Atherstone Locks and "Rufford".

 Wednesday 30th September 2020 at Hopwas.

Another lovely sunrise but rain is forecast later in the day, so we decided to make an early start.

We were just a couple of miles from the top of the Atherstone flight of 11 locks and arrived there by 8:00am, R had his breakfast before we left but M ate hers on the move (on MM, not while walking the towpath!).

When we arrived at the locks, M walked ahead at each lock to set them for MM. Almost all were against us but, because M set each lock before MM arrived, we hardly lost any time. When walking to the next lock, M would sometimes walk up on to one of the bridges to get a better look at the countryside. This is a very rural lock flight but, if you want to see the best views, you have to get off the towpath, where the view is often obscured by tall hedges and trees.

Lock 10 is one of M's favourites with its bench made from an old balance beam, sheltering under the trees.

During the day, we were in touch with Jenni, Ed and Will on "Rufford". They have been doing the Warwickshire Ring through Birmingham and have made incredible progress, so much so that they had decided to moor tonight at Hopwas. We were aiming to moor somewhere around Fazeley Junction and, as Hopwas is just three miles past the Junction, we decided to meet up with them.

We arrived at Hopwas about 2:30 just as the rain started. We moored up being careful to leave enough space for Rufford. They didn't arrive until three hours later, by which time the rain had really set in.

So, what with the rain and Covid social distancing, we only had a brief catch up before agreeing to have coffee on the towpath at 7:30 tomorrow morning when, hopefully, it will be dry.

Today: 14 miles, 13 locks and 7.3 hours.

Trip: 179 miles, 50 locks and 88.3 hours.

From a Norman Motte & Bailey to Boudica's Last Stand

 Tuesday 29th September 2020 at Mancetter.

Brinklow is home to an excellent little café called Pumpkins. We had stopped for breakfast on our way down to Braunston and today we walked into the town for another excellent breakfast on the way back! We had recommended Pumpkins to Andrew and Sheila, the couple on the hire boat moored behind us, and they arrived at the café just as we did, so we had breakfast together. They were a charming and very interesting couple, he is a pilot for BA and she is a vicar in Bassett, Southampton, where Adrian used to live.

As we left, we walked across the Motte and Bailey and photographed the notice board which describes its unusual double Bailey.

On our way back to the boat, we saw Andrew and Sheila standing on top of the "Tump" waving to us.

It turned out to be a very sunny day as we cruised up towards Atherstone.

The air was very clear and we could just make out the two spires of Coventry's Catherdals on the horizon.

Most unusually, we passed a stationary Avanti train, stopped by a red light. It's not often that MM gets to overtake a train! It was a nice feeling, as those trains normally travel 40 times faster than Many Meetings! A case of the tortoise beating the hare!

A bit further on, we could see a Colas diesel engine on the same track in front of the Avanti train. Not sure what was going on but they both stayed there for a long time. You can see both trains at either end of the photo.

Approaching Hawkesbury, we saw Arthur on "Gordon Bennet" and hovered a while to chat. We had met him going up the Hatton flight a few years ago when we had shared the double locks.

Hawkesbury, or "Sutton Stop" has a very sharp turn leaving the Oxford Canal and joining the Coventry Canal.

Close to Springhaven Marina there was a farmer spraying the field next to the canal. Not sure what the spray was but it didn't smell good!

We moored up just outside Mancetter, which claims to be the site of Boudica's last battle with the Romans. A notice board explains how the Romans defeated a much larger "British" force through the disciplined strategy of the Roman centurions.

From a nearby bridge, M photographed the battle site.

The mooring was beautiful in the light of the setting sun.

Today: 17 miles, 1 lock and 6.2 hours.

Trip:165 Miles, 37 locks and 81.0 hours

Rugby, Hillmorton and a Chinook.

 Monday 28th September 2020 at Brinklow.

After an early breakfast, we set off just after eight. M, as usual, had been up to see the dawn.

We are aiming to get back to Aston Marina quite quickly, so we are likely to be home on Saturday. Soon after we started, we passed the new Dunchurch Marina whose entrance is spanned by this beautiful copy of the classic Oxford Canal iron bridges, reflected in the water.

The only locks today were the three duplicated locks at Hillmorton. Luckily there was a boat coming out of the top lock as we arrived.

Our luck held and the other two locks were also in our favour. The volunteer lock keeper said that it had been very quiet today but yesterday had been very busy with over 50 boats going through the flight.

We moored up in Rugby so that M could get a "few bits". We like this mooring under the willow tree.

Very sad to see both Debenhams...

...and Mothercare closed and shuttered. How many more big names will we lose before the end of winter, we wondered.

We continued to Brinklow, where we just managed to find a mooring on pins. There are moorings on Armco but they are 14 day moorings and I don't think any of those boats move often, if ever! As we finished mooring up, we were buzzed by a Chinook flying very low over us. They really are remarkable when you see them close up!

Today: 12 miles, 4 locks and 4.7 hours.
Trip: 148 miles, 36 locks and 74.8 hours.

A "Many Meetings" Weekend.

 Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September around Braunston.

A beautiful morning as we made an early start before 7:00am back towards Braunston.

Once more, we were fortunate to find a good mooring in Braunston within a stone's throw of the Gongoozler's narrowboat café. By then it was breakfast time (good planning!) and R walked the few yards to the café to pick up two take-away breakfasts, which came with a personal message from the owner, Avril, who always remembers us.

Nearby Daventry has a Waitrose, where M used to work. M had a discount voucher, so we walked up to Braunston village to wait for the bus which leaves every two hours. This is Braunston in rush hour! 

Sixty years ago, Daventry was a sleepy market town, then Birmingham City Council took over and built three huge housing estates as "overspill". Since then, the building hasn't stopped and every time we come back there are more and more houses and even more being built. The bus loops through one estate after another, going round and round in circles so that the 2.5 mile journey took 32 minutes.

M went off to photograph some old memories, starting with Sheaf Street, one of the town centre's original streets.

This is St James' Infant School, where both Adrian and Elle went to school.

Adrian grew up here, before M moved back to Reigate. Scott was Adrian's best friend and M's "second son" and he still lives in Daventry with his family. When he knew that we were in Waitrose, he very kindly picked us up with the shopping and drove us back to Braunston. He and his lovely daughter Amelia stayed on MM for a cuppa and a welcome catch-up.

Later, just as M was about to serve dinner, we ran out of gas on MM. "Not to worry," said R and quickly changed to the second gas bottle. But it turned out that the second bottle was empty too! We think that, having been away from MM for the best part of a year, we had just forgotten to replace the spare bottle. Still, great timing because the supper was just ready. Not so good, of course for M, who couldn't have her first cup of tea in the morning and had to wait until the Gongoozler's Rest opened at 9:00am Sunday morning for a cup of coffee, which, she said, was REALLY welcome by then! But it was a LONG wait, said M.

Scott had very thoughtfully booked Sunday lunch at the nearby, and very well known, canalside pub, the Admiral Nelson. We walked the half mile up the towpath and Scott arrived soon after with his wife Paula and daughter Amelia. 

Unfortunately, their son Lachlan was recovering from a cold (he tested negative for Covid 19) and so couldn't make it. It was wonderful to see them again and to have a proper catch up.

Back at MM, R took MM into the marina to puchase a new gas canister before we set off to start on our way back to our home mooring at Aston Marina.

In case you were not sure how far Braunston is from Braunston, there is a milestone to tell you.

M thinks that this should be R's favourite boat, given his love of chocolate!

The cruising back to Willoughby was lovely...

...and we found a very pleasant mooring in the same place where we moored on the way down.

The sky was incredibly clear tonight. The moon was spectacular and Mars, Saturn Jupiter and Venus were all clearly visible. Magic.

This Weekend: 7 miles, 0 locks and 3.7 hours.

Trip: 136 miles, 33 locks and 70.1 hours.

A Socially Distanced Meeting with Jenni, Will and Ed.

 Friday 25th September 2020 near Napton Junction

We treated ourselves to breakfast from the Gongoozler's Rest narrowboat café. As ever, in these socially distant times, it was a take-away but just as delicious as ever.

They have set up a gazebo in the garden opposite, so we were able to shelter there from the wind, which was quickly becoming quite strong.

After breakfast, we set off south down the length of the canal shared by the Oxford and Grand Union Canals towards Napton. Our friend Jenni from Huddersfield has a share in a narrowboat based at Wigrams Turn Marina opposite Napton Junction; she and her two lads were picking up the boat this afternoon, so we decided to cruise down to see them. We had a good view of Braunston's unusually knobbly church spire as we left.

The junction of the Oxford and the Grand Union Canals is unusual in that it is in the form of a "Y" with two of the lovely Horseley Iron Works bridges spanning the two arms.

Just south of the junction is a very attractive "turnaround" bridge connecting the towpath on either side.

Bridge 100 has lost its parapets so looks a bit precarious!

By this time, the wind was working its way up to gale force, blowing MM all over the place - so we were rather amused to see this lady playing the guitar with her hair "blowing in the wind".

When we arrived at Napton Junction, we turned into Wigram's Turn Marina in order to get some diesel fuel. The service mooring was broadside across the wind, so as we arrived it blew us up against the mooring. That made life easy when arriving but not so easy when you wanted to leave, trying to cruise into the teeth of the gale. Twice the wind whipped our stern ropes off the taff rail into the water behind us - not good news when the prop is turning.

We moored up outside the marina to await the arrival of Jenni, Will and Ed who duly parked their car and made their way on foot to find us at the entrance. We cruised across to talk to them and to deliver some of Braunston's locally made signature "Badger" sausages, bought this morning from the butcher. It was so nice to see them and have a brief catch up - although some of our words were carried off by the wind!

Ed sent us this picture that he took of M photographing them!

This area is very agricultural with some really massive arable fields. Many tractors were hard at work harrowing, rolling and seeding.  Thanks to the recent excellent weather, almost all the ploughing seems already to have been finished.

M would have loved to climb this hill, surrounded by fields on every side. A great place for a house or just to walk around, she declared.

We got just over half way back towards Braunston before we moored up, in almost the same place as we moored in 2013, surrounded by quiet countryside. We were rewarded by another lovely sunset, even if M did have to fight her way through the hawthorn hedge to photograph it!

Today: 8 miles, 0 lockd and 3.9 hours.

Trip: 129 miles, 33 locks and 66.4 hours.