Friday 16th
August; Priors Hardwick to Cropredy
The forecast for today was light rain from late morning,
then heavier this afternoon. So we were
on our way by 8.30, relieved we had finished Napton locks yesterday. We hadn’t been going long when we came across
a swimming cow. She had been paddling
along below her friends in the field, and before we got to her was right under
a bush, having a nibble. Suddenly, she
turned into the canal and swam – unfortunately no picture – to return to the
shallows and her friends. There was a
low bit at the end of the Armco where she could walk out, so we didn’t feel we
had to notify anyone.
A little further on, a long way from habitation, was a small
tent. No fishing gear visible, so we
thought it was probably a long distance walker having a lie-in. He should have been up and about to beat the
rain, we thought, and get a few miles under his belt. But before long it had started – light, but
enough to need waterproof jackets.
Then we reached the super-bendy bit between bridges 126 and
127, and the depredations of HS2. Here,
if the huge machines weren’t whizzing back and forth, you might not notice it
across the wheat field -
But a little further round was this enormous heap of
subsoil, getting higher by the minute.
The rain was now hard enough to need over-trousers too, and
boaters were mostly suitably dressed, though some hirers clearly didn’t
have waterproofs, or couldn’t be bothered to put them on. Not
NB Tyseley and the Mikron crew though, on
their way towards Calcutt for a performance.
It’s a shame our timing couldn’t coincide.
There hadn’t been a lot of boats coming from Fenny, till,
naturally, the most awkward bridge – 131, Griffins Bridge,
where the canal turns almost through 180°.
We knew there was a boat in front of us and they had gone through ok –
or so we thought. Suddenly a boat came
through far too fast and ended up on the towpath side of the canal, clearly not
realising there was a tight bend to be negotiated. We had time to safely change course and
passed him on the ‘wrong’ side (starboard to starboard) only to see, just
through the bridge, the stern of the boat in front which must have been pushed
into the trees. They didn’t have
anywhere else to go though, as another boat had arrived. Luckily no contact was made at all, though
both boats had to be passed on the ‘wrong’ side, and the usual comments about
meeting boats in bridgeholes were exchanged.
We called in at Fenny chandlery for a gas bottle, and
continued in the rain through the ‘tunnel’.
The collapsed towpath repair we saw last trip has been completed.
The rain had eased a bit and we were enjoying the cruise
round the sweeping bends on the way to Claydon locks. On one, an oncoming boat was on the wrong
side and appeared to be changing course to get back to where he should have
been. Luckily we were going very slowly,
but realised, too late, that he hadn’t changed course at all and was still
coming towards us! A quick slam into
reverse was not enough to prevent a collision.
We were annoyed, as none of the four people at the stern had made any
sign to show that they were in trouble. In fact they had positioned themselves
wrongly and were trying to change course while ploughing through the
shallows. They apologised profusely of
course, and we were very nice back to them, but at the very least they could
have indicated that we were to pass to starboard. We didn’t get stuck although they had pushed
our bow into the shallows.
After a quick check inside – open cupboard doors, tilted
glasses (but thankfully no breakages), and a TV that was perilously close to
the edge of the shelf – we continued to Claydon locks. The renovations at the top lock cottage were
continuing, with a new ‘Private’ sign by the gate.
I hope they keep that lovely orange climber (Campsis, I
think). We were fortunate to meet boats
emerging from all the locks except the last, and moored below the locks for a
late lunch. The rain got worse for a while, and then eased off again, so we
opted to drop down to Cropredy. Not the
best decision it turned out – the rain got harder and my jacket turned out to
need reproofing. At one of the locks was a boat that appeared to have no steerer - without proper waterproofs, the steerer was crouching down to try and avoid the rain as he came out of the lock. He then proceeded to zig-zag his way towards the bridge, luckily managing not to hit anything as he went. Dave was waiting between the bridge and the tree but can't be seen in the photo.
We got to Cropredy and were astonished to have a wide choice of moorings. So, easily finding somewhere that wasn't under a dripping tree, we moored,
on went the Mikuni, and I could dry my sodden jumper and waterproof.
We had been thinking of having a meal in one of the pubs, but the
weather was so miserable we stayed on board.
11 miles, 8 locks.
Rather a lot for such a wet day!
No comments:
Post a Comment