Hawkesbury to Atherstone

Roy Annie and Adrian took Panther down to the Coventry basin (near the Plumb Centre) whilst I busied myself cleaning and repairing on Independence.
I pulled out onto the Coventry canal through the stop lock and water/looed and awaited their return.
We set off together about 1ish and moored at the Anchor just south of Hartshill . A pleasant pub followed by curry cooked on Independence, which was well received.
Awoke at 6 the following morning by the quarry opposite. Crash bang wallop - bloody uncivilised hour to start cutting rock. Who could possibly need a bit of stone at 6 in the morning!?
Off by 9 30 and a glorious run through Hartshill  to Atherstone. A beautiful  part of the canal with lots of twists and some locks at the end.
We had already sussed out the moorings five locks down, just past the Kings Head and very handy for the station.

Moored up found the car ntact and took Roy and Adrian back to Stoke Bruerne and Grafton Regis for their cars. Adrian continued on back home and rejoins us somewhere on the next leg to Barbridge.
My laptop got soggy in Wednesday nights deluge and the keyboard doesn't work + I am unable to download any photos from the camera so blogging is a bit restricted for the mo.
Found a repairman in Atherstone who thinks he can fix it for my return after Yorkshire. Till then its all on the phone. :'(
Atherstone is a good town. Lots of very friendly folk and they even publish a "Boaters Welcome to Atherstone" guide which is very good and an example to others.
We spent Friday night in the Kings Head cos we were dining there. 10/10 and Saturday night there because the rain was so potential the access to town under a railway bridge was willy - deep in rainwater!
The excellent landlady Claire kindly lent me an umbrella to get back to the boat which saved me a megadrenching.
On Saturday we visited Stone by car to work out possible stop with railway station for crew changes. Later in the trip I'm looking forward to changing Crew at Crewe !

Sunday and woken by a boat pulling alongside. Got up to tell them to bugger off and Lo! It was Peter Hawker on the workboat Bletchley who used to do the Cowroast coal and diesel deliveries.
Roy and I both filled up with diesel.
Peter had his two youngsters with him enjoying a working holiday. Good to see Peter. A bloody nice bloke.
Roy and Annie left after lunch so I'm in charge till I leave for Yorkshire. Had a good walk down the flight followed by a pint, roast lamb on board, a dvd of Airplane and an early night. All excellent.

Newbold to Hawksbury Junction

Today is Annie's  birthday.
Happy Birthday Annie.
(Its also Annie's sister's  birthday today so Happy Birthday Sue!)
A late start is planned so before breakfast Adrian and I walk into town to pick up a newspaper (we are sooooo keen to read about Prince Norbert ) plus a bottle of Prosecco and some flowers for the birthday girl.
A healthy breakfast and cast off at 10 30. Cruise up to Stretton Stop, On way we managed a brush with a tree which deposited my stove chimney in the cut and spread the flowers about a bit. Nay bother....c'est  la guerre as we say round the French quarter of Tring.   I am in need of a bulb for my big brass Francis headlight and so far no success. None at Rose Narrowboats at Stretton either but ice cream for the others and off we went. Stopped at Ansty for lunch and on to Hawkesbury for 4 30.
Where we dined very well though very warmly at the Greyhound.
Had Prosecco and nibble with birthday cake with R and A beforehand.

Braunston to Newbold

Don't talk to me about royal babies. 14 pages of the Times plus a colour supplement. And only one mention of the mighty Fulham!
The new arrival coincides with two of the wettest hours boating in 40 years. Accompanied by a thunderstorm of such ferocity that Hail Marys were frequently incanted. One bolt of lightning immediately followed by thunder actually shook the boat . A complete change of gear followed and the rest of the trip to Rugby was dry. Through Hillmorton locks, always a delight, following Panther. Shopping at Rugby then onto Newbold for mid afternoon catching the last mooring. There are two pubs next door to one another but we have arrived in the week where the people in the first are about to take over the second (The Boat) which isn't doing food. Dinner in the Barley Mow (smoked haddock with poached egg-one of my top five favourites) which for the price really was terrific value.
Another silly night and early to bed.

Long Buckby to Braunston

A short run today. The plan is breakfast at 10, through the Long  Buckby  top lock, water/loo , through Braunston tunnel, down half of the Braunston  locks and moor in the pound below the Admiral Nelson pub.
Then we will make a decisions as to shopping, dining and the pursuit if happiness.
That's the plan.
Very pleasant half hour on waterpoint in company of Mickey  Cole who used to build boats round the Tring area. He enquired after Chris and Gill and their boat Eulalie which he built.
Watered up and the sun blazing we set off for the tunnel. Ady wants to steer so I'm on headlight duty. The run up to Braunston
tunnel is one of my favourite bits of canal and the trip through was smooth. Met three boats coming the other way which gave Adrian the bragging rights as I had none through Blisworth yesterday .
Four locks and moored up.
Walked 25 minutes  up the hill to Braunston village-golly  was it hot!-to buy stuff for bbq -had a reviver in the pub that isn't the Wheatsheaf and did the shopping. Braunston has a great butchers so the return walk was heavy laden but downhill

A drink with Roy, Annie and Adrian in the Admiral Nelson and returned to the boats for bbq. Silly noses were sported by the more infantile in the group.
First rain for a long while presumably some Deity is seeing a portent consequent upon the birth of a new Ponce . Sorry, Prince.
Retired hurt about 11ish. Meaningful rain and thunderstorm overnight.

Blisworth to Long Buckby

Away just after 9 a.m. All in good spirits and no ague in either crew.
A couple of hours to Weedon named after St Weedon the Patron Saint of Bathroom Tiles where we restocked om milk and bread. Lots of duckilings about hence we are getting through bread faster than normal.



Waiting at Wilton



Up the fight to Long Buckby

 Followed some looneyboat all the way to Weedon. Chap dressed for the Office who kept waving to the trees. Glad Roy was between him and me. Lunch on the move with Adrian and I taking turns on the tiller and reached the bottom of Wilton locks for the Rush Hour.
Weather steadily improving as worked our way up the six locks mooring below the top lock at Long Buckby where we intend to barbecue this evening, presumably after a visit to the recently refurbished New Inn. Which turns out to be very pleasant . The four of us enjoy a pre-bbq drink and raise a glass (and a few more as the evening goes on) to Annie's Mum , Catherine who has a birthday today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHERINE FROM THE CREWS OF PANTHER AND INDEPENDENCE.
And thank you for the Carraway Cake. Now all gone! AND........Whilst all this was going on the Australians were being dismissed for not a lot and the second test at Lords ends in 4 days. England 2 Australia 0  Deep Joy.

Grafton Regis to Blisworth

Miss Stoke Bruerne 2013

That's shallot

A cloudy day but pleasant enough.
Up to the Stoke Bruerne  locks up the flight of 7 and through the tunnel to Blisworth
Dipping occasionally into the cricket, pausing briefly at Stoke Bruerne for refreshment and negotiating the tunnel without meeting anyone coming the other way made for a pleasant progress .
Even saw my neighbour at Cowroast, David Daines, moored just before the tunnel.

On my return to the mooring Pam sent me a picture of her potato harvest with one small onion and the comment "that's shallot"
Nice one Pam



An excellent fish pie dinner on Panther-thank you Annie 10/10- and to bed.



Miss Watford Gap 1958

Grafton Regis to Atherstone

The cars are in the right place, the crews are on the right boats, the fridges are full and the sun continues to shIne  :-D
A tearful farewell to Pam (my tears, her farewell) and Adrian collects me for the ride to Grafton R. pausing at Cowroast to collect a few odds and sods including my first red potatoes pictured below
My only nagging concern is "the case of the two cold bangers" as Sherlock might have said. When I set out for Atherstone by car yesterday I took a couple of cooked sausages for the journey. I like a bit of company.
Unfortunately I neglected either to eat or chuck aforesaid company so I am naturally apprehensive about what awaits when we open the car on Sunday week. Watch this space for the Great Kia Sausage Pong Plague which destroyed Atherstone and Nuneaton in July 2013. (mind you that's why the sausages are there-Nuneaton. Ho ho)
Arrived boat which as is to be expected was blooming hot. Opened all doors and allowed draught to circulate whilst we listened to the Aussies throw their wickets away. Bliss.

A takeaway curry from Stoke Bruerne where we had a ridiculously highly priced pint at the Boat Inn , a planning meeting with the Pantherites and bed.

Stage two

Today I move the car to Atherstone where we finish the next leg of our trip.
It's a warm one again so an early start to get a few jobs out of the way. Jobs that should,of course , have been done before I left Cowroast but hey ho.
At least the New bunk looks good albeit rather gay. Picture below.along with a snap of my healthy breakfast
A drive to Atherstone of about an hour, a swift o j in the Kings Head and onto the train returning to Berkhamsted via Milton Kleenex
Mission accomplished.
Back tomorrow with Adrian and off we go.
Yippee

Grafton Regis Tuesday 16th July

Came back to babysit the boats for a couple of days.
Amazing how much stuff in the car to be transported up the towpath to the boat. Food galore-well, enough to last me till Thursday,-clothing sufficient to get me to Atherstone (our next programmed stop) , two bedside cabinets which will in fact be the base for a new bunk in the middle cabin (more later if you can wait), a duvet, 3 fenders, 2 lock handles and a new radio (my old one having failed to work for the first Test match. Bastard)

This boat is in the farm opposote my mooring. Must have taken the bend too fast

Non-slip decking
Very H and S!

Laurence and Tabitha , my favourite sheep baa none are on the right

Did a few jobs then went for a wander finishing at the White Hart where I'm told today was 29 degrees and tomorrow will be hotter. Good.
Not a great selection of ales -it's really a restaurant and a rather good one to boot-but at £2.90 a pint and perch for my crossword I am happy.
Having had to lock the boat up it was baking hot inside on my return from W Hart. Such a shame we can't leave our homes unlocked. Or maybe we can and I worry too much....
I recall the Summer of 76 when I was boating on the Norfolk Broads and how at least on the water it cools down a bit more at night. So comfortable by midnight. Dinner in the front well and an early night.
Wed 17th July
Another glorious morning .
Got rest of gear from car before it gets too hot. Today is bunk building for middle cabin . Such fun o_O
Ady rang to confirm he is joining crew on Friday so plan is coming together.
Finished the bunk, polished some brass, cleaned the engine, resealed the shower ,put on some more anti-slip on the gunwhales, rewired the CB radio, rewired the LED light, had a siesta, walked to the pub, had duck Caesar salad (The Old Crown at Ashton-very good), returned to boat, finished crossword, had a whisky,wrote this and went to bed. Night night.

Llangollen or bust.

Friday 12th. July. The 11 a.m. tide.

Off we go with brass aglistening
Sun ashining and liver aquaking 
To Llangollen and back.
Twirlytwo the boat's pig and Norman the Gnome are ready as you can see .
And we have a farewell committee to Say goodbye
Or is it good riddance ? Au revoir Cowroast.

The actual journey time there and back is 42 days but we (Independence and Panther with Roy and Annie) are stretching it out till October.


Brilliant five hour run to The Grove at L Buzzard . Ace weather but met some odd types on the way
A very pleasant evening with Roy and Annie first in the garden of The Grove and then back to Independence for hot chicken salad. Oh and wine. Much jollity .

Saturday 13th and awake befuddled  to another glorious day.
The delights of Milton Keynes await.
And do not disappoint.
Geoff the Thin (Independence crew for this stage) was at the helm when the day boat from hell (which had only just narrowly missed Panther) crossed the canal and headed for us.
Geoff was quick to realise that this Hen party had no idea what side they should be on and slammed us into reverse. I did comment that had Geoff hit the day boat full on and eliminated the crew of Hen Partyists he might have improved the quality of life of the prospective spouse considerably. But that was ungallant.
Apart from that a very pleasant day which was the hottest of the year so far
We were glad to moor at the Black Horse  Gt Linford  where we grabbed a pint to refresh and returned to Panther for prawns curry .
Yummy .

Sunday 14th Happy Birthday Moira. (my big sister)
To Cosgrove for breakfast and water/loo
Annie spotted a hedge about to burst into flames thanks to some cretin dumping the remains of a bbq . Took 4 lots of water to stop Cosgrove doing a passable impersonation of Pudding Lane in 1666. From Cosgrove to Grafton Regis where we are mooring for the week. Lovely mooring with noisy neighbours who will have to be threatened with the Mint Sauce before long.
Have taken Annie Roy and Geoff back to Cowroast and will return soon..
Our arrival at G Regis coincided with England's victory over Australia in the First Test
What a grand weekend
Unless you're Aussie   :-D

 

The view at Grafton Regis

Grafton Regis has quite a history

http://www.grafton-regis.co.uk/index.html

with the following all living here-though not at the same time cos that's how history works....

                  Henry VIII                  Sir Francis Crane          1st Duke of Grafton        Elizabeth Woodville       Vice Admiral Fitzroy

A  Few more photos of the first leg.

Roy breasts up for a pint at The Black Horse, Gt Linford

Under the railway bridge at Wolverton

Panther passes the wonderful rail mural at Wolverton

More of the mural

The whole mural!

Saint George Celebrations at Cowroast

We are getting ready for our St George's Celebration on 27th. As any good English person knows the actual feast is on Tuesday, 23rd but here at Cowroast we like to get together the following weekend and raise a glass or two and a bob or two for charity.
So the previous weekend it's time to clean off the chairs (and give Roy his annual hose-down)



The week leading up to the weekend is beautiful but the forecast for Saturday is doom and gloom.

Nay Bother-the marquees are up, the food is ordered and there are 40 odd (very) people coming to the mooring to celebrate our Patron Saint.
There will be a barbecue, wine-tasting, a raffle for Pam's school in Uganda (TEAMS)  http://paminuganda.wordpress.com/  and an auction, the proceeds of which will go to The Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted.

All we need now is the weather!

Well I promised a sun-drenched day and got it half right. Chilly becoming cold with intermittent showers throughout the day but we are English and getting soaked whilst burning the outside of a sausage and leaving the middle pink is what we do best!

I think 42 good souls turned up and parted with a tenner to catch flu. It all ran smoothly and the rain forced everybody to gather under the marquees and talk to one another. The wine-tasting, raffle and auction all went well and a total of £696.30  was raised.

Donation to Hospice  £436.30

Donation to TEAMS School in Uganda  £200

Mooring Contingency Fund   £60 (against one of Lord Rothschilds' glis glis eating any more of our equipment)

A great effort by a comparatively small number of very generous people. The event was enhanced by the arrival of many visitiing boats, some displaced from Aylesbury after the recent lock collapse.

The auction never ceases to amaze with the most unutterable crap going for real money.

Remember my bottom?  ( see  Glis Glis, Racehorses and Mandarins )

f

 It fetched 15 quid! And I have no doubt it will return next year and make more money.












 Allegedly Lord Rothschild gave 20 quid to Mike Griffin for the marquee fund but the general opinion is that Mike is in fact Lord R himself.

My thanks to Roy Ullah and Mac and Carrie Dodge for the following pictures