Lechlade Manor (and urban myths)

Wow!  Sunday was a really windy day, so it wasn’t surprising we didn’t see any boats on the move all day.  Judith & Nigel invited us over for lunch and later in the afternoon Sophie & Yanos popped in to see us on the boat.  They had been up to Milton Keynes for the day and were on their way back from Reading. 

I’d forgotten to mention the other day that Colin (who we met at the Grove for drinks on Saturday evening) was born in a place called Bowdon which is outside Altrincham.  I bring this up because Karen was born there too and in the same maternity home – small world!

It was still windy on Monday, so we stayed put at Grove for the day.  I was sorting out one of our lockers at the front of the boat and came across our bridge plaques.  These are brass plaques that are cast in the shape of bridge numbers.  They generally depict canals, rivers and arms but they are also made for touristy locations on the system like lock flights, tunnels, aqueducts and cruising rings.  

Over the years we have collected the plaques just for the canals and rivers we have been on and used to have them screwed to the back doors of our old boat.

Our plaque collection

It has taken 2 ½ years for us to decide where to put them on the new boat and we have finally decided to put them inside this time, running along at gunwale height around the living areas in the order we first went on each canal.  We feel it will add more colour and cosiness 😊 We have also realised we have a few of the more recent ones missing, such as the Leeds & Liverpool canal, so quickly put in an order for them.

We awoke on Tuesday to no wind and the sun was out.  We had a lot to do during the day and needed to go to Birmingham and were also meeting friends near Brackley in the evening.  The trouble was that we also had a load of the stuff in the car that needed transferring to the boat.  As it was heavy, the only place locally, where we could do the transfer was in Leighton Buzzard where you can moor right next to the car park at Tesco.

 Setting off on Tuesday morning from where we had been moored opposite Grove lock marina

We set off for a cruise to Leighton at eight which is early for us these days.  After we had gone down Grove lock, Karen walked back to get the car to move it to Tesco where I would meet her after topping up with water on the way.

Going down Grove lock by the Grove pub with Buddy enjoying his breakfast

Waving goodbye to Karen & Buddy as I left the lock heading for Leighton

The water point in Leighton is right on a bend and if there is a broadbeam taking on water it can be quite tricky to negotiate and get through the bridge at the other end of the water point.

Heading for the water point on the right

Karen & Buddy got back to the boat before the water tank was full.  We dumped our rubbish at the boaters’ refuse point and then moved onto Tesco once the tank was full.  Considering the refuse point is in the middle of town and unlocked we were pleasantly surprised how tidy it was compared with most we visit.  If the compounds are not locked then it means anyone can go in and dump any sort of rubbish which soon builds up to an unsightly mess giving boaters a bad name which is, usually, undeserved.

At Tesco we used our trolley to transfer four large bags of dog food and four new batteries onto the boat.  We now have enough dog food to last us until we pop back to the UK for a weekend at the end of June.  We have also bitten the bullet and bought new leisure batteries; the current ones work but as they have been unintentionally caned a few times we have to run the engine to top them up more than we really want to.  E.g. on one occasion an alternator belt snapped when we were in the Wigan flight with the washing machine on; it was a while before we realised the damage we were doing as we couldn’t hear the alarm.  Anyway, it does mean we shouldn’t have any battery issues when we are away in France.

After leaving Tesco we headed for Leighton lock but not before passing the three dozen boats strung out at the hire boat base.  It’s one of those places where you hope a broadbeam isn’t coming the other way as the boats are breasted up leaving little room and you can’t see past them before you get halfway through.  We were fortunate and didn’t meet a boat and were soon going down Leighton lock.

The hire boat base

Again, after going through the lock, Karen and Buddy walked back to get the car and moved it to Linslade a couple of miles to the north of Leighton where we had decided to moor for the next few days.

After leaving them I passed the Globe pub which always has a lot of ccers moored alongside as there is good parking in a nearby lane.  The boating guides mention that this point is near where the Great Train Robbery occurred, and I have seen it written that the gang did a lot of their planning in the pub. 

Passing the Globe

Looking into it on the internet it appears that the robbery happened at Bridego bridge which is about six miles away to the other side of Leighton.  Some of the resources must be wrong showing that you can’t believe everything you read.

I was mooring up as Karen & Buddy were walking down the towpath after parking up the car again.  We left for Birmingham pretty well straight away where we took some stuff to our storage unit and also picked up a few items that we realised we needed.

Our new mooring at Linslade Manor

On the way home we met our Stratford friends, Ileen & Jo, for a brilliant meal at the Red Lion in Evenley.  It really was a lovely pub overlooking the green of a pretty village near Brackley.  It was great to catch up with our friends and exchange all our news as we hadn’t seen them since we left the area last April.

So, over the last three days we have cruised three miles down two locks.