Sunday 12th July
Overcast with the odd break of sunshine. Had breakfast before setting off at 10.15 am.
We had to stop between locks to avoid a heavy shower. We then moved on to Wooten Wawen where we tried to watch the German GP on the Iplayer, but it was not fast enough. Instead we listened on Five Live on the computer. Well done Mark Webber!!
After the race we headed down hill, across the Edstone viaduct which was quite scary. But nowhere as high as the Pontcysyllte on the Llangollen canal. (How do you pronounce that name?)
Lost a fender and bracket going through a very narrow bridge 58, and a hire craft fished it out for us.
Moored at Wilmcote for the night. Despite the description in the guidebook, it is not that interesting. We thought people in the pub were acting a bit odd, by coming out to sit in their cars. Rhen we relised that they were listening to the last few overs of the Ashes game at Cardiff.
Back to the boat for a bar-B.
Monday 13th July
Slept in late again. Headed down the Wilmcote flight towards Stratford. Plenty of places in the basin. Theatre is till being rebuilt. We wandered around Stratford for a bit, and paid £8 for a wine and a beer. Ate at the Garrick Inn before retiring for the night. Lovely bottle of Barolo.
Tuesday 14th July
Neither of us are into sightseeing houses much so we went for a walk alongside the Avon, down to the racecourse. Tipped it down as we re-entered Stratford so we sheltered in a pub.
Evening: we went to see “The Winter Tale”. Live theatre is so magical. Kevin was unimpressed by the bear.
Wednesday 15th July
Visited the Butterfly Farm across the river. Very vibrant colours. Not so keen on the spiders or poisonous frogs! Sort of just hung around until teatime, when J cooked an aubergine and pepper pasta dish. Evening: “Julius Caesar”. He died pretty early in the play and the protagonists got their come-uppance.
Thursday 16th July
Left the basin at 11 am. We seem to be getting up very late on this holiday.
Highlights? A gaggle of geese at Wooten Wawn. The Edstone aqueduct again. We made the Fleur de Lys pub at Lowstoneford for a pie and chips. Glad to be out of the rain, which was tipping. Sat next to blokes who seemed to know a lot about Formula 1. Joan had a delicious Raspberry Martini which tasted like the sauce one used to have on Cornets.
Friday 17th July (Kevin’s birthday)
Set off late again. The new dark curtains are doing their job. Waited for ages whilst boat filled up at Kingswood Junction. Boat behind has a B&W dallie called Ellie. Turned back onto the GUC, but raining. Stopped early for the night at the top of the Hatton Fight and went to the Waterman pub for dinner. Read the papers and had a wonderfully unhealthy meal of Camenbert, chips and beard washed down with AOC Ventoux.
Glynis texted K for his birthday, which was nice and we missed a call from K’s parents.
Saturday 18th July
Surprise! Another late start. 11.30 am. Headed down the Hatton Flight alone but we were adopted by an Australian couple who helped us about 2/3 of the way down. Caught behind two boats who had no crew so it was slow.
Decided to carry on past Warwick and moored just short of the upward locks. BBQ again plus this blog.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Sunday 12th July
Overcast with the odd break of sunshine. Had breakfast before setting off at 10.15 am.
We had to stop between locks to avoid a heavy shower. We then moved on to Wooten Wawen where we tried to watch the German GP on the Iplayer, but it was not fast enough. Instead we listened on Five Live on the computer. Well done Mark Webber!!
After the race we headed down hill, across the Edstone viaduct which was quite scary. But nowhere as high as the Pontcysyllte on the Llangollen canal. (How do you pronounce that name?)
Lost a fender and bracket going through a very narrow bridge 58, and a hire craft fished it out for us.
Moored at Wilmcote for the night. Despite the description in the guidebook, it is not that interesting. We thought people in the pub were acting a bit odd, by coming out to sit in their cars. Rhen we relised that they were listening to the last few overs of the Ashes game at Cardiff.
Back to the boat for a bar-B.
Monday 13th July
Slept in late again. Headed down the Wilmcote flight towards Stratford. Plenty of places in the basin. Theatre is till being rebuilt. We wandered around Stratford for a bit, and paid £8 for a wine and a beer. Ate at the Garrick Inn before retiring for the night. Lovely bottle of Barolo.
Tuesday 14th July
Neither of us are into sightseeing houses much so we went for a walk alongside the Avon, down to the racecourse. Tipped it down as we re-entered Stratford so we sheltered in a pub.
Evening: we went to see “The Winter Tale”. Live theatre is so magical. Kevin was unimpressed by the bear.
Wednesday 15th July
Visited the Butterfly Farm across the river. Very vibrant colours. Not so keen on the spiders or poisonous frogs! Sort of just hung around until teatime, when J cooked an aubergine and pepper pasta dish. Evening: “Julius Caesar”. He died pretty early in the play and the protagonists got their come-uppance.
Thursday 16th July
Left the basin at 11 am. We seem to be getting up very late on this holiday.
Highlights? A gaggle of geese at Wooten Wawn. The Edstone aqueduct again. We made the Fleur de Lys pub at Lowstoneford for a pie and chips. Glad to be out of the rain, which was tipping. Sat next to blokes who seemed to know a lot about Formula 1. Joan had a delicious Raspberry Martini which tasted like the sauce one used to have on Cornets.
Friday 17th July (Kevin’s birthday)
Set off late again. The new dark curtains are doing their job. Waited for ages whilst boat filled up at Kingswood Junction. Boat behind has a B&W dallie called Ellie. Turned back onto the GUC, but raining. Stopped early for the night at the top of the Hatton Fight and went to the Waterman pub for dinner. Read the papers and had a wonderfully unhealthy meal of Camenbert, chips and beard washed down with AOC Ventoux.
Glynis texted K for his birthday, which was nice and we missed a call from K’s parents.
Saturday 18th July
Surprise! Another late start. 11.30 am. Headed down the Hatton Flight alone but we were adopted by an Australian couple who helped us about 2/3 of the way down. Caught behind two boats who had no crew so it was slow.
Decided to carry on past Warwick and moored just short of the upward locks. BBQ again plus this blog.
Overcast with the odd break of sunshine. Had breakfast before setting off at 10.15 am.
We had to stop between locks to avoid a heavy shower. We then moved on to Wooten Wawen where we tried to watch the German GP on the Iplayer, but it was not fast enough. Instead we listened on Five Live on the computer. Well done Mark Webber!!
After the race we headed down hill, across the Edstone viaduct which was quite scary. But nowhere as high as the Pontcysyllte on the Llangollen canal. (How do you pronounce that name?)
Lost a fender and bracket going through a very narrow bridge 58, and a hire craft fished it out for us.
Moored at Wilmcote for the night. Despite the description in the guidebook, it is not that interesting. We thought people in the pub were acting a bit odd, by coming out to sit in their cars. Rhen we relised that they were listening to the last few overs of the Ashes game at Cardiff.
Back to the boat for a bar-B.
Monday 13th July
Slept in late again. Headed down the Wilmcote flight towards Stratford. Plenty of places in the basin. Theatre is till being rebuilt. We wandered around Stratford for a bit, and paid £8 for a wine and a beer. Ate at the Garrick Inn before retiring for the night. Lovely bottle of Barolo.
Tuesday 14th July
Neither of us are into sightseeing houses much so we went for a walk alongside the Avon, down to the racecourse. Tipped it down as we re-entered Stratford so we sheltered in a pub.
Evening: we went to see “The Winter Tale”. Live theatre is so magical. Kevin was unimpressed by the bear.
Wednesday 15th July
Visited the Butterfly Farm across the river. Very vibrant colours. Not so keen on the spiders or poisonous frogs! Sort of just hung around until teatime, when J cooked an aubergine and pepper pasta dish. Evening: “Julius Caesar”. He died pretty early in the play and the protagonists got their come-uppance.
Thursday 16th July
Left the basin at 11 am. We seem to be getting up very late on this holiday.
Highlights? A gaggle of geese at Wooten Wawn. The Edstone aqueduct again. We made the Fleur de Lys pub at Lowstoneford for a pie and chips. Glad to be out of the rain, which was tipping. Sat next to blokes who seemed to know a lot about Formula 1. Joan had a delicious Raspberry Martini which tasted like the sauce one used to have on Cornets.
Friday 17th July (Kevin’s birthday)
Set off late again. The new dark curtains are doing their job. Waited for ages whilst boat filled up at Kingswood Junction. Boat behind has a B&W dallie called Ellie. Turned back onto the GUC, but raining. Stopped early for the night at the top of the Hatton Fight and went to the Waterman pub for dinner. Read the papers and had a wonderfully unhealthy meal of Camenbert, chips and beard washed down with AOC Ventoux.
Glynis texted K for his birthday, which was nice and we missed a call from K’s parents.
Saturday 18th July
Surprise! Another late start. 11.30 am. Headed down the Hatton Flight alone but we were adopted by an Australian couple who helped us about 2/3 of the way down. Caught behind two boats who had no crew so it was slow.
Decided to carry on past Warwick and moored just short of the upward locks. BBQ again plus this blog.
Sunday 12th July
Overcast with the odd break of sunshine. Had breakfast before setting off at 10.15 am.
We had to stop between locks to avoid a heavy shower. We then moved on to Wooten Wawen where we tried to watch the German GP on the Iplayer, but it was not fast enough. Instead we listened on Five Live on the computer. Well done Mark Webber!!
After the race we headed down hill, across the Edstone viaduct which was quite scary. But nowhere as high as the Pontcysyllte on the Llangollen canal. (How do you pronounce that name?)
Lost a fender and bracket going through a very narrow bridge 58, and a hire craft fished it out for us.
Moored at Wilmcote for the night. Despite the description in the guidebook, it is not that interesting. We thought people in the pub were acting a bit odd, by coming out to sit in their cars. Rhen we relised that they were listening to the last few overs of the Ashes game at Cardiff.
Back to the boat for a bar-B.
Monday 13th July
Slept in late again. Headed down the Wilmcote flight towards Stratford. Plenty of places in the basin. Theatre is till being rebuilt. We wandered around Stratford for a bit, and paid £8 for a wine and a beer. Ate at the Garrick Inn before retiring for the night. Lovely bottle of Barolo.
Tuesday 14th July
Neither of us are into sightseeing houses much so we went for a walk alongside the Avon, down to the racecourse. Tipped it down as we re-entered Stratford so we sheltered in a pub.
Evening: we went to see “The Winter Tale”. Live theatre is so magical. Kevin was unimpressed by the bear.
Wednesday 15th July
Visited the Butterfly Farm across the river. Very vibrant colours. Not so keen on the spiders or poisonous frogs! Sort of just hung around until teatime, when J cooked an aubergine and pepper pasta dish. Evening: “Julius Caesar”. He died pretty early in the play and the protagonists got their come-uppance.
Thursday 16th July
Left the basin at 11 am. We seem to be getting up very late on this holiday.
Highlights? A gaggle of geese at Wooten Wawn. The Edstone aqueduct again. We made the Fleur de Lys pub at Lowstoneford for a pie and chips. Glad to be out of the rain, which was tipping. Sat next to blokes who seemed to know a lot about Formula 1. Joan had a delicious Raspberry Martini which tasted like the sauce one used to have on Cornets.
Friday 17th July (Kevin’s birthday)
Set off late again. The new dark curtains are doing their job. Waited for ages whilst boat filled up at Kingswood Junction. Boat behind has a B&W dallie called Ellie. Turned back onto the GUC, but raining. Stopped early for the night at the top of the Hatton Fight and went to the Waterman pub for dinner. Read the papers and had a wonderfully unhealthy meal of Camenbert, chips and beard washed down with AOC Ventoux.
Glynis texted K for his birthday, which was nice and we missed a call from K’s parents.
Saturday 18th July
Surprise! Another late start. 11.30 am. Headed down the Hatton Flight alone but we were adopted by an Australian couple who helped us about 2/3 of the way down. Caught behind two boats who had no crew so it was slow.
Decided to carry on past Warwick and moored just short of the upward locks. BBQ again plus this blog.
Overcast with the odd break of sunshine. Had breakfast before setting off at 10.15 am.
We had to stop between locks to avoid a heavy shower. We then moved on to Wooten Wawen where we tried to watch the German GP on the Iplayer, but it was not fast enough. Instead we listened on Five Live on the computer. Well done Mark Webber!!
After the race we headed down hill, across the Edstone viaduct which was quite scary. But nowhere as high as the Pontcysyllte on the Llangollen canal. (How do you pronounce that name?)
Lost a fender and bracket going through a very narrow bridge 58, and a hire craft fished it out for us.
Moored at Wilmcote for the night. Despite the description in the guidebook, it is not that interesting. We thought people in the pub were acting a bit odd, by coming out to sit in their cars. Rhen we relised that they were listening to the last few overs of the Ashes game at Cardiff.
Back to the boat for a bar-B.
Monday 13th July
Slept in late again. Headed down the Wilmcote flight towards Stratford. Plenty of places in the basin. Theatre is till being rebuilt. We wandered around Stratford for a bit, and paid £8 for a wine and a beer. Ate at the Garrick Inn before retiring for the night. Lovely bottle of Barolo.
Tuesday 14th July
Neither of us are into sightseeing houses much so we went for a walk alongside the Avon, down to the racecourse. Tipped it down as we re-entered Stratford so we sheltered in a pub.
Evening: we went to see “The Winter Tale”. Live theatre is so magical. Kevin was unimpressed by the bear.
Wednesday 15th July
Visited the Butterfly Farm across the river. Very vibrant colours. Not so keen on the spiders or poisonous frogs! Sort of just hung around until teatime, when J cooked an aubergine and pepper pasta dish. Evening: “Julius Caesar”. He died pretty early in the play and the protagonists got their come-uppance.
Thursday 16th July
Left the basin at 11 am. We seem to be getting up very late on this holiday.
Highlights? A gaggle of geese at Wooten Wawn. The Edstone aqueduct again. We made the Fleur de Lys pub at Lowstoneford for a pie and chips. Glad to be out of the rain, which was tipping. Sat next to blokes who seemed to know a lot about Formula 1. Joan had a delicious Raspberry Martini which tasted like the sauce one used to have on Cornets.
Friday 17th July (Kevin’s birthday)
Set off late again. The new dark curtains are doing their job. Waited for ages whilst boat filled up at Kingswood Junction. Boat behind has a B&W dallie called Ellie. Turned back onto the GUC, but raining. Stopped early for the night at the top of the Hatton Fight and went to the Waterman pub for dinner. Read the papers and had a wonderfully unhealthy meal of Camenbert, chips and beard washed down with AOC Ventoux.
Glynis texted K for his birthday, which was nice and we missed a call from K’s parents.
Saturday 18th July
Surprise! Another late start. 11.30 am. Headed down the Hatton Flight alone but we were adopted by an Australian couple who helped us about 2/3 of the way down. Caught behind two boats who had no crew so it was slow.
Decided to carry on past Warwick and moored just short of the upward locks. BBQ again plus this blog.
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Saturday 11th July
Slept well.
Woke up to find it was drizzling, but still warm. After a sausage (veggie) sandwich for breakfast we headed towards the Hatton Flight at 10:45 am. Met a boat coming down on the first lock, then no one for a while. One bloke was over zealously setting locks for downwards boats which held us. But generally we just plodded on upwards, getting into a groove when we were on our own. It drizzled most of the way up, but as it was also hot, you didn’t get that wet…if that makes any sense.
Reached top in 3 ¼ hours, which was faster than last time. We were rewarded by the view of the Warwick spires as told in the guidebook.
The Shrewley tunnel was as wet as we remembered it, like a shower in parts. Sun broke out and we stopped for lunch just short of Kingswood junction. At Kingswood we were looking forwards to a shower, but they were out of order! Looks like we will be grubby for most of the holiday.
Turning on to the Stratford Canal, it is a charming narrow canal with cute barrel rooved lock houses. Apart from the M40, it felt secluded and rural. We made good progress down the locks, with a few craft coming the other way. We decided to head to Lowsonford for the night, but were caught in a heavy downpour for the last couple of locks.
We ate dinner in the delightful Fleur de Lys pub, which was the original home of the famous Fleur de Lys pies as seen in chippies down south (as opposed to Pukka pies found in chippies up north.) Joan had a mushroom and asparagus pie and Kevin had mushroom and ricotta pancakes – both delicious. Really nice pub, will return here on the way back up. www.fleurdelys-lowsonford.com
Headed back to the boat in heavy-ish rain to write this, but no signal on the broadband stick.
Slept well.
Woke up to find it was drizzling, but still warm. After a sausage (veggie) sandwich for breakfast we headed towards the Hatton Flight at 10:45 am. Met a boat coming down on the first lock, then no one for a while. One bloke was over zealously setting locks for downwards boats which held us. But generally we just plodded on upwards, getting into a groove when we were on our own. It drizzled most of the way up, but as it was also hot, you didn’t get that wet…if that makes any sense.
Reached top in 3 ¼ hours, which was faster than last time. We were rewarded by the view of the Warwick spires as told in the guidebook.
The Shrewley tunnel was as wet as we remembered it, like a shower in parts. Sun broke out and we stopped for lunch just short of Kingswood junction. At Kingswood we were looking forwards to a shower, but they were out of order! Looks like we will be grubby for most of the holiday.
Turning on to the Stratford Canal, it is a charming narrow canal with cute barrel rooved lock houses. Apart from the M40, it felt secluded and rural. We made good progress down the locks, with a few craft coming the other way. We decided to head to Lowsonford for the night, but were caught in a heavy downpour for the last couple of locks.
We ate dinner in the delightful Fleur de Lys pub, which was the original home of the famous Fleur de Lys pies as seen in chippies down south (as opposed to Pukka pies found in chippies up north.) Joan had a mushroom and asparagus pie and Kevin had mushroom and ricotta pancakes – both delicious. Really nice pub, will return here on the way back up. www.fleurdelys-lowsonford.com
Headed back to the boat in heavy-ish rain to write this, but no signal on the broadband stick.
Friday, 10 July 2009
Boat trouble
Friday 10th July
Got up and walked back to boatyard. They did not have a throttle cable but suggested Midlands Chandlery in Braunston might. A lady called Helen who lives on Pipistrelle offered Joan a lift to Wigram’s Turn to pick up the car. Really kind, however loads of boat people are.
So tracked down part, and Kevin fitted it. His idea of bringing old clothes just in case something went wrong proved he knows that us and boats means problems. Had a quiet lunch on the boat before heading down the locks to Leamington and then Warwick. They are all double locks and very tiresome, but we love it REALLY.
Ran out of petrol near Tesco, so stopped to buy more. Squeezed in on the Saltisford Arm and currently having a BBQ. Tomorrow is the killer Hatton Flight. 21 double locks that took five hours last year without a break. Methinks a hefty breakfast may be in order.
Got up and walked back to boatyard. They did not have a throttle cable but suggested Midlands Chandlery in Braunston might. A lady called Helen who lives on Pipistrelle offered Joan a lift to Wigram’s Turn to pick up the car. Really kind, however loads of boat people are.
So tracked down part, and Kevin fitted it. His idea of bringing old clothes just in case something went wrong proved he knows that us and boats means problems. Had a quiet lunch on the boat before heading down the locks to Leamington and then Warwick. They are all double locks and very tiresome, but we love it REALLY.
Ran out of petrol near Tesco, so stopped to buy more. Squeezed in on the Saltisford Arm and currently having a BBQ. Tomorrow is the killer Hatton Flight. 21 double locks that took five hours last year without a break. Methinks a hefty breakfast may be in order.
Grant Mitchell is stalking me
Thursday 9th July
Usual chaotic start to the holiday with random things being chucked in to carrier bags, and squeezed in to the car. Luckily the cattery did not close until 12.30. We got there with five minutes to spare.
Off to Asda where Joan got worried that Ross Kemp (AKA Grant Mitchell) was stalking her. She had gone to Meadowhell the night before and he was just about to turn up for a book signing. Now he was about to turn up at ASDA Spondon. On both occasions he had been caught up in traffic on the M1. Such a celebrity lifestyle is enviable.
On to the boat. It was windy at Wigrams marina and things did not augur well when a pillow blew into the water. A friendly mallard came and ate water biscuits out of our hands.
It was sad unloading Sappho’s basket. We have never been on a boat trip without the old spotted dog.
Headed off down the Calcutt flights and Stockton flights with only one lock with someone to help us. We had trouble finding somewhere to moor at lock 11 so carried on to Lock 13. At this point the boat engine lost drive. A quick inspection revealed a snapped throttle cable!! At this point (8.30 pm), we decided to abandon ship in favour of the Two Boats Inn, where we had a tasty if unadventurous meal and real ale.
Usual chaotic start to the holiday with random things being chucked in to carrier bags, and squeezed in to the car. Luckily the cattery did not close until 12.30. We got there with five minutes to spare.
Off to Asda where Joan got worried that Ross Kemp (AKA Grant Mitchell) was stalking her. She had gone to Meadowhell the night before and he was just about to turn up for a book signing. Now he was about to turn up at ASDA Spondon. On both occasions he had been caught up in traffic on the M1. Such a celebrity lifestyle is enviable.
On to the boat. It was windy at Wigrams marina and things did not augur well when a pillow blew into the water. A friendly mallard came and ate water biscuits out of our hands.
It was sad unloading Sappho’s basket. We have never been on a boat trip without the old spotted dog.
Headed off down the Calcutt flights and Stockton flights with only one lock with someone to help us. We had trouble finding somewhere to moor at lock 11 so carried on to Lock 13. At this point the boat engine lost drive. A quick inspection revealed a snapped throttle cable!! At this point (8.30 pm), we decided to abandon ship in favour of the Two Boats Inn, where we had a tasty if unadventurous meal and real ale.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)