Stoke Golding

We are now about half way up the Ashby Canal, at Stoke Golding.

Unusually they are offside visitor moorings.



We made the turn in quite well. And there is a disused stop lock.



We had a great breakfast this morning before setting off. I needed to find a Saturday Guardian, which proved very difficult in this part of Coventry but I ran across a wonderful cafe that did breakfast and then drove me back to the moorings.

It was delicious.



The Ashby is interesting with many sandstone bridges.





But all three pubs in Stoke Golding were meant to be open at 14:00 on a Saturday but only one was. Good job it was the GBG pub.

Hawkesbury Junction

We are back out on the boat again. Yesterday we made it as far as the Barley Mow at Newbould.

After much cleaning, washing and ironing



and eventually a call out from the car rescue team to start my car and then a new battery we took Kenny and Gracie home and got back to the Boat.

Today we are moored up by lunchtime.



And are going to visit the Greyhound at Hawkesbury junction.



Its a GBG pub and does good food.

The pumphouse here looks interesting, I hope it gets restored.



But this is our current view as we relax.

Back to base

We have made it back to our marina after 17 days on Magpie ii.

Yesterday we stayed in Braunston.

Gracie enjoyed feeding the ducks.



There was a frenzy when the food was thrown in.



When we went to the Boat House for tea, Alison couldn't help but notice that the free WiFi after a day of no internet meant everyone was making the most of their devices.



This morning we went to the Gongoozlers Rest for breakfast.







When we sensed a gap on the rain we made a run for it and stayed dry.



You can either sit out in the sun or just make use of the marina WiFi.

Braunston

Today we arrived back in Braunston. Yesterday we decided to stay in Napton as my back was playing up.

We found a delightful village shop and a craft cidery where purchases were made.

We made the most of the fresh air and sunshine.



Today we walked around Braunston and visited the Guardian's number 1 canal side pub, The Admiral Nelson.

The Folly

We have made it to the Folly at Napton today.

The young lady behind the bar recognised me as her former teacher. Just another example of the small world we live in.

Some interesting sights en-route.

Fancy a bath here?





Looks fun to me.

This boat is by the canal but with no access to it.



At least stopping at 14:00 means you get a mooring.

All's not fair in Cropredy

Last night when we got back from shopping we found an addition to our solar panels.



After England had beaten India in the test match, I didn't mind another duck.

Today we headed for Cropredy and were very disappointed to find the same boats in the same moorings they were over a week ago. These are 24 hour moorings.

We had to cruise an extra 4 hours well past Fenny Compton to find an available mooring.

We found that the bottom lock at Claydon had metal gates. Quite unusual.



The pounds through this section were really low and a boat coming the other way refused to leave their lock until I had progressed to the lock moorings meaning I grounded not them. Very selfish.



All the other locks had traditional wooden gates.



Just south of Fenny Compton is a cast iron turnover bridge which unusually does not have any way for the horse to pass under it.



Finally we found a mooring.



Very rural but the first available spot in 3 hours.

Banbury Again

We made it through the lowest pound we have had to traverse so far.

It was not quite this low last week.

The overflow illustrates this well.



Some boaters are now really frustrated. Worth zooming in to read the sign.

Aynho

Today we cruised for 7 hours. That's fine when TMS is interesting and sometimes I get too involved in the cricket.

We left nice moorings at Thrupp.



And there is a lovely view of the church as you cruise.



Thrupp has the only stop lock we have seen on the Oxford.



The lift bridges are frequent but ok when they come into view like this.



These are more inconvenient but this one is electric so not as bad as some others.



We came back through the deep lock at Somerton



And finished at the Great Western Arms at Aynho where wasp attacks mean you don't even have time to put both crocs on before you run away.

The Jolly Boatman

Today we left Oxford after a second wander around the city.

We found the low pound not quite as low. It became clear that this was because water was being let down.
The side effect of this was the overflow by the lock was a torrent sending every boat at 90 degrees to where they were steering with considerable force. The boat coming out of the lock got pushed and the grounded. We made it into the lock only because we bounced off the grounded boat when we were pushed sideways.

But we got through that section.





We then moored at The Jolly Boatman at Thrupp.





But walked to The Boat Inn for dinner as it was slightly cheaper but more importantly had a better Gluten Free menu.

Oxford

We made it through the low pound without grounding once. We are heading back through it today as we know we can pass through at the moment.