Locks, locks and more locks

We’ve now two thirds of the way to Newbury. We try to pick the drier days for cruising, but the weather does like to have a laugh and has given us all the seasons in one day, several times.
Ian’s attempt to stop the use of the multifuel stove for the year (following his efforts as a chimney sweep) went out of the window. It’s been so cold! In the mornings the temperature has nearly hit zero, then it’s gone up to high teens for the afternoon- ridiculous, so I’ll have to bribe the sweep with silver to get it cleaned again. Now, as I type this, we’re sitting in a heatwave with temperatures rising to 30+ degrees C so instead of a fire, we’ve got the fans out!

 

 

 

 

We left the Worcester & Birmingham at King’s Norton Junction and headed east on the North Stratford Canal (stopping for necessary supplies at a local bakery along the way). Dropping down the 18 locks at Lapworth we weaved through the moored boats and channels at Kingswood Junction to turn onto the Grand Union. We’re now into areas of the English countryside that are very familiar, as we spent many years cruising them for our family summer holidays – it was either that or camping!

Heading uphill on the wide locks of these bigger canals can be a little daunting, but we got lucky and managed to pair up with another boat for both the 21 Hatton locks and the 10 at Stockton. Having two boats side by side when you’re rising in these broader locks stops the boat from being thrown around as the influx of water can be quite violent at times.

At Napton Junction we turned onto the South Oxford Canal. There, we paused at the bottom of the Napton Lock Flight long enough to wander into the village and visit the Napton Cidery. Wherever we go on our travels, we like to “support the local community”, so having heard about this place from fellow boaters we had to stop and sample their wares. It was yummy, so Ian gallantly carried a case of bottles back to the boat. Lucky for us we discovered they also sell their cider through Ocado online shopping so we can replenish our supplies from them (and continue to support the villagers of Napton!!)

The contouring South Oxford Canal has always been a favourite. It curls around the hills and can be very bendy, especially in the section known to us as “the wiggles”. This summit level of the Oxford has an ongoing issue of low water, so you can’t cut corners on bends, or the boat can get stuck on the silt. Being such a pretty area makes it very popular, particularly for hire boats, and you can guess where you ‘re going to meet them! Yep, it’s always under a bridge or on a blind bend and one or both of you ends up going aground. But a wave and a smile usually keeps everyone happy…..usually. At one bridge we did end up listening to a hire boater toot his horn at us repeatedly even though we were already stationary and leaving plenty of room for him (we saw him coming!). Since our last blog we’ve done another 85 locks, so we’ve been busy and due a treat.

In Banbury the canal cuts through Castle Quays which has shops, restaurants and a cinema (arriving late morning is usually best to get a spot). I’d been promised a trip to the cinema to see “The Sheep Detectives”. As we were tying up, our phones bing-bonged with a CRT notification that the navigation ahead of us was closed, a tree was down completely blocking the waterway and the towpath. Ian went off to investigate and returned with news that we were stuck possibly for a few days. Oh well, what a shame, time to go see some crime solving sheep!

Footnote: As my editor hasn’t published this yet I can add that in this current heatwave the inside of the boat reached 33.8C Everything inside was feeling a tad warm so I had to actually cool a bowl down before I could grate cheese into it for tea!