We travelled up from Cornwall yesterday afternoon after Mike had finished a meeting in Truro. Christine took the opportunity to visit some shops in the city centre - a new sun hat cost an extortionate £7.50 - as well as Sainsbury.
The drive up the motorway was uneventful and traffic was comparatively light with no delays. Journey time was almost to the minute of that estimated when we left - plus a short comfort break at Michaelwood Service Station.
We arrived at Cropredy just before six and, before ending at the marina we checked out one of the two local pubs for a meal option tonight.
At the marina we quickly unloaded the car and stowed away the supplies and our clothes boxes. The couple on the next boat - quite recent liveaboards after returning from a long stay in Canada - were keen to chat and we dragged ourselves away in time to walk into the village for eight o'clock.
Christine was keen to check out the Red Lion as well as the Brasenose Arms but it took us some minutes to locate it in the oldest part of the village on the other side of the churchyard. Although it looked an interesting option we immediately discovered that the kitchen closed at 7pm! Our choice was made.
Christine had a steak and Mike opted for a steak and stilton pie with chunky chips. he was well-pleased with it and we both felt quite full afterwards - not really room for a pud, alas.
By the time we had walked back to the boat - it takes around 15 minutes - dusk was upon us. It we had been any later we ought to have taken a torch with us.
Today we intended to set off around our usual time of 9.30 but when checking out at the Marina Office, Mike was told of a problem two locks up the canal: a sunken boat. There had been no information of the CRT stoppage and notice feed but we had little option but to motor up and see what the timescale was likely to be.
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| Broadmoor Lock |
After tying up, Mike walked up to join quite a crowd of onlookers at Varney's Lock. As it happened, by the time he arrived the boat was beginning to float and it was clear that navigation was soon to be restored. With long queues either direction it took some time to get going as we hopped from space to space awaiting our turn.
It was a very warm day - much warmer than we have experienced this year and a speedy reminded of how much hotter it often is in this part of the country compared with Cornwall, which benefits from the temperate climate (usually) coming in from the Atlantic. Our day time temperatures are typically several degrees cooler than London, south east and home counties. OK, so we were by now fast approaching the Midlands but still, 32C still feels pretty hot!
By 1 o'clock our turn arrived and we were really on our way at last. Our plan - such as passes for a plan on the canals - had been to tie up around this time and enjoy a siesta in the hottest part of the day and return to cruising when a little cooler. It was not to be.
From all that we heard, some of it inevitably contradictory, even from CRT personnel, what happened was that this boat came free from its mooring mid afternoon yesterday. It is an old wooden boat, supposedly waiting to be repaired at the slipway below the lock. Whether a boat came by too fast and pulled out mooring pins, or whether there was inadequate mooring we do not know.
In any event, the boat drifted across the top entrance to the lock where it quickly took on water. One theory seems to be that as it caught on either bank the hull twisted and opened up the seams between the wooden planks. Christine was shown a photo from much earlier in the incident and it appeared that the boat was pretty much submerged. By the time we arrived most of the water had already been pumped out.
Whilst there were the inevitably grumpy people, upset at the travel plans being changed,who gave the CRT people some grief, most people simply enjoyed the sunshine and something different to gossip about and to speculate about its cause.
We were keen to keep up with the flow of boats - there was still a queue for the next three locks until the traffic evened out and a steady stream came down.Probably more boats had been waiting above than below so we could have been even longer! As a result we had toasted ham and cheese sandwiches 'on the go'.
Our ascent through the Claydon flight was, in the end, quite smooth and alternating boats worked out to everyone's advantage as we had few gates to open before us and close after us. We did still have to work the paddles!
A couple of locks have these small brick huts - we understand that these were used in the days of working boats as shelters for the lock keepers or their assistants who helped speed the cargo-carrying boats through the flight.
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| Napton Top Lock |
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| Boundary Lift Bridge |
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| Feeder Bridge |
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| The Tunnel |
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| Fenny Marina |
It was by now around half past four and we really did feel drained by the heat of the day so sought a mooring quite quickly. Perhaps we should have pulled into a gap in the visitor moorings but the long line of boats persuaded us to go just a little further. Naturally, we discovered that all the best looking options are hard to come alongside. We took a place that looked good but still left us with a little leap ashore.
6.3 miles - 8 locks
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