Banbury

We set off in reasonable time - it was a little way to the first lock so Mike could manage on his own. The brilliant sunshine of yesterday had gone but it was dry and warm.

There was just Grant's Lock to negotiate before reaching Banbury.

From previous experience we knew where to moor to be close to Morrisons - it is quite a hike from the town centre, our mistake on previous visits! (Actually made more confusing as there is a Morrisons sign clearly visible from Banbury Lock but it turns out to be for a filling station which is nowhere near the main store!)

We completed a full re-stock - in case, dear reader, you think that that is a tad over the top having left base only yesterday, we had planned before leaving home to do this and had brought supplies on that basis!

After returning to the boat we moved up to just below the lock in order to use the facilities - waiting for a boat to clear the space took a while, during which Mike slipped and 'bashed' a shin . . . (say Ahh!)

By now there was traffic and it was around 1 o'clock by the time we were able to moor at Castle Quay for lunch. Mike made a further trip to Julian Graves - Christine was going to accompany him (to make sure he did not buy too much) but a phone call for the Diocesan Disability Officer kept her tied up for longer than the shopping trip.

By the time we cast off again it was a very pleasant afternoon with sufficient sunshine to keep us rather warm.

Some people just want you to know who lives there . . .

 Three locks brought us up to the Cropredy level - each time there were other boats at the locks.

We were keeping an eye open for Epiphany - the Slee's blog keeps us informed of their progress and we had been in email contact. Mike knew John from his time in Cornwall but had not actually met Fiona before. As we drew alongside, just before Cropredy Wharf, she welcomed us aboard - fortunately there was a free mooring space just a couple of boats away.

John had been to Banbury to play golf so we caught up on news with Fiona until his return somewhat later. Alas, a golf trolley not quite up to his size had not done his back any good and he returned rather stiff . . . (don't expect sympathy for golfing injuries from this blogger! Now, if it had been a boating incident that would have been another matter)

In any case, it was good to meet Fiona and to see her looking so positive after her recent to-ing and fro-ing to Harefield (see their blog for lost of details)

By now it was far too late to continue further so it was as well that we had a good overnight mooring. We could also lock on to a satellite signal (mobile phones are not good, however) - in the process discovered that last night's failure might have been due to a misleading reading from the HTC compass app - needs to look into this tomorrow.