Winter repairs for some

Yesterday I looked out of my bow doors and saw this moored in front of me.

It's a Canal and River Trust workboat loaded with new lock gates ready to be installed somewhere during this years winter stoppages, each year during the quieter winter period (usually November to March) C&RT try to carry out the repairs that need canal closures, they produce Winter Stoppages maps, broken down into areas, for boaters, so they can plan there journeys and hopefully avoid becoming stuck between closed locks for the period of the work, this could be anything from a week to 3 or 4 months in extreme cases.

I moved away from Napton today, just to comply with the 48 hour mooring and get myself somewhere more rural prior to heading into Braunston, my next port of call. It was a chilly breezy cruise and uneventful.

Leaving the windmill at Napton behind.

Napton narrowboats hire boats were lined up, there are still a few out cruising but mostly back at the various hire yards for the winter.

and although I took more pictures due to a weak internet signal I am just going to post my view from the side hatch.

I will stay as long as I feel happy to, possibly until Monday.
Total today : 4 miles

Then came the locks

I spent most of Sunday fitting my new tunnel light, a simple enough job on the face of it, but in order to not have wires running on the surface it entailed dismantling and removing my wardrobe and the bow bulkhead paneling to gain access, so that took a while. I then traced the two cables, one feeding the horn and the other feeding the existing tunnel light to the point where they entered the bedroom and proceeded to cut through the wrong one despite having marked the correct one, a senior moment I believe they call that! anyway by 2pm the light was in and working and later that evening once it was dark I checked the alignment, as best I could, which should be pointing slightly right, to not dazzle oncoming boats and upwards to light up the tunnel roof, the first tunnel should indicate whether I have got it right.

Monday was a do nothing rest day, but yesterday I decided it was time for a change of scenery, casting off at 9:30 after the initial rain had relented and cruising through the still lock free country side in quite pleasant conditions.

The boat in the hole had not moved and as I passed by I realised it was probably the only moored boat that I don't have to slow down for as I pass.

Of course once again the rules of narrowboating dictate that if meeting a boat coming the other way it has to be at the sharpest bend with a bridge on it, and today I and another boat successfully complied with this rule, it meant we both ended up taking aboard some cuttings from the overhanging trees as we negotiated a passing maneuver barely making contact with each other :-)

So after 11 miles of lock free cruising I was ready for some light exercise, arriving at the first of the nine Napton locks at Marston Doles (16)

Lock 16

After passing through the next lock there is a short respite before arriving at the flight proper where  I passed some workers cutting back the foliage on the offside, it did need doing

The flight comprises 7 more locks (14-8), the locks are a pleasure, nice well maintained gear and pleasant surroundings.

View down to Napton-on-the-Hill from mid flight

Arriving at lock 11 I could see a boat ahead ready to leave lock 10, after descending my lock he still hadn't moved out of his and as I headed towards him I could see no-one around, the chap appeared as I was tying up on the lock landing and shouted an apology, he then headed out of the lock and realised he had left his 7 month old collie puppy stranded on the offside of the lock, he asked me to watch it for him until he was able to return, so I headed into the lock and then shepherded the puppy across my boat so that he could return to his owner, I then found the reason for the delay in him leaving the lock was that he was towing a butty and his other half was just pulling it out of lock 9 with the center line on her own but luckily at that moment a couple of volounteers arrived to assist her up the rest of the flight, it all made for an extra bit of interest.

Having finished the flight I moored on the water point and topped up, walking to the small shop by The Folly pub and bought some bread and milk and a bottle of gas while the tank filled, I then moved on to the 48 hour visitor moorings and decided to stay here until tomorrow.

Totals this post: 7 miles : 9 locks

Success....

....well sort of.

Yesterday saw me cast off at 9:30, just as a pair of hotel boats began negotiating Cropedy lock behind me, a well organised affair as the front boat left the butty (engine-less boat towed behind the main boat) in the mouth of the lock as it went through, collecting it again after descent, they had plenty of crew but it’s still quite impressive, not something a single hander could make look so easy!

I passed this little summer haven before arriving at Broadmoor lock (24).

I was surprised to find a Canal and River Trust worker letting water through the lock, they normally do this to adjust the level if the pound (stretch of water between locks) is low, but it wasn’t low so I asked what was happening and was told there was an emergency stoppage at the next lock up, a jammed paddle, and the repair would take 2-3 hours and he would let me know when it was ok to proceed, not a great start to my day! So I went and made a cuppa.

Waiting at Broadmoor lock

Around 11:30 there were now four boats behind me waiting I was up by the lock talking to a chap when around the bend a boat appeared heading down, the lady said the repair was over and we could continue, so it was all a bit of a rush as I headed back to my boat, as the lock was in my favour and with the help of a lot of crew I was soon through and off again, no pictures, I was too busy, and with the queue behind me I did not hang around at the offending  Varney’s lock but it was in my favour again so soon through that and on to Elkington’s lock (23) where I did manage a snap.

Just after the lock is Clattercote Warf where under cover work was going on restoring a wooden narrowboat but it was too hidden to get a decent picture, as an ex carpenter I thought I could do that, buy an old wooden boat and restore it, the thought lasted at least 3 seconds before I changed my mind  :-)

The scenery is getting very pretty now as the colours change

I was soon arriving at the bottom of the Claydon flight of five locks which lift or lower the canal 30’ 6” and luck was with me, there was a water problem ahead with an extremely low pound in the middle of the flight and a C&RT worker was sorting it out, seeing me leaving the bottom lock he began setting the locks ahead in my favour and assisting me through on a couple of them.

Claydon bottom lock

So in good time, making up for the delay earlier, I was soon entering the top lock of the flight, the last one of the day for me.

Claydon top lock

Then on through the countryside

With cows munching through the day

Passing beneath lift bridge 141 which is the last, or first, lift bridge on the South Oxford canal.

The next obstacle was Fenny ‘Tunnel’, which is a tunnel no more, the roof was removed a long time ago as the rock was brittle, so it is now a narrow cutting, with no room for boats to pass, but on this my fourth time through it was all clear again.

I stopped at Fenny Compton wharf and took on 47 ltrs of diesel, and YES they had the cable I needed, well almost, it’s not exactly what I needed but it will suffice, so I was happy.

I moored up at 2:30 on the 48hour visitor mooring just before The Wharf pub ready to move on tomorrow to somewhere a bit quieter on the summit where I will be happy to be the only boat around while I do my little project.

Last night's mooring

Today, Saturday 15th:

This morning was a chilly misty start, this is my mooring about 8am.

I needed milk and the little shop in the Wharf pub didn’t open ‘til 10am so it was about 10:30 when I set off, stopping for a quick water fill first.

I really love the variety of boats and some of the things you see, this was obviously a bedroom being towed by the boat ahead.

I am now on the summit of the Oxford canal and my plan was to cruise through the lockless open countryside until I found a spot without tree cover, no other boats and a piled edge, I am too lazy to knock pins in if I can avoid it.

After about one and a half hours cruising I found a spot fitting the bill exactly so here I am for a day or two, there is a bonus large gap in the hedge right opposite my saloon window.

The sun is now shining and it's a lovely afternoon so I thought I’d try out a panoramic view and this is the view taken through the large gap in the hedegrow, I hope it works for viewing, it's best viewed full size and then you should be able to scroll across it.

Totals this post: 9.5 miles : 8 locks : 1 lift bridge

On the hunt.

Yesterday I picked up a few of the remaining bit's that I needed, I also fitted an external ariel point to tidy that up and rerouted the cable, the self tapping screws supplied weren't going to work so I bought a small tap and die set and some bolts, it's all neater now.

It was a cold start this morning, no sign of the sun I've got used to but I am on a mission to find some cable for my new tunnel light, the brass one looks good but is not very effective so I've bought a pair of LED spotlights one of which I will fit, I tried everywhere I could think of in Banbury including the chandlers at Tooley's boat yard but no one seems to stock what I need, narrowboat life is so difficult sometimes!

I set off at 9:30 leaving Banbury behind and passing the permit holder moorings.

And soon into my first lock for today, Hardwick lock (28), here's a couple of views from it.

The boarded up lock cottage from within the lock.

7' 6" so not too deep.

Looking back as I leave

It was surprisingly busy with boats, one little incident with a hire boat who had loads of room but did the wrong thing as I approached swung across the canal and reduced the available gap, his bow hit a moored boat and his stern nudged me, I never touched him :-) but it was no problem really, just a bit of minor excitement.

The next lock was in my favour and as I walked up and opened the gates another boat turned up so they locked me through once I was in.

Autumnal colours appearing now, Bourton lock approach.

I liked this on a residential mooring, outside pool table, BBQ and drinks table, all set for next year!

And at this time of year you start to see lots of this, residential moorers tend to buy their coal in bulk to get a discount.

Slat Mill lock (26) was next and I found it two thirds full, a boat was approaching a few hundred yards ahead so being the nice chap I am I opened the top paddles and finished filling it then l locked them through before ascending the lock myself.

I have passed through Cropedy three times before but never really had a look around so I decided that I would go through Cropedy lock and moor up then have a wander through the village and walk down to the marina to see if they had the elusive cable I was after.
It's quite narrow and bendy as you approach the lock but nothing was coming my way.

It's a nice little lock this one, only 5'6" deep and quite a pleasant setting.

Having gone through I moored up for the night, here on the 24 hour moorings:

Totals today : 4.5 miles : 4 locks

I then walked into the village, here's a few snaps of what I saw:

Nestled in the middle of this row of thatched houses is The Red Lion

Village green  on 'Chapel Green' road, so named because...

On the corner is this Wesleyan Chapel erected in 1881

Looking down on Cropedy Lock from the bridge, Quinquireme in the distance.

Having passed through this part of the village I walked the quarter mile or so to the marina which...... was closed!

Tomorrow the hunt will continue to Fenny Compton.

A little update.

It’s been a while since my last post as there has been no boat travel, the reason I decided to stay at Banbury was to enable a trip back to Surrey to see my family.

While here though I have passed the time stocking up and generally catching up with things, the town was handy for that, food shopping, clothes shopping, not my favourite thing, some bits and pieces for the boat, I changed my mobile Wi-Fi supplier from EE to Three, a better deal but will have to see if it is as good for coverage, and with no TV signal it’s been fairly quiet, the only radio signal I could pick up was on my DAB radio which is battery powered so that kept dying as well!

Anyway it was all worth it, Friday afternoon I caught the train from Banbury to Basingstoke, standing room only on that one, and then onto Weybridge, got a seat on that one. A very pleasant weekend was spent at my sister Carol’s house with her partner Peter who kindly ferried me around; Saturday saw a visit to my eldest daughter and her boyfriend for a meal at The Crown in Egham and Sunday another meal out at The Kingfisher by Chertsey bridgeto see my other daughter and my son and other family members, there were 13 of us in all including my lovely little granddaughter and very enjoyable it was too.

Monday saw a return trip to the boat, seats on both trains although a bit of shuffling was needed as people were occupying reserved seats, I moved to enable a couple to sit together only to find I was now in a reserved seat and had to move again at the next station when the reservee arrived :-)

All good on the boat, a bit chilly but soon got the fire lit, and the solar panel had kept the batteries fully charged in my absence.

Today I moved up to the services for a much needed empty and fill, the water tank was very low and took well over an hour to fill probably 850ltrs of the 900ltr tank, luckily no-one else wanted to use it, whilst I was at the service point a boater walked up carrying a rubbish bag but had left his keys on his boat which was on the second water point by the lift bridge the other side of the lock so I opened the gate for him, as I moved through Banbury Lock (29) and started towards the lift bridge he saw me and opened the bridge for me, one good deed and all that :-)

It was then just a short trip to my required mooring at Spiceball Park, handy for the final few bits of shopping (wine from Tesco!) I am staying here tomorrow, a visit to Tooley’s boat yard chandlery is needed as they were closed, winter opening hours being 10-12,  I will then head off on Thursday to do some small jobs in a quiet area having collected some bits from Amazon that were delivered to my sisters house.

No pictures at all today, it’s been so long I forgot all about the camera.

Totals today: ½ mile : 1 lock : 1 lift bridge (opened by a.n.other)

Only a very short run but happy to be moving again!