Bletchley to Leighton Buzzard

4 April 2016
We drove to Leighton Buzzard and had a dickens of a job finding somewhere to park near Tesco. Only 3 hours allowed in Tesco, 1.1/2 in Aldi, 2 hours in Waitrose, 2hours on street parking so we ended up in a multi story at £6.50 for over 5 hours. "Still cheaper than a £70 fine" my First Mate for the day philosophically mused.

Then a 70 bus to Bletchley Bus Station and a longer than necessary walk to the boat via Bletchley Centre and following directions to the canal from a postman.

The boat was ok and so we put the kettle on and prepared her to depart. It was sunny when we left at 11.45am but showers followed occasionally through our uneventful cruise to Stoke Hammond lock. Here my First Mate for the day, Stuart, helmed the boat and I worked the lock. Stuart has experience of SONFLOWER from the past having cruised on her with his wife on several occasions.

We saw quite a bit of wild life. A pair of mandarin ducks were probably the highlight but a heron stood firm on the bank as we passed and we watched a wheeling buzzard for a time getting ever higher and higher. A moorhen guarded her three chicks in a reed bed and ducks chased each other around the skies.

We moored below Soulbury Three Locks and went to the Three Locks pub for a very nice lunch. The ale was very nicely conditioned and enjoyed by us both.

John a cheery CRT Volunteer prepared and helped us through the locks. He skillfully used the off side gate paddles to keep us against the near wall so we only used one gate but were not unduly slowed by only using the ground paddles on one side which is my usual careful modus operandae. Here Stuart helms the boat in the Soulbury Bottom Lock while John closes the gate behind him.

Having risen the 20 feet at Soulbury we cruised on to Leighton Lock. This is just before the Wyvern Shipping Company hire base and training on lock working was in full swing and there was a party of schoolboys fishing for carp at the lock entrance. When I say fishing for carp, their gear and bait indicated that this was their intention but the location was definitely not where I would expect any self respecting carp to be at that time of day! Their gear was good and new and I had the feeling that they were in their first outing. They littered the place with wrappers from Tesco barbequed chicken which I picked up, put in their carrier bag and gave to them to take home.    

Sonflower waited for the hire boat pair to come out and then we worked through, The enthusiasm of the next crew to open the paddles to fill the lock was calmed by my shout "Hey, that's my boat in there! Not until we are ready!" Sometimes there can be too much help on hand!

We thanked Wyvern Shipping for their help and negotiated their base where boats were moored four abreast leaving little room to negotiate the floating tree trunk that happened to be in the remaining passage. As we left the base we heard the first chiffchaff of the Spring singing in the tree tops over their car park.

We then looked for a mooring as the sky darkened again. Long term moorings abounded until the 2hour linted shopping mooring at Tesco: thence through  Bridge 114 and past the services to the Leighton Linslade Visitor moorings. These are signed "14 days per Year"! Where did CRT get the authority to make that sort of a declaration? I bet the hire boats are moored there waiting for turn around day more than that each year. We moored between a narrowboat and a wide beam, closed up the boat and went to retrieve the car as the rain started in anger.

8 miles, ½ furlongs and 5 locks  in a day mooring at 5.30pm.

Just Turning Round

We had to turn the boat round yesterday.

Tooley's had finished the work except for giving us a bill and returning my key, so we took our daughter and grandaughter for a little ride. Down the lock, turning at Bankside winding hole and back. As always, a life jacket was provided for the precious cargo!

The trip was not uneventful! On the return, having passed through the lift bridge, I heaved to as a boat approached where the canal narrows. Stood stationary on the far right of the canal, I could only watch as the boat came quickly toward me on collision course with Tooley's trip boat nb Dancing Duck, hit the same, bounced from it onto my bow and wedged itself between her and SONFLOWER! I had to apply full revs in reverse to disengage us. Having unlocked, the boat then backed off a couple of boat lengths. The helmsman told The Best Mate, who was ashore having operated the lift bridge, that I could come through first! I went forard slowly and passed the boat, expecting some form of appology. The helmsman just stared forward so I said, "I hope that my boat is not damaged!" He replied, "I hope mine is ok too". No apology then! The owner obviously doesn't care what or who he hits.

We moored up thankful to be afloat.

Back on home ground

SONFLOWER is back on the South Oxford Canal having turned at Napton today and is waiting to ascend the Napton flight. With Hatton flight and Stockton locks behind her, the hard wide stuff is past and she is expected home early on Friday afternoon.

That's more like our normal cruising speed.

Progress has been good and the crew is better. A fall in the basin in Stratford meant a sore back slowed the crew down. They were glad of a locking partner down the Hatton flight and up the Stockton locks. Now the soreness is all but gone and they report that they are still very relaxed.

36.1/2 miles and 78 locks since Sunday morning.

Now we're stuck!

I have no pictures of the floods of the 20th. I was too busy to get any. If you want to see why the Oxford Canal is closed south of Banbury and is under a severe flood warning north of Banbury go to Banbury Guardian . The local paper has done a wonderful job collecting photographs and updating the galleries.

British Waterways have given advice not to move any boat unless it is absolutely necessary. Our summer cruise, which has been in the planning for months is obviously in jeopardy. More rain is expected in the next few days and with the ground absolutely waterlogged more flooding is very probable. I might have been overheard at lunchtime today suggesting booking into a high rise Hilton Hotel somewhere a long way away for a few days! At least we could swim in the spa pool. Our local Spiceball baths are flooded out and there is talk that they will never reopen.

Our favorite watering hole, the GF Club is also flood damaged as is Tooley's boatyard. The water coming down the canal, instead of the River Cherwell, did a lot of the damage this time. The river rose later to flood the railway station and the canal below the lock. The river and the canal mingled as one at Cropredy and the boats had to be retrained from floating over the towpath.

So there we are. Stuck in the middle. Unable to go south and advised not to go north. Maybe it's time to do some more work on the boat. It better be inside work though with the rain forcast to catch us on Thursday or Friday.

Special Trip for Special People

What a lovely day! As I sit in the warm in the middle of a thunderstorm regretting leaving the houdini hatch open, I am reflecting on the lovely day we had today.

We were hosts to Family Group 10 from Frank Wise School in Banbury for a little (two hour) cruise. We managed to get the seven children and four helpers aboard and after the usual safety briefing we settled in for their first experience of narrowboating. Three of the children took a hand at the tiller and enjoyed the experience of action and reaction as Sonflower responded to their movements. The joy on their faces and the thanks expressed by them was a great blessing. For one though, the throttle held a fascination and her helper was very quick as she dived for it to increase the engine revs considerably. This child also had an obsessional need to remove willow leaves from the deck. This help was willingly accepted. It is amazing how many leaves appear when you aren't looking for them!

One of the adults played a tiny guitar and led a few tunes to entertain the crew and after drinks and fruit aboard they climbed back into their minibus to return to school for lunch.

It was good to be able to give this small, but worthwhile, experience to these special people and their helpers.