Visiting old haunts.

If you find yourself on the south Oxford canal near Napton on the Hill you can now feel free to visit the Folly Inn, under completely NEW management ( the previous incumbents having done a moonlight flit owing several thousand to the brewery apparently!) It now has a warm  and welcoming atmosphere, a much extended and improved menu  i.e. you can get something which ISN'T a pie! Also roast dinner served on Sundays 2 till 4 or sooner if it runs out! Ales on tap last night included a St Austell ale and Old Hooky. What a relief to find a pub re-opened and better than before. The neighbouring shop is useful too, all sorts of useful bits and bobs, locally made sausages, second hand books to swap or buy for 50p. You can order a paper for the following morning and they do cash back. Result. We need more places like this along the cut. Use them or lose them!
And the windmill on the hill seems to rotate around you as you follow the contours...well worth a trip up the hill if you're feeling energetic.

No moorings and no signals!

The day started well with a fairly bright morning. We passed rapidly through the bleak backwaters of Nuneaton, which, frankly, is the best thing to do!  More rubbish in the canal and graffitited bridges than anywhere else we have been. The town seems to have no other interest in the canal and its heritage and no welcome is extended to passing boats. However we had to be impressed with its extensive and well tended allotments. After taking on water and getting rid of rubbish at Hawkesbury  junction, we left the Coventry canal via  a stoplock which only raised us 6 inches onto the rival North oxford canal. Back in the day, this was where they were able to levy a toll on boats working their way throught the system, checking the loading and charging accordingly. Pushing on through Ansty, a commuter village within roar of the motorway, we discovered  a boat loose across the canal. We moored up and Mike ran around trying to secure it. There was no mooring pin and not much more than a tangle of thick string to do the job.He managed to make it fast after a fashion and we wondered how many other boats had just nudged their way past and left it to waft about. What if it were your boat?  By this time we were being drenched by fairly steady rain, but could find nowhere to moor till well after Stretton. There  was space on the moorings, but people had moored with not quite boat sized gaps in between. We moored right on the end of the section against a concrete bank...not good and in the wind, we banged against it all evening, despite our fenders. is it really to much for people to moor up with a bit of consideration for others, or at least offer to shove up and make room. Lit the fire to dry out and cheer ourselves up.you can't beat a real fire!

A late start.

5 hours , 11 locks.
Woke early to the sound of torrential rain on the roof, so turned over and went right back to sleep. It persisted through most of the morning and we heard brave souls starting up and heading off, including one brave hire boater passing in shorts, tee shirt, flip flops and beer in hand! The English are so stoic when it comes to weather: it was obviously a case of  "I'm on holiday, I'm going to enjoy myself come what may!"

We decided that, as we don't have to be anywhere, nor arrive anywhen, we would wait until it eased off a little. We eventually set off after 12 and climbed the  eleven locks of the Atherstone flight without getting more than slightly damp. At the top end of the flight we moored up and popped the local shop cum post office for a few items. lo and behold , over the road was an excellent fish and chip shop. They cooked us huge pieces of haddock and a mountain of chips! (If you want your fish freshly cooked, leave the cod, go for haddock. 9 times out of 10 they will cook it freshly for you, whereas the cod may have been sitting in the hot cabinet for several hours) no ccoking for us tonight! Now moored up near Hartshill in brilliant evening sunshine. 

The Bull at Polesworth

Turn your clocks back 40 years if the juke box is to be believed! But a nice pint of Marstons to be had if such is your bent, and food including curry served from 5.30. Notice up for West ham v West Brom match to be aired on big screen tv. Thought it politic to keep quiet about our origins, not wishing to provoke an intercity incident. A lovely lazy, hazy day with no locks. Bliss.

Hopwas

Back where we wanted to be.

Thursday July 14th . 6hrs . 3 locks. (two in our favour!)
After several weeks struggling with the physio sessions for the "new" knee, missing one through illness(me) and one through annual leave (them) the prospect of the sessions stretching ahead in to August and not getting away on the Great Escape before the school holidays begin was too much. So I've taken two weeks official holiday from them and we are away on our beautiful boat for nearly three weeks! Hurrah. We've decided to head down the Coventry canal and take a jaunt down the Oxford to visit old haunts. Our previous (share) boat Wild Kitten is moored down there and we realized that we miss the winding beauty of the southern Oxford. But we've moored tonight just short of Hopwas, between Hopwas Hays wood and the River Tame. A beautiful,quiet spot.The fridge is the noisiest thing I can hear....apart from doves billing and cooing. I'm sure we will renew our aquaintance with Virgin trains before long. But for now, things couldn't be better.