Five on a boat to Oxford - part 2

Monday was slow - very slow! But then, we weren't in any kind of hurry, unlike the numerous hire-boaters we spent our time with, all of whom had schedules to keep to, bases to be back to by a certain time on a particular day. Our schedule was vague. Christine and Mike had to be back at Yelvertoft by the 24th, to drive back to Torquay the following day, to return to work on the Monday. We were in no hurry to get anywhere in particular; we'd wind somewhere around Thrupp, we reckoned.

So, there was a lot of traffic that day. Braunston Tunnel was busy, and the Locks were hard work inasmuch as they involved a good deal of helping some rather novice boaters ahead of us and behind us. Oh, and sharing locks with us. Our three visitors are fairly experienced, so, with Grace at the tiller, we were able to lend a hand or six to others. That's always usually fun, and it's good to meet other boaters. One surprise was the encounter with a hopeful who was trying to turn his boat in the width of the canal ("I've done it before lots of times!"), got it jammed and needed the assistance of three of us to get him free. He didn't even look embarrassed.

We moored above Bottom Lock for lunch, and watched the crowd of boats behind us slowly disperse before moving on to Braunston Turn, where we turned left towards Oxford. We moored for the night below Bridge 100 just before the weather turned stormy.

And it poured for much of the night, but we awoke on Tuesday under a much more peaceful sky.

So on we went, with fewer boats on the move, the canal delightful as always, the colours of the trees amazing, the fields dotted with sheep and cows, many of them still quite young. Passing Napton Junction aka Wigrams Turn, and arriving at Napton Bottom Lock. Here, we took on water, and Christine and Mike went shopping. The very convenient shop nearby - "Open every day" - was closed. A vollie at the locks suggested the sign should read "Open sometimes". Fortunately, Mike found a local Post Office that sold the bread and milk we needed.

It was at Napton Locks that we caught up with several of the hire-boats. These locks are single-width, so our ascent was again slowed by the learner drivers and the learner lock-wheelers, all doing their best, but clearly not well-tutored by the hire companies who had taken their money in exchange for the experience. No problem, though. It was fun, helping out.

Looking back at Bottom Lock

Around 100-head of Water Buffalo

We moored north of Priors Hardwick Bridge. The wind was whipping up - our share of storm Aileen - but we were well sheltered by the hedgerow, and we spent a peaceful evening and night there.