4 August 2011 - Braunston to Brinklow

Good old British weather!  The combines worked throughout the night - we could hear them - until 4am.  Which coincidentally is when it started hammering down with rain.  By 9am the heavy rain had gone so we set off, Annie making bacon butties as we went along.  Braunston is the junction of the Grand Union Canal and the north section of the Oxford.  We were turning left, back onto the north Oxford.  We stopped for nearly an hour to wander around Midland Chandlers based right at the junction and bought lots of bits and bobs.

Braunston is the middle of the canal world.  Much like Muslims with Mecca, Canal People turn towards Braunston at dawn and dusk, doffing caps at the former and raising a glass at the latter.  This centre of the canal-multiverse manifests itself in the form of ghosts.  Long dead wooden working boats have been resurrected by those with the faith, and now haunt the canals around Mecca Braunston. You pass them, sometimes sad and decaying, sometimes sunk, but often beautifully restored and painted with just a patina of rust.  Several went the other way during the day - two lovely pairs of motor and butty heading down to the Thames.  Then as we moved further north modern gaily painted tin cans much like ours took over and we saw no more of the ghosts.

Ghosts of the past wandering Braunston's waterways

Medieval ridge and furrow ploughing

Echos of the past extend even further back in the form of medieval ridge and furrow plough marks that cover many of the fields running down to the canal. Corrugated card board Annie calls them.  These were formed using early ploughs, pulled by oxen.  They have survived by the land only having been used for grazing since enclosure of the old open fields.

  A steady rain fell all day, interspersed occasionally with short periods of torrential rain.  However it was still quite warm and not at all unpleasant - until it started running down your neck.....  Son Mark was en-route from Southport to Fleet and had promised to call in for a cup of tea.  He tracked us using Google Latitude and duly turned up on an over-bridge at 5pm.  We stayed at the spot to have our evening meal after Mark left, then moved the boat about a mile further west, just outside Brinklow for the night.

3 August 2011 - Wormleighton to Braunston

Upped pins and set off mid morning while it was still quite cool.  This section of the Oxford north of Fenny Compton is a 'contour canal' that is it follows the contours, going round the hills rather than over the top via locks.  There are therefore 10 drop dead gorgeous lock free miles as far as Napton.  The weather was perfick and the landscape more than perfick.  Spent time spotting how many tractors and combines (wildly active with rain forecast tomorrow) had amber flashy lights on.  Then spent time wondering why a combine working in the middle of a huge field with no living soul for an imperial mile.... should need a bar of amber flashing lights on top. Probably to scare the field mice,
After said 10 lock free miles Napton comes along to bite you on the bum with 8 locks all in one go.  Safely through these the Oxford Canal quickly comes to an end and we joined the Grand Union - again lock free so we made good time.  Moored for the night about a mile outside Braunston Village.

Napton top lock with glorious Warwickshire as a backdrop

2 August 2011 - Banbury to Wormleighton

Lots of boats started passing us very early in order to beat the heat.  We didnt join them. The dog has been 'off colour' the last few days and Annie cycled back into Banbury to find a pet shop for tablets and dog food.  This allowed us to set off around 10.30.   Lots of boats seemed to be coming the other way and not many in our direction.  We passed through Cropredy for the third time - this time even more congested than before with the impending festival.  Signs have appeared on the locks on the Oxford Canal will be closed from 4pm to 9am until further notice because of a shortage of water. Its a good thing that we are nearly off the Oxford.  Stopped at the Wharf Inn in Fenny Compton and the 'Nectar' was rather pleasant.  Finally moored about a mile north of Fenny Compton opposite the humps and bumps of a DMV - the deserted medieval village of Wormleighton.

Poor TV signal requires a big aerial....

1 August 2011 - Moored at Banbury

Having done all the business in Fleet, drove back to the Marina at 1.30pm to be met by James to transport me to the station (Thanks Chris & James).  Aided by a swift train I was back on the boat by 3pm.... a clean and sparkly boat as Annie had been busy cleaning and washing whilst I had been away! After a purchase of essential ships stores of a liquid nature we turned the boat and headed back out of town, finding a nice spot for the night about a mile north of town.

Away from civilization - yipee!

31 July 2011 - Moored in Banbury

Weather is warming up - mid 20s.  After watching the Hungarian GP (poor signal meant the picture froze at only 2 points - the start and the finish!) I caught the train to Reading to be met by Chris & Mum (thanks Chris) for a lift back to the marina.  Collected the car and then back to Fleet.  Poor Annie had to sit it out in the boat and had rather a creepy night with all the noises of a busy town centre outside.

There is a cartoon strip based on this boat....

30 July 2011 - Cropredy back to Banbury

Annie cycled ahead to buy bread and milk in Cropredy and was waiting at the lock by the time I arrived with the boat.  Arrived uneventfully back in Banbury but had difficulty getting a decent TV signal, even with the satellite kit. Walked into Banbury which is quite pleasant and partook of the local brew, before returning via Morrisons for a major purchase of ships stores.

Bit of a squeeze getting back into Banbury....

29 July 2011 - Little Bourton to Cropredy

Decided not to move far as Ken needs to be back in Fleet on Monday and best route is to get train from Banbury.  We therefore dont want to go too far.  Nice spot we picked last night - lets stay here all day!  7:58am decision made.  8am all hell breaks loose just the other side of the hedge with diggers, D8s and other heavy earth moving equipment.  Seems the Environment Agency are trying to dig a hole to the centre of the earth for flood alleviation or somesuch - either way it was very noisy.  We held out to mid afternoon when decision#2 was formulated to move a few locks further north to get some peace & quiet.  Only a few hundred yards we thought so we'll just put the bikes on the roof, not bother putting them back on the bike rack at the back of the boat.  Annie cast off while I fired up the laptop and its canal mapping.  30 seconds later a squeal from Annie and I shot up, just in time to see my bike disappearing over the side with a splash.  It floated tantalizingly for a few seconds before slipping out of sight.  A boat had come round the corner as Annie was setting off, requiring her to take avoiding action..... which meant clipping some trees which caught the bike. I took a fix on a fast disappearing trail of bubbles and fortunately we were able to maneuver alongside and recover the bike with the boat hook - phew!
Our 'couple of locks' became extended to five as we encountered long lines of moored boats getting ready for the Cropredy Festival . Eventually we passed them all (you have to pass moored craft slowly on tickover) and turned Ceilidh round at a winding hole north of Cropredy and moored for the night.