Left at 09:05
arrived at 16:30.
Derek up early as usual, we
found the funny smell ?? which we had in the boat. Milk was spilt in the week, I cleaned it
up. Derek took the fridge door to bits,
found the rest, it was under the lip of the door shelf, ah ah smell free! Its very bright and really breezy. Derek gone to the shop for paper after
walking the dogs. A boat came out of the
junction at 8 o clock, it was a hire boat.
The ducklings are cheeping they were cheeping late into the night as
well. Derek cleaned the prop again,
more plastic and junk. I watered the
plants and tidied round and we were off for 9 05 to the water point and toilet
emptying.Kingswood Junction is where the
Grand Union meets the northern Stratford and Southern Stratford on Avon Canal
so it forms a triangle with arms going in different directions with locks on
each one. Lake and Lady overtook us as
they didn’t want to wait for us to fill up.
2 Boats had gone down and 1 is waiting in the lock to come on the water
point, it really is a slow filler. 10 15
and only just over half full. We filled
the tank just over halfway and decided we had enough to get us to the next
water point so set off. 3 boats had come
up we were the only one going down, by 11 34 I think we had done 5 locks, they
are really slow filling and emptying ? I walked in between the locks so far,
then had a little ride. We saw a lovely
little bird at the last lock it was a yellow wagtail, looked in my bird book
for confirmation. The lady on the 1st
boat we crossed came from Stratford but sounded American, I told her where we
had come from, she was impressed, as she got on her boat and waved, she shouted
that she had just found a used rail ticket to Doncaster, spooky. We did Lapworth bottom lock and there were 3
to go to our water and lunch stop, a man and lady did the lock, I got another
ride, its really heavy going this morning, we are paying for our lazy day
yesterday. NB Caledonia and NB Mutley
passed us, its getting a bit busier now, but they all seem to be going the
other way. Spoke to a nice lady with a
Collie cross dog, all the people we speak to now guess we’re from Yorkshire? I
cant think why !!!!! She asked where we
had come from and where we were heading and that it all looked like hard work?
Told her Stratford and that yes it is hard work. Its very pretty down this canal, there are
lots of yellow flag Irises, the sky is now a lovely shade of blue with white fluffy clouds. Met a boat full of Aussies coming up, let
them in lock as it was almost empty, we had a chat with an old guy with a
gorgeous border collie (Bailey), he told the tale of the dogs rescue. Bailey had lived on a NB with an old lady, he
hadn’t been walked much and was scared of the outside world. She went into hospital and he was asked to
walk the dog, the old lady died and he inherited the dog. That was 2 years ago, it took him 3 months of
patient training to get him used to bikes, cars and things in general and now
they were great companions, how cool is that.
Bailey looked like Glen our Kalebs dad a bit phantom of the opera (white
mask on one side of his face) he also had a little diamond on his head like
Jess and Oli had when they were babies, he was very friendly and obviously
brushed every day, with a very shiny coat, gorgeous. 1 14 done 8 locks so far, stopping soon for
water and a bacon butty, I had smelt it on one of the NBs this morning, they
had staff (someone cooking on the boat
that is) feeding the rest of the crew!!!! 1 46 back on the water, lock number
32 our 9th, its very windy with a bridge hole ahead, we literally
banged from side to side to get through, it was very tight. There had been a barrel cottage at lock 31,
on reading my companion, its owned by the Landmark Trust and available for
hire. There was also a National Trust
metal plaque on the wall of the lock, I noticed it as I let Derek through. A
Jay flew into the trees as we passed and there were lots of fat pigeons or
collared doves eating the elder
flowers. We arrived at an Aqueduct, it
was more like a bath tub over a river, leading into the lock. Took some photos,
there was a lady doing the lock (she was wheeling in front of her husband on
the boat setting the locks) She was a
bit standoffish but I remarked on the
lovely Barrel Cottage (with loads of extensions on the back of it) and she
warmed up a bit. A lovely couple came by
with yet another border collie, smooth haired and very shiny. We had a chat with them and patted their
gorgeous dog. They were so proud of him,
he was only two and they said he was the best dog they had ever had, he was
very friendly and bouncy. The wheeling lady got on her bike and her husband
took the boat through the bath tub aquaduct.
Beyond the lock coming from the next one there was a lady with a
windlass, the wheeling lady had left the gate open for us, as she thought there
was no one behind them. The windlass
lady came up to help us through and we
had a lovely chat. She asked me if I
managed to get either a word or a smile from the last couple? They had been with them for a few days and
they had been really snotty, not talking, smiling or even acknowledging them,
they had overtaken them when they had stopped for water, hence they were now in
front. We both agreed that was not the
way to be and we had chats about cats, dogs, boats and Stratford-on-Avon. They
were lovely, with their help we went through 2 locks quite quickly and I got
another ride. At Preston Bagot lock
there was another beautiful, it somewhat ostentatious property (not too much
for me of course) A Barrel cottage with extensions like something from the
village of Portmerrion, little turrets on chimneys, battlement style walls, a
covered area next to the towpath to seat 10 people, little pont, Chinese gravel
gaden with Buddhas, bonsai, flags fluttering in the wind, the works a truly
gorgeous folly. We got stuck coming
out, I had to let water down from the ground paddles to give Esme a push, Derek
said it was narrow and he was on the bottom, that damn big bottom again. Preston Bagot bottom lock(should be the last
today) It was a lovely little village with some lovely houses, one over the
road from the lock bridge had chevron bricks between black tudor panelling and
a lovely wobbly roof, it was also quite large.
After the bottom lock, safely tucked up in the cratch, the heavens
opened it was 3 50.Along the canal on the towpath, there were lots of rustic
benches, most of which had commemorative
words etched into them or on plaques, remembering loved ones. One I particularly liked had a little saying
on it “Tak a seat and sit a while and tell me were thas bin” Bruce 2011. We were heading for Wootton Wawen I think. We
moored at 4 30- near to a mill with shops, apparently, we will see tomorrow and
next to Anglo Welsh hire boats. The
moorings are lovely, across from some permanent moorings, behind which there is
a field with some horses, with 2 adorable ponies feeding from their mums. Its
still raining quite heavy so shops and pics tomorrow. (YIPPEE)
No comments:
Post a Comment