Redesignation

Raining this morning. No dawn chorus so the local birds must also be disappointed. The M6 hums (noise not smell) in the background but it must be some considerable distance away as we passed under it long ago, alongside a gypsy (traveller/Tarmac your drive,sir?/ can we empty your skip,sir?/ethnic minority camp site). Are we now travellers? I have never resurfaced a drive in my life, unless crazy paving is accepted in this category? Or recycled metalwork (other than coke cans) but if it offers advantages I'm happy to be re-designated. Today, so far, has been only our second "wet" boating day. We finally moored for lunch near the Charity dock, really a graveyard for old boats, hoping the weather will improve this afternoon. An attempted earlier mooring confirmed this canal is very shallow near the edges, which tends to minimise  stopping opportunities as the whole canal length one side is military firing ranges and combat training facilities. Moor at your peril. Talking of military, canals and rivers were obviously well protected in earlier conflicts as "pill box" anti-aircraft and machine gun points still abound to this day.

During a dry spell we sneaked through Nuneaton yet again, although we did run the gauntlet of a bunch of their best young morons under a bridge. I think they spoke English and gave a good account of the town, one not on my must visit list. Two boat names today. A narrowboat "Bo Diddley" for you really old guitar officianado's and a Tupperware " Percy Veere".

Summer revisited

An overcast, cooler morning, but none the worse for that ( not that I'm complaining). Having cruised past/ through Rugby several times now we have yet to actually " visit" it. Both Lynne and I had always considered it, and the sport named after it, to be way up in northern England, bleak and overlooked, rather than nestling in the scenic midlands. A visit is on the "to do" list. Healthwise yesterday was one of those easily forgotten ones, nothing to report other than endless tiredness (apologies for the excessive esses.) Using less esses is next on my "to do" list. Yesterday was also a 3G technical day which inevitably delayed blog publication, but we're back on- line bright and early today.

On the Oxford canal at Rugby is a water point designed by that famous canal engineer, Heath Robinson. it is sited right next to a bridge so is spotted right at the last moment and only has one mooring ring situated to the rear of a Cadbury flake-like bank. Whilst attempting to moor Lynne slipped knee-deep into the canal, dropping one of our brand-new fenders, which promptly sank irretrievably

To make matters worse I had a crunchy lunch moment. You know how it is when you get to my age and what's left of your teeth keep parting company with you. my soft cheese lunch suddenly produced a crunchy moment which was not good news. A dentist appointment is due to be booked, no doubt.

Our visit "home" is already looking busy.

On analysis the tooth was actually a white filling, so no tooth fairy tonight (story of my life).

After a short shower  and glorious rainbow we have moored on the outskirts of Hawksbury Junction where the Oxford and Coventry canals meet. The Oxford towpath is designated the Oxford Walk, but you will need wellington boots in places. the actual pathway is mown but they leave a sort of weed "hedge" between that and the canal, meaning you cannot see the path from the canal and visa-versa

Monday Speedo's

A bright, sunny start to the new week with lots of greyish wispy clouds floating around in a fresh breeze. Still warm, though. Moored near a place with the unlikely name of Lower Shuckburgh. Imagine trying to convey your home address to someone  in a call centre on the end of the phone in outer India who has English as her third language?  Working for Network Rail or some other British institution. The buffalo herd at the bottom of Napton locks mentioned in a previous blog I can confirm as water buffalo.    A fellow boater mentioned a local brand of buffalo ice cream to me earlier but I dismissed it as a joke at the time. It is hardly an appealing flavour, even to the new hardened, street-wise breed of children? In the event it turns out they use the milk, rather than the meat. I have yet to try it but will report if ever I do.

Talking of Napton locks I luckily managed to stop a young, new boater opening sluices without closing those on the gates above. The result would have been flooding around areas of the lower canal and no water in the upper portion. The logic was lost on him at the time but I am sure his pretty girl friend/wife/lover (delete as appropriate) got a surprise Eureka! Moment during the night.

The following leisurely cruise to Braunston proved uneventful, although the scenery was breathtaking. We moored near the village and walked to a chandlery near the lower lock, recommended by the owner of Baba O'Reilly ( the boat, not the Who track). We needed to replace the duff MCC wind lasses and some fenders inevitably lost in our travels, plus stock up on boating essentials. We discussed our electrical problems and received confirmation any fault is more likely due to the boat builder than us, giving more ammunition to our eventual claim. Looking for night moorings on the way to Rugby we spotted a likely place, which we pulled into, only to be approached by a very white, middle-aged chap in A pair of Speedo's leaving little to the imagination. he asked several questions and I answered as follows:  Q. Are you mooring?    A. Yes.        Q. Do you have pins?    A. Yes but do you need some?    He confirmed he had some but suggested I find an alternative mooring site as boats pass very fast and pull them out. Lynne and I immediately decided to move-on, not due to the alleged pin problem but more because of Speedo fear. Further along the North Oxford canal we finally moored, only to be side-swiped by a Viking hire narrowboat, fresh from collection. The young offender blamed his girlfriend/wife/lover (delete as appropriate) but half-heartedly

apologised anyway. 

Flying over the cuckoo's nest

The rain arrived with a vengeance last night, requiring me to venture out in mid-downpour to close down the mushroom vents, otherwise rain splash enters the boat and the shower unit becomes excess to requirements. However, I survived. The Wharf is an odd place. At first glance it is a large pub/restaurant, water point, camp site, general store, launderette and moorings, but is actually a small, friendly "community" including a wide cross section of all human life and actually works perfectly in a "social" way.  Having further analysed my hologram moments I really am starting to question my sanity, in a "One flew over the cuckoo nest"sort of way (Jack Nicholson). Am I sane and everyone else mad? Where does the blurred line begin? Is half a brain as good as a whole one? And what the hell?

A few locks with a walk or two in -between and I had another's hologram moment when the boat moored itself and the gas bottles changed themselves over when one emptied.It remains to be seen if the hologram eats lunch. Watch this space (excuse the pun). We are in phase two of the wild flower cycle with lots of pinks, whites and shades in between.once again at the high point of Oxfordshire a few more anti HS2(High speed train link)  posters have appeared along the canal. The thought of a new London/Birminghan railway line scything its' way through this wonderful countryside is horrific, and for what? A couple of minutes off the current journey time. Concorde was hardly a great success. Personally I would put a few extra bends in the current rail link. Why rush to get there when you can use video-link or FaceTime from where you already are,probably with a far better view?(London residents only).  Luckily most protests are from the fox-hunting fraternity so their chances of success will be high. Anyone noticed any difference since the "sport" became illegal? Nor did I.

Chav city

Yet another sunny morning but now with off-white fluffy clouds as hovering threats. The forecast is heavy showers. Having cruised straight through Banbury ( the new centre of Co-Op armed robberies apparently...... Two in the last fortnight ) we have named it the Chav city as they have the biggest ( in every sense of the word)  collection of chav's ever seen in one place before. My own fault I'll admit, but my previous Panda feet blog title embedded the infamous Mud hit with a similar name in my head for all of yesterday. Considering I hated it at the time, alongside Mud, it was the worst torture imaginable. So far so good today though. Once again, no set plans for today other than getting nearer to my hospital appointment in Leicester and getting Tardis Two electrics sorted at MCC. We have now mastered how to live with the current (excuse the pun) situation by switching off the inverter last thing at night and back on again first thing in the morning. However, this success only masks the fact a fault still exists. Talking of faults, two more have returned yet again. The first Paul has had two attempts at correcting with only temporary success. The alternator belt slips and screams for several minutes when the engine is started, which means the battery charging is less than it should be. The second Paul has also attempted to fix a number of times, with similar non-results. The throttle will not "grip" at certain revs and annoyingly slips back to its original position unless physically prevented. One hand on the tiller and the other on the throttle restricts wine drinking on the move, unfortunately. I gave up noting unusual boat names whilst on the Thames as Tupperware owners seem to lack originality or vision. Stick any girls name in front of "dream" and you have named your boat. Gin palace owners are far better educated ( Eton. Oxford. Cambridge. Ashlyns secondary modern ) but you need an equal education to understand their boat names. Not that I am casting nasturtions on your education levels of course ! 

Have you ever had a hologram day? You know you have been there but no-one else seems to realise?

We traversed 9 locks and the roofless Fenny "tunnel" today without major incident before arriving at The Wharf for water and a meal. Whilst there Tardis Two got filled with water and moved backwards without my involvement, although I did manage to dump the rubbish. The forecast rain has yet to appear but the atmosphere is very humid and " thundery", in every respect.

Everyone on the canals around here seem to be making their way to the Copredy music festival, made famous by Fairport Convention. Apparently tickets are expensive and hard to come by but the festival acts also play the local pubs for free. Mooring at Copredy is also near impossible during festivals. It was full when we passed through today.

Dead voles

Moored near somerton deep lock (all 12 feet of it) in very agricultural countryside. Both the cats went for an early morning forage and each returned with common field voles,who were obviously used to a cat-free environment, but no more. The fluffy white clouds are still around but totally lacking formation unless I can perfect one of these photography editing programmes? But what's the point? Let nature take its' course. If the truth be told I have not felt 100% over the past few days. Whilst fits have been in very short supply I have felt able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat and I can confirm these new anti-fit pills do play tricks on my blood sugar levels, much like the previous ones. Is it unknown for diabetics to have brain tumours? And if so why have no studies been done on the interaction of drugs and insulin? Does guinea pig spring to mind? This morning is warm and sunny so once we have summoned up the courage we'll tackle these formidable locks. One advantage of canals over Thames is the necessity for me to operate the locks. As most are very old, badly maintained and of variable mechanism it gives me a regular physical and mental challenge to confirm my usefulness, which is rewarding. The facilities at Lower Hayford proved a non-event as they were heavily oversubscribed. There was absolutely no chance of using them with mooring spaces lacking and congestion preventing any chance of waiting. We will make our water supply and cassette capacity last until Banbury, still many hours away. Watch out for gasping, cross-legged boaters. From the photo you will get the appeal of the Austin A35 van. Whilst not as pristine mine was a real girl-puller, or did I just underestimate my boyish charms? Either way it was great fun and could tell some stories.

We are finally re-united with our sausages, or at least we will be when Dean and Sarah re-open after lunch. Guess what's for dinner tonight? Our dire water situation forced us to move on, finally making Banbury in time for our sausage tea, and very good it was too. Having replenished water supplies and got rid of waste products (in every sense of the word) we carried on to our current mooring near Hardwick lock in the middle of nowhere, although the M40 and a main railway line are both nearby. The River Cherwell remains close which again questions the need for both it and the Oxford canal. Why not use one or the other and save resources? Don't tell the Government or they'll build over one of them.  The Oxford canal locks are the hardest I have ever encountered, needing Lynne's assistance on more than one occasion. As a consequence I am knackered. Overall today has been better for both Lynne and I. The aches and pains from Lynne's insect bite/swelling and my bullet wound made for some sharper than normal exchanges yesterday but today has proved more serene, thankfully.

Snakes alive

It rained during the night. Only I noticed as the tablets the chemist gave Lynne for her insect bite knocked her out for the count, giving her respite from her pain and her best sleep aboard. The weather is overcast, dry and relaxingly cool, moored close to Shipton lock, a strange triangular design (for some unknown reason ) on the river Cherwell, which came as a shock to me as I was convinced we were back on canals . Whilst "lost" in Oxford yesterday and seeking a chemist we stopped to ask a passer-by directions. When casting off a large ( 3 foot) snake swam alongside the bank looking for escape. I am no snake expert but it had all the colourings associated with Britain's only venomous species, the adder. I had no chance for a photograph or will to help it back onto dry land so we parted company. We helped a day boat (crewed by 3 generations of the same family) through the lock and the next one at Enslow. For miles the river and canal flow side by side, which raises the question: why go to all the expense and bother of building the canal anyway? They are still together at Pidgeon's lock and later as they cross the Roman Akeman Street (which you cannot see) where we stopped for lunch near an old quarry(which you can). Both cats have learned to associate the boat engine stopping with a chance to explore the nearby countryside. Lynne spotted a kingfisher this morning, only the second of our travels this year. Today is hot again, but the blue sky is dotted with fluffy white clouds just waiting to create formations. It has taken some considerable time to get this blog published today which is surprising given we are within touching distance of the  satellite earth station.......... At this point I should tell you I am no expert on canal history, royal family , government love affairs or other guff I have fed you over recent weeks. The information (surprise,surprise) comes from the relevant Pearson's Canal Companion. Over our canal boating years we accumulated several of the series and presents from family and friends ensured we had the complete set before starting our adventures. There are other guides but I prefer Pearson's as I find them easy to follow (except in Oxford) , informative and entertaining. During the afternoon cloud formations formed, sparkling white above like a Persil advert and grey beneath like suet pudding.