Cropredy, Banbury Canal Day and Aynho

On Saturday we left Wormleighton around 9 o’clock and the sun was just burning off the early morning mist. The dew highlighted numerous spiders’ webs some stretching from the boat to the hedge beyond the towpath. We felt quite guilty destroying their night’s work.

The “wiggles” at Wormleighton can play great tricks with your sense of direction, on this occasion it was the direction of the sun. One moment it was shining on your back the next into your eyes.

We had a delightful morning cruise to Fenny Compton. We took on water by the Wharf Inn which looked very pleasant and was offering an almost irresistible cooked breakfast. As our water tank filled one of the staff from the inn dragged the canal with a rake looking for a helicopter! Yes, it was a model aircraft. He borrowed my magnet but I doubt it any of its structure was magnetic and nothing but a rusty bolt was retrieved. We then continued our boat “pit stop” at Fenny Compton Marina by taking on diesel and bottled gas.

The Fenny Compton "Tunnel" - opened out

 

Lively flow from a feeder weir on the Oxford Canal Summit

 

By midday the sun was bright and the skies clear; great autumn cruising weather – shame it never lasts. We went down Claydon Locks meeting a good number of bloats coming up. This made locking simple. We eventually caught up with NB Heather Bel being bow-hauled through the locks – no engine. She was being towed by another boat but with single locks the steerer had to split up his pair. Being single-handed he was travelling slowly and was grateful for our help with the locks. Eventually, just before Cropredy he let us pass.

Claydon Flight

 

At Cropredy we saw the earthworks for the large marina that is being constructed. It is advertised as being open in Spring 2013. They have got a lot to do before then!

Cropredy Marina under construction

 

We moored up just above the lock at Cropredy and were soon joined by NB Eileen (they are fellow bloggers). I admired their former BCN boat and its riveted cabin.

NB Eileen

 

After a session brass polishing - what else on a dry sunny day, we visited the Red Lion. Now I have to admit that to me the Red Lion has its own place in boating history. E Temple Thurston came to inn on his epic voyage by horse boat that he reported in The Flower of Gloster. Tom and Angela Rolt left Banbury on their ground-breaking voyage spending their first night afloat on Cressy after spending the evening in the Red Lion. We understand that the inn has gone through several hands recently, but does appear to have lost its character and some of its quality. There is no recognition at all of its boating heritage.

Sunday also started misty but cleared as we approached Banbury. It was the day of the Banbury Canal Day so we were prepared for congestion. We were not disappointed. The canal side was packed with boats, stalls and visitors. It was great to see such a successful event. The only negative was the canoes moving in and out of the narrowboats. Although manoeuvrable compared to a 25 ton steel narrowboat, they are delicate and the prospect of a canoe being crushed by a narrowboat must be real. On the whole the canoeists behaved well but some appeared a bit gung-ho.

Canal Festival Banbury

 

Canoes at Banbury

 

Stationary Engines on display at Tooley's Yard

 

Busy at Banbury Town Lock

 

There were lots of volunteers on hand to help with the town centre lift bridge and the lock. We were then out into the country and passing raised lift bridges and spotting kingfishers. That is definitely in the plural, over the rest of the day we must have seen around half a dozen.

As we approached Kings Sutton it was clear that the River Cherwell was in flood. The fields in the flood plain were full of water, more than we saw in our 2007 trip which followed the famous floods. A check on my emails indicated that the Thames also had problems since red and yellow boards had been posted. It appears that the heavy overnight rains of Thursday and Friday were having their effect. It was at that point that we realised that our autumn trip down to Henley would not be possible and we must change our plans.

Floods in the Cherwell Valley near Kings Sutton

 

At Aynho we found that there was more flooding. Even the normally relatively benign section where the Cherwell crosses the canal was “on red”, as we found out as we entered the Weir Lock. It caused an eventful excursion under the bridge. As the cliché says “boating is a contact sport”.

Level board by Aynho Weir Lock

 where the River Cherwell crosses the Oxford Canal

We moored up at Aynho wharf and decided that this will be our temporary base whilst we carry out some grand parenting duties. The evening meal we had in the Great Western Arms helped restore our morale and our faith in canal-side inns. We found this to be great watering-hole some years ago. It still is!

 

A flooded field near Aynho

 

Monday saw dull and damp weather return but we managed to keep up our spirits. The flooded fields are draining into the canal at the moment. The level in the Cherwell appears to be dropping but the Thames still has red boards at some locks between Oxford and Henley.

Weedon, Braunston and on to Wormleighton

We are on our way to Henley for an autumn cruise. Because of commitments we moved Albert to Weedon on Tuesday but then returned home. The weather was bright and we had a good start to our trip. We were greeted at the bottom lock of Stoke Bruerne flight by a CRT volunteer who helped us with the first lock and provided intelligence about movements up and down the locks. Going up alone we were caught up by the wide-beam hotel boat  Tranquil Rose. One of their crew came ahead and helped us. The hotel boat stopped at Stoke but we pressed on through Blisworth Tunnel. We passed three boats coming the other way in the tunnel but all were well controlled, making passing easy. We eventually stopped near Stowe Hill and got a lift home.

Autumn on the Grand Union

 

Jules Fuels (NB Towcester) delivering coal near Gayton

 

 

On Thursday we moved Albert on to Braunston passing NB Harnser near Brockhall. A crew ahead, NB Emotional Rescue, waited for us at Whilton (Buckby) locks and we shared locks up the flight. The weather was bright and sunny which made the trip all the more enjoyable.

At the top lock of the Buckby flight we found that one of our favourite watering holes, the New Inn has closed down. We have enjoyed many visits to the New Inn on our way through. Although not a smart pub it always produced good food at good prices. It also had a good selection of real ales and ciders. We hope it doesn’t close permanently they are few enough “real” canal-side inns. Evidently it closed in June. It was certainly open when we passed through in May.

The passage through Braunston tunnel was straightforward with only one boat coming the other way. At Braunston top lock we met up with a single-handed boat going down the flight and shared locks. We moored up for the night in the centre of Braunston where there were plenty of moorings, unlike during the summer. We visited The Boat House for an evening two-for-one meal. I treated myself to a pint of Sneck Lifter.

It rained overnight but today was dry but dull and chilly. We picked coal from NB Bletchley in Braunston and had uneventful trip through to Napton where again there was a CRT volunteer tending to the locks. There were quite a few boats coming down the flight which meant most locks were set for us. We eventually cleared the flight about 2 o’clock and moored up for the night by the radio aerial at Wormleighton. Maggie cooked some delicious chicken with butternut squash.

Stoke Bruerne Village at War 2012

We had a busy weekend with our family. However, we couldn't miss visiting Stoke Bruerne for their wonderful Village and War event today. Our first outing with all three grandchildren  - the youngest Hugh, is less than a month old.

Stoke Bruerne during The Village at War

 

As usual Stoke Bruerne was full of 1940s renactors, with a good sprinkling of military vehicles, vintage cars, bicycles and of course working narrow boats. All in a good cause - the Canal Museum.

 

Mr Churchill keeping up morale

 



 

Last year the event was held in the middle of an Indian Summer. We were not so fortunate this year but the rain stayed away and the towpath was crowded. This year the front cover of the programme features a sepia print of bloggers Jo and Keith from NB Hadar.

 

Jo and Keith chatting to friends

 

Catching up on the war effort

 

 

Our eldest grandchild, Amelia is two and three quarters and is at the age where she appreciates all sorts of new experiences. She loved the boats and really enjoyed her tour of Raymond. She also enjoyed watching Nutfield go down the top lock.

 

 

 





Maggie and Amelia on butty Raymond

Amelia and Maggie watch Steve Miles take Nutfield through Stoke Bruerne Top Lock

 

 

1940s Police

 

 

The are usually a number of police reanactors at the Village at War event. This year there appeared to be quite a few. I managed to snap one talking to a PCSO. In the 1940s equipment was a truncheon (hidden away) and a pair of handcuffs. A lot more equipment nowadays, including a stab proof vest, even for a PCSO.

 

Northamptonshire Home Guard brewing up

 

I will finish with my favourite shot of the day - the Home Guard brewing up. An army does march on its stomach.

 

Next week we set off on Albert on a autumn trip to Henley - or at least that's the plan. The river levels are falling - for the moment at least.

 

 

 

 



Wartime Northamptonshire

I recently bought two black and white prints of Stoke Bruerne and Cosgrove primarily because of their local connection to the Grand Union Canal but also because I admired their style. They appear to be taken from a book called “Recording Britain”. The originals appear to be kept by the Victoria & Albert Museum; their images can be seen on the museum’s web catalogue. They were painted by S.R.Badmin who was a watercolourist. His Shell Guide to Trees & Shrubs has some wonderful illustrations; all those who love the English landscape throughout the year will admire them.

'Recording Britain' was part of a scheme carried out during the Second World War to employ artists to record the home front in Britain. It ran until 1943 and some of the country's finest watercolour painters, such as John Piper, Sir William Russell Flint and Rowland Hilder, were commissioned to make paintings and drawings of buildings, scenes, and places which captured a sense of national identity. The scheme was established by Sir Kenneth Clark, who was then director of the National Gallery, and it ran alongside the official War Artists' Scheme. Clark became well-known in the 1970s as the writer, producer, and presenter of the famous BBC Television series Civilisation.

Cosgrove 1940s by SR Badmin

 

The Cosgrove picture also features a narrow boat, this time crossing of the pedestrian tunnel that goes under the canal. If you look carefully a train can be seen in the background and two children are near the boat, one watching the boat and the chasing towards the tunnel. A woman is steering the boat, presumably a butty. The Barley Mow still looks much the same sixty years on, although Phipps the Northampton brewery has long gone.

Stoke Bruerne 1940s by SR Badwin 

The Stoke Bruerne print is particularly stylish with the double-arched bridge dominating the scene. The scene shows sandbags in the foreground indicating that it is wartime. There a number of technical inaccuracies in the picture concerning the boat, such as the signwriting and the use of running blocks, but I like the way Badmin has captured the steerer leaning on the cabin as he passes under the bridge.

This coming weekend Stoke Bruerne will be looking back to wartime again with the Village at War Event.

Wash and Polish

Yesterday the weather was good so I decided to wash and polish Albert; she was looking a bit grubby and dull. We like Albert's cabin to look good but we are not too precious about the hull; quite a few scratches from use.

Took four hours in total. It was good aerobic exercise!

We are now back among the shiny boats but definitely not the Shiny Shiny Boats Club.