Thursday we drove to Cambridge to pick up the favourite daughter and our mail from Ian's. We travelled further in the car in one day then we have on the boat in a month!
After the hottest summer in 40 years things have changed, the shorts have gone back in the drawer.
Friday we returned the hire car to Coventry and spent the afternoon shopping and showing Kate the sights. The 181 steps to the top of the bell tower of the cathedral took their toll on the weak girls, so we needed to stop for a pint or two at the Golden Cross, then public transport back to Braunston. We've done the trip a couple of times now and we know what we're doing, no confusion at all.
Saturday, Ian came over for the boat show. What a wacky crew they are! Saturday morning's parade got chaotic, but apparently it's the festivals standard procedure. According to those involved it's all part of the fun.
Sunday was a fairly lazy day, the next leg of our journey is heading south towards London. It was very windy and very busy, so we hung around until the festival started to die down. We did the locks just out of Braunston and through the Braunston tunnel (2kms long with bends). That evening we ran into a couple of boaters at the pub from the David Blagrove Charity Trust who were at the festival. They gave us some great stories and history about the canals, the boats and the people.
This week we've spent cruising along the Grand Union Canal, it's been great to have an extra crew member, makes locking so much easier. It's been pretty good fun except for this morning it was bloody wet and cold! Damn kids, I promised I wasn't going to drive in the rain, but Kate wouldn't be stopped!
We wondering what is reducing the duckling numbers. Today we witnessed a heron snatching one from under its mothers beak.
Braunston Parade
Lady Morris Dancers
Men Morris Dancers
Bye Bye Braunston
Some of the old boats
Coventry
Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral Bells
Old Truck at Boat Show
Braunston Boat Show
Braunston Boat Show Parade
Braunston Boat Show Parade
Braunston Boat Show
Working Boats Braunston Boat Show
Historic Boats Braunston Boat Show
Grand Union Canal
Canal Art Grand Union Canal
Kate Driving
Kate harvesting herbs for tea
Our minions at Stoke Bruerne
Our minions Stoke Bruerne
Linda and Kate pushing swing bridge at Stoke Hammond
Not alot of travelling this week. We completed the Hatton Flight and cruised through Warrick to Napton. We spent an afternoon looking around the village. The village is at the top of a hill and for a change we had some views of the country side. The weather was starting to warm up. On the Friday we made our way back to Braunston, to moor for a week so we can make some changes to the boat and collect Kate. The weather has really warmed up with temperatures of high 20's and low 30's with high humidity and no breeze. The boat gets quite warm in the afternoons as we are in full sun at the marina. We've had to seek out the pubs to be more comfortable. The locals tell us this is the hottest summer in 40 years. We have ripped out the L-shaped lounge and the carpet. We have bought a couple of comfortable chairs and a nice rug. The boat now only officially sleeps four. Yesterday we caught up with Mary and Colin who have just arrived from Oz for 3 months on their boat. We had a lovely afternoon and evening with them catching up. Hopefully our paths will cross again before we go home. We will be staying here in Braunston until Monday as they have a big historic boat festival on and we plan to get involved. Slim pickings for the videos and photos this week as we have spent most of our time making the boat to ours.
What a great day. The weather has turned in our favour it was a lovely day for doing the Hatton Flight. The down side was we were the only boat going down (south) and we only met a few boats going the other way so we had to do a lot of work. We are very suprised how quiet the canals have been since Birmingham there has not been alot of traffic. The Avon river was an experience, the locks are wide, deep and ferocious particularly when heading up stream. Fortunately we hooked up with an old fella (Paul) who was travelling solo. So we teamed up for the next couple of days. It was much better having two boats travelling together even though we still had a couple of hairy moments. At one stage Linda was panicking the boat was going to capsize. (There was nothing to worry about, Paul reports our hull blacking is in good condition). Once we made it to Stratford Upon Avon we relaxed in the basin and spent a couple of days exploring and having a few pints with Paul in the evening. Even though Paul was staying an extra day he kindly helped us through the next flight of locks on the Stratford on Avon canal. Racing ahead on his push bike to prepare the next lock. After leaving Paul we continued on along the Stratford on Avon Canal and had a couple of overnight stops one being Wooton Wawen (we didn't see any wascally wabbits). An interesting village with an old church, part of which is over 1000 years old and was built by the Saxons. Its been a week of Abbeys, Churches and Cathedrals one thing that has got Kens goat is they all advertise free admission, then when you're half way around they have a sign saying how much it costs to keep the church going and asking for an expected donation of around 7 pound, some even have credit card facilities in the church.
They are beautiful buildings and its amazing to think they were built hundreds of years ago, you have to admire the craftsmanship. We are moored tonight on the Hatton Locks. A flight of 21 locks down into the City of Warwick. We will do the last 3 locks in the morning before making our way through the city. Here are this weeks videos and photos.
Wyre Piddle
Edstone Aqueduct - (Turn volume down as lots of wind noise)
New Marina on Stratford on Avon Canal
Wilmcote
Tewkesbury
Sunken Narrowboat on Lower Avon
Almonry - Evesham
View to Evesham Abbey
Evesham
Holy Trinity Church - Shakespeares burial place - Stratford Upon Avon
Evesham Abbey
Stratford Upon Avon
Our boat in the background at the basin - Stratford Upon Avon
Pauls Boat waiting for the Lock to open
Unusual Trike
Shakespeares Birth Place
Mary Ardens House & Tudor Farm - Wilmcote
Edstone Aqueduct - Stratford on Avon Canal
Barrel roofed Lock Cottage - Stratford on Avon Canal
Mary Ardens House & Tudor Farm - Wilmcote
Oops
Bulls Head Pub - Wootten Wawen
St Peters Church - Wootten Wawen - Front Section is Saxon and is 1000 years old
Inside St Peters Church
Trebochet for Sale - Wootten Wawen
Wootten Hall on the River Alney
Wootten Hall - Wootten Wawen - The grounds are now a caravan park
Shrewley Tunnel - Grand Union Canal
Sunken Boats - Grand Union Canal
Sunrise this morning - Rowington - Grand Union Canal
