After the frost cleared on
Wednesday morning, Buddy and I set off to get water at Calcutt. It really was a gorgeous day and just right
for travelling really slowly taking in the views and watching the birdlife. Goldfinches seemed to be the commonest bird of the day - of course, it may have been the same charm following us along the canal.
There were
hardly any boats on the move so we didn’t hold anyone up. As we were going to get water I put the
washing on so it would be done by the time we moored up – we need the engine
running when doing the washing anyway.
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Turning right at Napton
junction – straight on is the South Oxford canal which meets the River Thames down
at Oxford
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I was reminded of a very
hot day in the summer in the middle of the two week heatwave when we went under
this bridge. My eldest daughter, Sophie,
and Yanos were staying with us and had to do some work whilst they were staying
(both are PhD students at Reading university).
Yanos was finding it so hot he took a chair to sit on under the bridge
to do his work. Buddy was also very hot
and laid under the bridge with him.
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The bridge where Yanos and
Buddy took shelter in the summer
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Once we filled up with
water I reversed back a few hundred yards to moor next to Napton reservoir. Narrowboats aren’t really built for reversing
as the propeller is the wrong side of the rudder but I was doing OK and a
resident I know leaned out of his boat and jovially told me I was showing
off. That did it, everything went wrong
from then on and I kept going off course and having to straighten up.
No one else was moored at
our spot and when I’d hung the washing out and adjusted the solar panels for
the afternoon sun I changed the engine oil.
After lunch sun we went for a walk round the reservoirs and then across the locks and along the
towpath towards Stockton.
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Causeway between the two
reservoirs – this’ll be Karen’s route to and from the car each day.
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Nice empty car park by the
reservoir – handy for Karen’s commute - we are now just over 13 miles from her
office so we are getting closer all the time.
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In the middle of the
flight of locks is a hire boat company and it looked like nearly all their
boats were in the yard. During the
season this lot would be generating at least £15,000 a week for the hire
company just for the basic hire charge.
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Hire boats which will be
hardly used until next Easter
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During our walk we passed
two marinas and it looked like the boats were all tucked away for winter. I cannot think we would ever want to live on
a marina but these two are in nice locations.
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Ventnor marina – 230 boats
are moored here
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Cacutt marina – 240 boats
are moored here
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With those number of boats
it’s no wonder the canals are getting busy.
There are also another three similar sized marinas within six miles of
these two.
We will call into the yard
to get rid of our old oil and top up with diesel in a few days. When we got back from our walk we detoured round the
reservoirs once more and bumped into a lady we met last time we were here – her
two Labradors seemed to remember Buddy and she remembered his name too. We let them tear around together for a while
and then went our separate ways. Just as
we got back to the boat I spotted a hedgehog in the undergrowth – not seen one
for a while.
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Hedgehog basking in the
late afternoon sun
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Sun setting on our mooring
for the next few days at Calcutt next to Napton reservoirs
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I may have mentioned that
we have taken winter towpath moorings at Stockton for December, January and
February. We don’t intend to use them
much but see it as a way of being able to stay close to Karen’s work during the
winter months without falling foul of the rules of our continuous cruising
licence. My plan is that once we have
stayed somewhere, say Radford Semele, for a while we could go back to the
winter mooring for a weekend and then go back to the same spot at Radford the
following week. As long as we don’t stay
anywhere continuously for more than the 14 days limit then we should be OK.
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This is the route we will
travel up and down for the next couple of months.
The red star marks the winter moorings; the yellow star is Karen’s office.
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The route above is 18 miles long from Braunston on the right to Warwick on the left and has 23 locks. Going from right to left the locks are descending the whole way to Leamington.
After Christmas we will
head off and cruise the Stratford canal between Stratford and Warwick for a few
months. The Stratford canal is closed from now
until the New Year for winter maintenance so that’s why we’re hanging around
the route shown in the map above.
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| Napton reservoirs |
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