious food. Brent's superb barbecue cooking was again on display - this time featuring chicken kebabs, gammon steaks, king prawns, lobster tails and garlic mushrooms, accompanied by new potatoes, salad and Carole's home-made chutney. Carole's mum Edna was there again this weekend and for the first time in ages we were able to take Bess and Molly with us and let them run off the lead in the Walkers' large, enclosed garden. Only once did Molly squeeze through the narrowly placed bars of a gate that Carole believed was impregnable!

Yesterday we moved down off the slipway mid-morning and made our way slowly, very slowly, to our favourite Braunston mooring at bridge 89, negotiating what seemed to be a watery M25 as boats maneouvred past us, winded at the marina entrance, tied up for water and other facilities or queued behind us as we edged past the long-term moorings. On one of the hottest days I remember this year, we sat under a shady tree in the afternoon, delighted but not entirely surprised to see Steve Bacon and Julia Cory off Even Balance walking down the hill from Braunston church - they found us here when we were heading for the Thames nearly three months ago. They were planning to set off from their mooring at Ventnor Farm today at the start of a month's holiday but thought that if we were still in Braunston they'd most likely find us where we were - (are)! If you see what I mean.

We sat over cups of tea for about an hour and then another familiar face approached along the towpath - Jo Edwards off Sarah Kate which had just moored about 50 yards or so behind us - to be joined shortly by husband Mike. Our morning trip through the middle of Braunston was nothing compared to their day. They had come through the Watford flight to find themselves 15th in a queue of boats coming down Braunston locks, a lot of work in the heat of the sun. So they were understandably very hot and more than ready to stop and drink a cuppa that Liz brewed using the Kwazulu leaf tea (one of my favourites) that they had brought for us.

As we set off to catch the bus to Daventry this morning we called to say a temporary goodbye but they thought they might take the day off to fully recover (you can see how successfully in the picture right) - and sure enough when we returned they were still here, inviting us to their boat for a cuppa later in the afternoon.

Then, just before we joined them, we had another visitor - Geoff Simmons, a retired quantity surveyor. He and his wife Rhona have lived on their 58 foot narrowboat Ethel since last October but had followed this website for a few years before they made their lifestyle change. Geoff, who used to live in Worthing, says they had passed us before but not had chance to stop and chat.

August 10

We're still at Braunston and even though bridge 89 is one of the quietest moorings in the area (see pix below) it is still busy. Cleaning the boat ready for visitors at the weekend has been interspersed with calls from passers-by like Tom and Jen Jones on a Black Prince boat - they read the website when they are back home in Adelaide, and from the helmswoman on another Heron boat Tinkerbell who rememberd Snecklifter being built at the same time. By the time I thought of asking her name she was out of hearing range. A couple of nights ago we were moored next to Sheila and Jeff Robinson from Rotherham who were on another hire boat and they impressed us with their attitude to their first two-week holiday on a canal : they are taking their time, tackling locks when necessary but quite content to enjoy the countryside and relax.

We also talked with Mike and Jean Ogden on Little Mester, obviously from Sheffield where a little Mester is or was a self-employed craftsman in the cutlery industry. To be more accurate, Mike and I talked briefly a couple of times while Liz and Jean spent hours sitting on the towpath sharing life experiences - they were born in the same year, grew up in the same area of Sheffield, Handsworth, and both worked at or had major connections with the Northern General Hospital. And damn me if holidaymaker Sheila Robinson hadn't been a sister at the hospital for many years before becoming a district nurse.

These pictures give some idea of how lovely it is here but they don't do full justice to the early evening sunlight that bathed the church and the tree in "red fire." No filter was used on the camera.

Somehow we have found time to visit Daventry (Liz has been a few times to shop at Waitrose and Tesco ready for this weekend and to collect a repeat prescription from a very helpful doctor at the local medical centre), and I have been twice to enjoy an all-day breakfast on the Gongoozlers Rest narrowboat-cafe cooked by John and Jenny, who is also local mooring warden. The egg, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, fried tomatoes, black pudding, fried potato wedges and baked beans were so good the first time that I persuaded Liz to join me for a late brunch on Wednesday morning. This time I ducked the baked beans and the two slices of buttered bread but still had the two slices of crisp, dry fried bread. Outstanding! Afterwards we dropped in to see Arthur and Pam Sharpe on Blue Angel just a hundred yards or so from the Gongoozlers.

Long-term permit moorers, they welcomed us from the start when we stopped next to them in July 8 last year - Arthur virtually adopted Bess, along with most other dogs passing along the busy towpath.

E-mail update : Finally another missive from our good friend Sarah Levick on Arcadia, though this one is shorter than usual. I'm sure when she and Andy finish their full holiday cruise in a few weeks time there'll be more to follow. "Hello humans and canines. We're just back from a working week on board - well, working apart from the hours we spent cruising, and looking forward to the holiday proper in a couple of weeks. We're taking the boat back to Stenson for a bit of TLC - trouble is, my 'can you just do this' list has grown to three pages. However, I've taken out a new credit card so wahey, let's go for it!

"At the mo, we're thinking of going south via the north if you get my drift...up to Manchester and then back down again, rather than on through the other side. We'd prefer not to double back but it's a hard road through the city and not particularly conducive to dog walking/relieving so we'll leave that for another day. Then if we get time, we'll try to complete the Caldon at the third attempt. My only concern is that while the spirit is always willing at this and indeed every stage, the flesh is rather less co-operative. My days of 7-8 hours daily cruising I fear are long behind me - just too idle. Give me a good mooring, a cold drink, a decent book, that's all I ask.

"The week aboard was very enjoyable, down to Audlem and yes, we did keep your mooring warm for you. We spent the previous night at Hack Green which was super - no-one around so the dogs (except Monty) could go for a run. Decent weather too and earlier that day we'd managed to get stuck in the mud long enough to see a steam train come flying past! Audlem was busy on Sunday night but everyone vamoosed in the morning and we ourselves sidled off back to Hack Green for a bit of P&Q. Then it was back to the marina for a couple of days before we got itchy feet and decided to delay our return home so we could have the weekend up the Llangollen. Only trundled as far as Wrenbury where we nipped into the Dusty Miller pub for a pint and a very nice meal...so nice in fact that we went back Saturday lunchtime to repeat the experience. Whereas Friday the cut had been very quiet, Saturday saw the L. in its true colours with hire boats and privateers convoying past. I suspect our 'up on Friday, back early Sunday' strategy is a perfect one for the summer, if not for other times of the year - we just seemed to catch the traffic going in the right (opposite) direction. And it's a positive plus that the L. locks are so well-tempered - even the fabled by-washes give you a chance to perfect your helming."

August 12

One of the great advantages of having a birthday on a Sunday is that friends cannot always get to see you, especially if a longish car journey is involved. So this year I'm celebrating twice.

Yesterday Clive and Joy Thrower, our good friends from Ashford in the Water arrived at 11.30am, followed shortly afterwards by Brent and Carole Walker and Carole's mum Edna (see August 6 for our visit to them), and by Arthur and Pam Sharpe from Blue Angel. We sat outside on the towpath eating cold chicken, sausage, pork pie and salad prepared by Liz with smoked salmon from Carole, washed down with Pimm's No 1, red wine and white wine, rose wine and lager, all served separately of course and in quantities much enjoyed but with no adverse affect. In other words, we were all reasonably sober. Desserts included creme brule and raspberry tart with fresh cream brought by Joy and Clive and a Thornton's chocolate cake from Carole. It was a marvellous afternoon (see Latest pictures) and I still had my real birthday to look forward to.

It started this morning when Roger Hillyer on Berwyn Newydd handed me a card through the hatchway. He and his wife Jan moored behind us yesterday morning on their way back to home base at Wigram's Turn. We used to see the boat often when it was based on the Peak Forest and we had met their son Simon a few times when he had borrowed the boat for holidays. Roger also mentioned that he had asked the nearby church to ring the bells for me at about 10.30 am, and sure enough they did! Coincidentally, 30 minutes before Sunday morning service. A nice thought, I thought.

The day has continued with a walk down to the long-term moorings near the Stop House to have a cup of tea with Arthur and Pam on Blue Angel - I just wanted to point out that the "I'm 70" badge they had brought me the day before was very much appreciated. In fact I was wearing it. But they had obviously misheard Liz when she had said I was 17! While I walked back to the boat, Arthur gave Liz a lift to Waitrose in Daventry to get fresh bread, dogfood etc.

The rest of the day will be spent finishing the cold meats and the lovely chocolate cake not eaten on Saturday and tonight Liz is cooking me a favourite meal : pork loin medallions cooked in red wine sauce with mashed potatoes. We also have a bottle of champagne that Carole, Brent and Edna brought specially to be kept for today. With my son Jonathan, his partner Jenny and granddaughter Sienna in Poland this weekend, Brent and Carole have helped make this a memorable birthday, doing the sort of things J & J would have.

Mind you, Jonathan was on the phone early this morning, followed by Jenny and Sienna in the background, just a few minutes after I had opened their present which had been sent by Amazon to the Walkers' house in Braunston and lugged along the towpath yesterday by Brent. It was a beautifully boxed 30 DVD set of Ingmar Bergman's greatest films with a note from family suggesting they would keep me going for the next 70 years. And even if I watch them all in the next few months, it will seem like 70 years according to J1. Not so. I love Bergman's films and this is a set I will treasure (and enjoy!). The two Js and Sienna had also visited us at Napton a couple of weekends ago, of course, bringing with them what I thought at the time was a great enough birthday present - seven bottles of different real ales, one for each decade.

Tomorrow, it's back to normal and we plan an early start to get us to Hillmorton some time before lunch. I should know when I get there, as well as the average speed at which I've travelled and my height above the canal, or at least above sea level. Another marvellous birthday present came from Clive and Joy Thrower and two other good friends in Derbyshire, Linda Pelc and John Thorpe who could not make it yesterday but hope to see us soon. They had clubbed together to get me a splendid all-singing all-dancing GPS. One of its many features is that if you set it when you leave the boat, go walking or shopping, it will guide you back to your start point. Perhaps they felt at my age it would soon be of real use. In any case, it has a man-overboard button which can be pressed the minute someone falls off the boat. My only hope is that I'm not actually holding it if I'm the one who falls.

Finally, my thanks to all of you who have sent email or text messages or have telephoned their good wishes. It has been what my son calls a very "happy significant birthday".

p.s. Since writing the above, another boat has pulled in behind us - the familiar Tiger Lily which we have seen several times at her Venetian marina mooring on the Middlewich branch of the Shroppie. The boat is now owned by Geoff and Jackie Beard who have been cruising for some months - they saw us at Abingdon during the first and lesser flood on the Thames.

August 16

Heavy and then torrential rain kept us at Hillmorton until this morning and although we liked the mooring we were happy to move on at 6 am, down through the three locks and on to the water point to top up our three quarters empty tank. A short stop at Clifton Cruisers filled our diesel tank and replaced an empty gas bottle so we were able to sail on to Brownsover Park with few supply problems left other than bread, milk and the usual sundries. As soon as Liz returned from Tesco we came on out to this quiet(ish) mooring at Fall's Bridge, about 100 yards south of Yates boatyard, giving us a reasonably early finish and plenty of time to update this website.

The major addition today is an account of the weeks spent in Goring Lock during the worst of the Thames flooding in late July/early August by Mike and Sue Richardson on Shania. When you read Trapped (but happy) in Goring Lock and remember the tottering time had by Dot and Derek Canvin on Gypsy Rover at Osney you realise how comparatively safe we were at Abingdon and at Banbury.

We've also received an email from Julie and Garry on nb Teila, friends of Sarah Levick and Andy Jury on Arcadia. Often during our winters on the Cut when we've had coal and diesel brought to us by nb Alton, Liz and I have thought "wouldn't it be great if someone did the same thing with basic grocery and other supplies like toiletries." They have! Julie and Garry have converted part of their 58 footer to accommodate a shop area and are trading much like a small corner shop. You can read more about their venture and find out where they are by looking at their website www.shoponthecanal.co.uk. I've also added them to the Links page.

August 20

The last several times we have cruised between bridges 34 and 35, the lovely stretch of mooring overlooking Brinklow has been nose-to-stern with narrowboats. Unexpectedly there were two spaces as we came up the canal from Fall's Bridge on Friday morning so we tucked ourselves in to the better-placed one and settled down for a quiet weekend. Within hours we had received a phone call from Ruth and David Tomlinson on Windrift asking us to join them for lunch on Saturday. David would drive over from the Ashby canal and pick us up.

Later that day Derek and Dot Canvin on Gypsy Rover pulled in to moor in front of us and next morning our good friends Vicki and Ian Harley appeared on PEM No 6. Our social diary was full again!

So on Saturday we joined Ruth and David for a splendid lunch - Ruth described her pasta dish as "simple" but it was absolutely delicious and it was followed by mixed fresh fruit ladled into an empty pineapple shell. Wonderful stuff. It was also good to catch up with their news, of course, and to see their beautiful boat for the first time.

As soon as we got back to feed the dogs, we walked three boats lengths to see Vicki and Ian on PEM No 6, a happy hour or so talking about cruising, DVDs and various other hobbies. This was followed by an hour's break before we went aboard Gypsy Rover for a couple of glasses of exellent red wine and a more intimate account of their three weeks stuck at Osney during the worst of the Thames flooding. They were never in any real danger, they told us in hindsight, but night after night they couldn't sleep as environment experts warned them that this could be the time when the river would be at its height. The not-knowing, the fearing-the-worst, and hearing the flow of water racing past their hull, must have been as frightening at the time and certainly more wearing on the nerves as actually being lifted above the towpath briefly as we were at Banbury.

Yesterday was a quieter day. We said goodbye again to both pairs of boaters and I got on with various cleaning up jobs on my main desktop computer while the engine was running. For the third or fourth day in a row we noticed a strange, unpleasant smell inside the boat after the engine had been switched off. Suspecting the inverter I suggested to Liz this morning that we set off and call in at Springwood Haven to have it checked out. In the event, we found the root of the problem as soon as I tried to start the engine. It wouldn't! And when ever-reliable RCR arrived within an hour or two the engineer confirmed the starter battery was dead - we'd had it five and half years so it didn't owe us anything. Jay isolated the ex-battery and connected the wires to the first of our six leisure batteries, allowing us to start the engine again each morning until we reach Springwood Haven on Wednesday or Thursday. A phone call to them established they had a battery in stock and if the refitting was as straightforward as I suggested there would be no charge for their time.

So here we are at Brinklow for another day. We saw no point in setting off at midday and besides this is a splendid spot. Tomorrow IS another day.

August 23

This is just a quick update to announce we are still at Springwood Haven. We arrived here yesterday morning as planned to have a new engine starter battery fitted by engineer Kevin but as he checked things out he noticed the first of the leisure batteries was very hot and he could smell fumes coming off it. This was the battery that the 70amp alternator had been connected to so that we could start the engine and leave Brinklow. Kevin soon established that the alternator itself was the root of the problem - it was putting out 15 to 16 volts and he suspected the regulator was not working. So we came in to the marina, moored for the night and waited for the alternator to be checked out. It should now be fitted tomorrow morning, which has meant a second night's stay at Springwood Haven - no great hardship because we have plug-in electricity and the people here are as helpful and friendly as we remember them from last August when the boat's bottom was blacked while we were away in Mallorca.

I hope to do a fuller update when we leave tomorrow and make for Hartshill where we'd like to stay for the long Bank Holiday weekend.

This morning Kevin's young assistant engineer Richard fitted the repaired alternator, we paid our dues and cruised for all of 30 minutes to the long-stay moorings at Hartshill. As mentioned above we intend staying here at least until Tuesday (leaving the canal to the many holidaymakers who want to be on the move), and travelling into Atherstone by bus only to re-provision.

Our two-day sojourn at Springwood Haven was most enjoyable and we felt at home chatting with members of the marina and chandlery's staff like Katie and the people who now run the Valley Cruises hire fleet, especially engineer Ben. The early morning view from our hatch can be seen on the right and I've included another, larger view on Latest pictures.

One thing I didn't have time to mention in yesterday's update was the night we spent near Coventry Cruising Club's marina, a mile or so south of Hawkesbury Junction. Although we were close to the motorway it was surprisingly peaceful thanks to high trees between us and the constant noise of traffic. While we were there a boat pulled alongside for five minutes and owners Klim and Tina on nb Strathmore introduced themselves as friends of Roger and Maureen Yorke of Ramyshome who we got to know on the Macclesfield over the last two winters. Klim and Tina were on their way back to the K & A and were understandably concerned about tackling the Thames, where the red boards are back at places like Osney.

p.s. Since posting the above we have moved half a mile up the canal from Hartshill to a quiet spot just beyond the winding hole above bridge 33.

August 30

A couple of days outside Hartshill, an early (but not as early as usual) descent of nine of the Atherstone locks on Tuesday brought us to a favourite mooring above the last two locks of the flight. There we stayed for two uneventful days except for a brief meeting with Julia Cory and Steve Bacon on Even Balance who were on their way back to their mooring at Ventnor Farm. Julia was just setting off to walk to Atherstone when Liz met her late yesterday afternoon - Julia had been stung by wasps and her leg had become infected. We saw her again as she returned to her boat bearing antibiotics prescribed by a local doctor and a little later Steve knocked on the boat to tell us he was going to get a take-away meal and did we want anything from the Co-op? The bread he brought us was a light brown, unsliced Irish batch loaf and was superb at breakfast this morning with home-made blackberry and apple jam bought from the WI market at Abingdon. (Remember? During our two way stay there.)

This morning we set off down the last two locks, stopped at Bradley Green facilities for water etc and an hour an half later were moored in our other favourite spot on this stretch, just north of bridge 50 and only about an hour's slow cruise into Polesworth tomorrow where we intend spending the weekend and meeting our old friends from Derbyshire, Linda Pelc and John Thorpe.

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