Aylesbury (proud of my wife)

The unusually named lock which is currently closed in the centre of Aylesbury

We stayed in Gargrave from Tuesday to Thursday, so we could see my mum and dad.  We also took advantage of Judith & Nigel who were staying in Yorkshire for the week and met up for dinner with them on Tuesday evening.

We also bit the bullet and took Buddy to the vets in Skipton for a blood titre test; this will prove whether or not he has rabies antibodies in his blood.  I mentioned before that rabies injections fail in 10% cases, hence the blood test (which wouldn’t be required if the UK was remaining in the EU).

We will get the result in a week or two and then find out if we need to fork out for another rabies injection followed by yet another blood test a month later.  It all reminds me of the 1990s skiing joke where whatever you did, from buying a lift pass through hiring skis to buying a round of drinks you would say goodbye to £100.

With Aylesbury being equidistant from the M1 and M6 we had a choice which route to take when driving back to the boat on Thursday.  Of course, we chose the wrong motorway and were held up for an hour as a lorry had overturned and shed its load of pallets near Wigan.

When we got home, we had a wander up the towpath to see how the work was progressing at the lock just outside the basin.  It was given the name Hills & Partridges as Messers Hills & Partridge were the owners of a water driven flour mill by the lock that was demolished at the end of the last century.  The water wheel was removed during WWI and was replaced by gas driven engines.

New bottom lock gates installed

The old lock gates ready to be taken away

The lock has now been closed for a week so it has been lovely and quiet with no boats on the move because they can’t get in or out of the basin.  Mind you, the pontoons are all full and will obviously stay full until next week at the earliest which is when the lock is due to reopen.

Steve came for a sleepover on Thursday night on his way up to Yorkshire for the weekend.  We took advantage of his electrical skills and he installed a couple of devices behind two of the lights in the lounge.  We have four LED ceiling lights in the lounge, two either side of the boat, and we have always wished we had had them on separate switches, so we could have one side on without the other.  I had recently bought two devices that are now hidden in the ceiling but, in effect, make the metal surround to the lights an on/off switch.  A really simple option compared with having to rewire and add a new switch in the wall.

Other than Karen going on the Wendover Park Run on Saturday morning we took it easy over the weekend.  My sore throat and earache hadn’t cleared up and we wanted to make sure I was fully recovered before Lauren & Lewis’s wedding next weekend.  The Park Run was really well attended as it was an anniversary event and many visitors turned up from other towns.  I have to admit to feeling rather proud as Karen was first in her gender age group 😊

Liz, who runs the trip boat in the basin, came around for lunch on Saturday and Karen’s mum, Ann, came around for lunch on Sunday so it’s been quite an entertaining weekend.

We’re enjoying being in the basin even though we are moored up with other boats.  The only drawback is the wind; the high buildings around the basin seem to channel it right along the pontoons making the boat rock even if it’s not particularly windy elsewhere.