Awoke in the night with the most terrible cramp in my legs which in turn woke R abruptly as I made rather alot of noise! According to R, I should have warmed up my muscles before working half a dozen locks with all the additional walking involved with the type of locks on the Oxford canal. There are two gates to open to let the boat out downstream which means once you have opened one you need to walk all the way around the lock to open the other one and then walk all the way back to close the first one. Some people with long legs, mentioning no names, just stride across. I’m tempted to jump but think I am just too old to attempt such a feat and it really would be very stupid! I was delighted to have done so much exercise in one day, until the cramp hit. R decided I needed to rest today so he did the locks into Banbury whilst I took to the helm. Ironically I had done all the locks yesterday as I was anxious about his leg which is still causing him discomfort.
We had unexpected visitors in the form of H and J, our friends from the north, who I was expecting next week. Wires crossed and they arrived mid morning! Luckily we were still at Fenny C because Martin had returned to double check our electrics and do the full gas service, which needs to be completed every year. All was in order by midday and so H and I set off along the cut whilst R accompanied J in his car to our end point and then they walked back along the towpath to join the boat. There were stretches of towpath that were very high up and inaccessible to the canal so it was fortunate we did not coincide there! Infact we met up just as we were going under a bridge so it was easy for the men to jump aboard. J took the helm whilst I went into the galley to make up some wraps for lunch. I try to keep some long shelf life rations on board, so even though we hadn’t expected J and H there was plenty of food available for a picnic. Our timing was impeccable – just as we moored up near the car for lunch the heavens opened and the rain lashed down. By the time H and J had to leave the sun had come out so we waved them goodbye and continued on towards Cropredy where we spent the night, thankful that we were able to secure a mooring near to the centre of the village. It is incredibly popular with boaters so it is not a given that you will find space. We met our bestman and his wife in the pub for supper as they live relatively nearby and had a very relaxed evening although it has to be said I felt quite exhausted from the day! My conversation with Ol revolved around the intricacies of boat batteries and how to prolong their shelf life, followed by the working of a diesel engine. I have known Ol nearly fifty years, shared a flat with him in London in our twenties and if anyone had told me one day we’d be sitting chatting batteries and engines I would never have believed them. As a child my brothers were car mad and would, by listening to the sound of their engines, know exactly what was wrong with them. I meanwhile couldn’t distinguish one sound from another, mainly because I didn’t want to and couldn’t see the point. How times change. Today I was tuning into all the engine sounds in the hopes that I will be able to recognise when something may be amiss.
We arrived in Banbury at lunchtime. Our original plan was to only go as far as Cropredy. Then R would take a train home on Friday from Banbury having caught a bus into the town. There are no buses as far as I can make out from Cropredy so, as we had the time, I suggested we just continue on. I’m returning to Fenny C at the weekend in the hopes my pram cover for the stern will be delivered early next week. I had thought the locks would be too numerous and heavy without R but my confidence is growing and I think my friend K, who is coming for the weekend, and I should be able to manage. I must just remember to stretch beforehand!
I’m delighted to be in Banbury! Moored up near all the shops, with the nearest supermarket, Lidl, a five minutes walk. So I enjoyed perusing the ‘middle of Lidl’ this evening whilst buying some fresh veg for supper. We sneaked into the local cinema for a matinee performance of Downton Abbey shortly after our arrival with all the other oldies in the vicinity! Then we managed to turn the boat, ready for returning to Fenny, on a stretch of the canal that just didn’t look wide enough. However another boater assured us that boats up to 45ft can turn and offered to come and help us in the task. He had introduced himself as we arrived because he saw our BCF (Boaters Christian fellowship) sticker in the window and had recently become a member. Joining us for a cup of tea he told us that he only bought his boat a month ago, having never stepped aboard a narrowboat before! Living alone he couldn’t understand the point of going out to work for long hours to pay for a home that, because of the long hours working to pay for it, you never got time to live in! So he, Li, decided to sell his house and buy a narrowboat that he could afford without having to work such long hours to pay for. His dream is to set up a tea room, preferably one that is user friendly to carers and their charge. As a carer himself, he said it was always difficult taking someone out to a cafe where you had to stand for a long time in a queue. Meanwhile the person you were looking after was alone at a table so you aren’t then looking after them. I think he favours offering a tearoom with table service, a little like we had during covid. Li, because of his boating inexperience, decided to do a two day helmsman course at Tooley Boatyard, here in Banbury (apparently, it is the oldest boatyard in the country) and he was able to give us some useful tips on reversing!
Supper was very late by the time I had returned from Lidl and put the ingredients in our Ecopot, a slow cooker that relies on insulation rather than electricity. I had been keen to give it a go so tonight was the night but we had to wait an hour for it to cook, so I think it was nearer to ten o’click before our risotto was ready! Didn’t taste too bad and had definitely continued to cook and remained hot.
NarrowboatTLC 