Monday 13th August 2007 Stoke Bruerne to Buckby top Mike, Wendy, cats Tilly & Mandy
Tilly came in and didn't dash straight out again after eating. So at 10:05 we backed up to the winding hole, winded, and set off through the tunnel, for the third time in a fortnight. At Gayton Junction we again took on water & emptied the elsan. At the foot of Whilton locks we bought gas & odds & ends of chandlery at the boatyard, and a moored boat asked to share the locks with us. It was two-handed, with a very efficient crew delivering the boat to Bristol. As ever the flight felt very slow, even though the clock showed it not as bad as it felt. We were pleased to find a mooring on Buckby visitor moorings at 18:33, just past the water point. DAY'S RUN 15.8 miles, 7 locks in 7 hours 4 mins Tuesday 14th August 2007 stationary at Buckby top Mike Wendy, cat Mandy (Tilly later) Tilly was AWOL again, so we stayed here for the day. I had a nice lunch at the "New Inn". Wednesday 15th August 2007 Buckby top to Hillmorton Mike, Wendy, cats Mandy & Tilly We set off at 11:59 and had a good run through Braunston tunnel. As we emerged from the tunnel we found torrential rain, so decided to stop for some lunch and to wait until the weather improved or a partner appeared for the locks. Both of those things happened at once abut half an hour later. The people on the other boat were surprised to hear from us and some uphill boats about the heavy rain, hail and thunder as they'd missed it all while in the tunnel. One of the uphill boats was our friend Terry Stroud on "Florian", heading for his home mooring at Buckby. We stopped at the water point between Braunston Stop and Braunston Turn to take on water, then another bout of bad weather started. We turned north on the Oxford Canal, and moored at 18:10 by the "Old Royal Oak", Hillmorton, by which time the weather had calmed down. We went to the pub for a meal, but their grill wasn't working, so we made do with fish & chips. The food was OK, but the pub was big and a bit plasticky. There were canoeists practising quite late in the evening, from a base on the wharf. DAY'S RUN 10.3 miles, 6 locks in 4 hours 57 mins. Thursday 16th August 2007 Hillmorton to Stretton Mike, Wendy, cats Mandy & Tilly We set off at 9:41 and stopped at Clifton Cruisers for a pump-out and also bought a lot of diesel at quite a good price. The chap there re-fixed our front fender which had been a bit dodgy for some time and had finally given way when Wendy had a bump with an unexpectedly hard lump of bank under a bush while trying to give a lot of room to a Willow Wren training boat coming the other way. The people on the other boat were a bit scornful about this, so Wendy was pleased to learn at Clifton that they'd done something silly earlier. We stopped again at Brownsover Wharf for a load of shopping at Tesco, then went on to moor at 18:33 in the middle of nowhere a little way north of Stretton, hoping that Tilly wouldn't wander too far. DAY'S RUN 10.6 miles, 3 locks in 4 hours 34 mins Friday 17th August 2007 Stretton to Hartshill Mike, Wendy, cats Tilly & Mandy We made a late start (12:02) after a disturbed night because Wendy kept waking herself up coughing. At Hawkesbury junction we had a pleasant pub lunch sitting outside "The Greyhound" and watching boats go round the tight corner of the junction. Then we turned left on the Coventry Canal,stopping at 18:8 at "The Anchor", Hartshill. We moored just past the pub. I walked back there for a drink, but Wendy was feeling too groggy. It was a very pleasant pub with good beer and the menu looked interesting. Worth remembering for the future. DAY'S RUN 14.1 miles, 1 lock in 4 hours 52 mins Saturday 18th August 2007 Hartshill to Atherstone Mike, Wendy, cats Tilly & Mandy Another disturbed night so we didn't set off until 11:15. The weather was ferocious again, and we had a certain amount of queuing in the Atherstone flight - there were boats coming the other way but the timings were all wrong. We needed to shop at Atherstone, as I realised I'd left the mains charger for his Nokia 'phone in London and would need it at the National. The moorings below the road bridge by the "King's Head" were full, so we had to moor above it (opposite the pub)at 13:36. The weather was so filthy that we decided not to go any further. DAY'S RUN 3.1 miles, 5 locks in 2 hours 21 mins. Sunday 19th to Tuesday 28th August 2007 stationary at Atherstone Wendy, cats Tilly & Mandy (Mike for the first Sunday) Wendy by now was feeling horribly ill with her usual "bronichals" and rather light-headed, so we decide to say put here and I'd travel from here to the National (at least we were close to a railway station). On Monday we walked to the station for me to catch the advertised train to Nuneaton to change to a direct train to Cambridge or Ely, which former didn't appear. The enquiries people hadn't told me that this end of the journey was being covered by a rail replacement bus service. So I had to get a taxi (from one of the pubs in the town) to Nuneaton. For the ensuing week, I was working at the "National" and Wendy took to her bed for several days, until she managed to get to a pharmacist who sold her a chesty-cough remedy that was OK for diabetics. That helped a lot, Atherstone has mediocre shopping, recycling bins and at least one decent pub with good, unpretentious food. The Market isn't as good as we remember it from some years ago. I came back on the (second) Tuesday evening, worn out after the "National". -- Mike Stevens narrowboat Felis Catus III web-site www.mike-stevens.co.uk No man is an island. So is Man.
