Date - 28 Sep 06 to 1 October 06 Day - Friday Start - Napton End - All Oaks Corner- Brinklow
Friday We arrived at the boat on Friday afternoon about 4 pm. No sooner were we onboard and it started to rain quite hard, it was 5-30 before we could move the boat down to the lock and unload the car and as it was a bit cool I light the stove, this also meant that Diana could cook our evening meal. As we reversed back from the lock a lady in a bonnet walked up, saw us about 100 yards up from the lock and raised the top paddles, she didn't realise that we were going backwards and I didn't realise that she had walked up from the lock and not down from Marston Doles. As some of you may have guessed by now it was Elaine Scott, "The Lavender Boat Lady" anyway I walked down and apologised for mucking her about. Saturday We got up just as the sun was rising and at 8 o'clock headed off by car to Avoncroft Museum to attend the IWA AGM and Branch Officers meeting. The weather stayed fine until just before the meeting ended when we had bright sun and heavy rain giving a spectacular rainbow over the town. We returned to the boat through the odd shower and decided to set off down the flight heading for the Bridge Inn to eat as we had not been there for some time. We had a good run down the locks meeting a few boats coming up so we were able to legitimately leave some of the gates open. There were a couple of mooring places by the Folly but still a boat found it necessary to moor in the winding hole. Then it started to rain,thankfully not too heavily. At the Bridge all the visitor moorings were full and we had to go about 4 boat lengths past the end of the piling to moor on pins in what can best be described as a wet sponge. After mooring we walked back in the rain to the pub, it was 7-15 and we were told that we could have a table at 8-30 if we cared to wait. As good as their word a few minutes after 8-30 we were shown to our table where we enjoyed good service and good food. Since we visited last the Bridge Inn has changed hands, It is now owned and run by the Gilbert family who are old friends of Carol and Tim who use to run it. I say family, Mother is front of house, dad who worked with Tim in S Africa is the chef, the oldest son also works in the kitchen and the other son is the barman, a real family business. They have made very few changes since Carol and Tim left, a few changes to the specials board and a cross stitch on the wall. The furniture has moved around a but with the settee now by the fire and tables and chairs in the back bar. The meal and service was just as good as ever and we will definitely be returning. Sunday 1 October Boats were on the move quite early the first one going by about 7-30 As we were moored to not the firmest piece of bank on the network we decided not to hang around to long and were ready to go after the third boat had gone by. Before setting off I dipped the diesel tank and was a bit surprised how low it was so a quick detour to Calcutt boats was called for to take on 210 lt. at 47p per lt. When I went to pay for it Roger informed me that he was taking another delivery on Tuesday and this should be a bit cheaper, I wish I had spoken to him first then I would only have taken 100 and filled up on the way home. The last tank full had taken us to the IWA National and up and down the Thames. I checked the consumption and it was 1.4 lt/hr not too bad on a big river, plus we have used the stove a bit. As we approached Braunston in started to rain quite heavily, Diana was steering and because we slowdown passing moored boats, the boat behind was almost on our fender. The strange thing is, when I took over on the back they dropped back quite a bit. Just beyond the Puddle Banks the skys really opened and the visibility fell dramatically. Diana suggested mooring up, but I had the umbrella up and the rear doors shut and was not wet atall, I'm sure we would both have got soaked mooring up. The rain continued on and off until well into the afternoon and the boat that had been on our stern followed us all the way to Hillmorton, Just before the Barby straight I caught up with a hire boat who was going slightly slower than me on the open cut so I didn't continue pulling away from the boat following and could watch him. Other than when he came up behind me he didn't slow at all for moored boats, probably doing a steady 3 mph all the time. We moored for the night about 6 o'clock at All Oaks Corner, Brinklow midway between two other boats, one had a fire smoking towards us and the other his engine running. We had not been here long when another boat came slowly by looking for somewhere to moor, so we are now behind the one with the engine running, ironically the boat that has just arrived is also a Marquee Narrowboat hull. -- Brian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit my Web site at http://www.harnser.info Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canals-list/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canals-list/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
