Oundle

We moored the night before sufficiently far down the main river to be away from the noise of the bypass traffic. We freed ourselves from the weed and cruised back up to the city centre to use the sani station whilst Andrew went to the nearby shops for paper, croissants and a missing OS map.

Off properly on a day that was still quite warm - enough for shorts - but rather overcast. It remained like this until mid afternoon when hot sunshine returned.

The first stretch has few locks so it was plain cruising for most of the morning, although we now have to wait after leaving the lock in order to open the bottom guillotine - unless another boat arrives just at the right time! Many of the locks have former mills alongside - most have been well-converted into houses. That then brought us to a stretch where there are few opportunities for mooring - as we found on the way down when looking for a night stop. Eventually we had to give in and have lunch 'on the move' as being the simplest option.

Weed cutters are a good idea but they did leave a lot floating down the river before we passed them. Did not help our prop though!

At Warmington Lock, Christine decided to take a walk across to Fotheringhay - the Church clearly visible on the skyline. Mike also joined her, leaving Andrew to navigate the boat up to the next lock.

At the approach to the village are the remains of the former castle - of Mary Queen of Scots fame - now only visible from the rounded shape of the Motte and Bailey. We did not have time to climb up to the top but did take a look in the church. The village is little more than those houses and cottages that line the main street - two former inns are now houses but one pub remains. A couple of thatched cottages are noted for their authenticity.

The church was founded in early medieval times as a collegiate church and was, at that time, twice its current length.Like that it would have been better proportioned but today is an impressive space, albeit rather square in shape.

By the time we had walked to Perio Lock Andrew was through but had discovered that there was no access from the adjacent road. This meant the Mike and Christine had a further walk along the road to Cotterstock where they arrived just as the boat was coming to the top of the lock. The church is a strange arrangement.

We passed through Oundle - actually the town is a little distance from the river, unlike most places we have passed through. we did not want to go beyond Lower Barnwell lock as we need to call at the marina for more diesel in the morning. We found a space for the night on the short arm just above Ashton Lock. (We will be trying to forget about this lock as we - ie Mike - made a complete hash of working through, especially as a couple of other boaters were sitting imperiously alongside the lock having their meal! Mike's excuse is that he was not concentrating properly as he was trying complete the roast veg at the same time! Anyway, he made a better fist of reversing back to the mooring space so that whoever starts off in the morning will have a simple exit!)