TRIP REPORTS

AUTUMN CRUISING 2006

The Upper Thames to Birmingham

Part 4 — Banbury to Birmingham

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We resume the story at Banbury on the Oxford Canal.

Banbury

We made a late start at 10:47. There was a lot of water in the cut, lots of flooded fields and whenever we saw the Cherwell it looked almost ready to burst its banks. We were feeling a bit tired so decided to tie up for lunch and a rest below Cropredy lock.

Setting off again, we were threading through boats coming the other way very satisfactorily. We'd originally hoped to reach Fenny Compton, but didn't think the light would last, so we stopped above Claydon top lock at 17:36. The lock mooring here is extremely long, which is probably necessary in the busy season, but at this time of day and of year we had no compunction about mooring on the far end of it.

09:18 wasn't as early a start as Wendy would have liked, as my knee (that I bruised in a fall some days before) had decided to play up. So I steered and Wendy worked the locks. We met lots of boats on bends and bridge-holes, but not enough of them at locks. We stopped at Fenny Marina for a pump-out, for which we had to wind in the marina entrance to be the right way round. We also bought gas, then winded again and continued our journey. I managed the first winding perfectly, but made a dog's breakfast of the second one. Contrary to usual custom, I had an audience for the good one and not for the bad!

We stopped at Fenny Compton Wharf to take on water (none available at the marina) and I had a quick pint in The Wharf (formerly the George & Dragon). After this we were in a procession with a very slow front boat, but with a well-crewed and helpful boat behind us who gave us a lot of help. Some of the ground paddles on this stretch seem to have been built for dwarfs - very short people with superhuman strength. At the penultimate lock we met an uphill boat whose idea was apparently to stand around numerously while a downhill boat did all the work. This separated us from our kindly followers, but at the bottom lock we met some nice people, boaters who'd tied up and gone for a walk to work up an appetite for dinner, who worked the bottom end of the lock for us.

We moored just past the Napton Bridge Inn at 17:45 on visitor moorings that are 48-hour ones in the Summer and 14-day ones in the winter. We ate in the pub - really excellent venison casserole. Our friends from the last lock were also eating there.

It was a pleasant mooring with owls at night and good hunting for the cats. I headed off to London very early on the Wednesday morning. Wendy walked up, down and round the hill to Napton village, where the one cash machine was out of order. She had better luck when she went into Southam by bus.

I arrived back at mid-day on Saturday but felt too tired to boat, so Wendy re-opened the cat-flap. We had another excellent meal at the pub in the evening.

On the Sunday we managed no boating because Tilly didn't come home in the morning, and not until it was beginning to get dusk. Later in the evening we closed the cat-flap to be sure of a good get-away in the morning.

Before starting, I transferred the anchor & chain into the bottom level of the storage locker to make room to load some coal in anticipation of colder weather. We were away at 08:20 and at Napton Junction we joined Warwick & Napton Canal section of the GU. In the third lock down the Stockton flight we waited for another boat, Aylestone, out of Stockton Top (formerly Blue Lias) Marina. Nice people and competent boaters. At Long Itchington shop lock both boats waited in the lock while I bought coal and the chap off Aylestone bought ice-cream. Aylestone stopped for lunch below Welsh Road lock.

Wendy tried working Bascote locks, but they were too much for her bad arm and I took over again. We stopped at Fosse to take on water. There's no rubbish disposal here so at the foot of Radford bottom lock we used the disposal point en passant. We arrived at The Moorings, Leamington at 16:30, just as the light was starting to change and tied up by the pub. Wendy made a quick trip to Sainsbury's to find out the next day's opening times, then we ate at the pub. Their portions were too big (we were quite tired) but they happily gave us a "moggy bag" which was well received when we got back on board.

Tilly found the hunting here too good to leave, so I left on the Tuesday afternoon - about 10 or 15 minutes walk to Leamington station. As before, I was hoping to recruit some extra crew to join us on my return, with the prospect of Hatton locks ahead of us. The Sainsbury's car park has recycling bins. Wendy closed the cat-flap overnight on Friday.

From this point on, my camera was out of action, so there weren't any photos until I boght a new one in Birmingham.

I arrived around 10:00, Eugene & Neil just after 11:00, having done a car-shuffle, leaving Neil's car at The Boot, Lapworth. We set off at 11:20. At Budbrooke junction we passed onto the Warwick & Birmingham Canal section of the GU. Neil & Eugene were so energetic that we whizzed up Hatton even though I was out on the towpath collecting campaign petition signatures (nearly four pages of them). The flight was in excellent condition and looking really smart.

We made a brief pause at the top of Hatton locks. Eugene phoned a taxi to go back to his car in Leamington. We'd planned on eating at The Boot tonight but when we 'phoned them they were fully booked. We later discovered that this was because they were hosting the village fireworks party. So we stopped near the Tom o' the Wood, Turners Green, instead at 16:30. The pub wasn't answering its 'phone, so we ate on board. While Wendy was cooking, Neil walked into Lapworth and moved his car from The Boot's car park to the station. Mandy came in with a mouse within a few minutes of us mooring.

Tilly didn't come in until evening, which meant we missed the opportunity to get through Lapworth before the stoppage there. Neil was very patient with the delay, and happy to stay with us for Monday, which would be re-routed via Knowle and Ashted. Mandy put a dead mouse in Neil's hold-all. We closed the cat-flap overnight. Tilly was uncharacteristically friendly with Neil, and let him stroke her.

We set off at 7:28. There was little or no wind, so Knowle Locks were much easier than we've known them before. I produced breakfast on the move as we went along the summit. We had a few minor problems with weed or grot on the blade, but not enough to stop for. There is now a very smart new facilities point by the top lock at Camp Hill. Neil continued to be extremely energetic. He said he finds this the more interesting route, so we felt a bit less guilty about wasting his Sunday. The flight had more grass and bushes than we remembered, but possibly the autumn colours emphasised it.

We passed through Bordesley & Digbeth Junctions onto the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal. At Aston Junction we joined the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal main line By now the sunlight was pretty horizontal and from nearly dead ahead, which made steering tricky at times. At Farmer's Bridge Junction we joined what was opriginally the Newhall Branch of the Birmingham Canal, and tied up in Cambrian Wharf Basin at 16:17.

Since we had last been here in the Spring BW had installed pontoon moorings in the basin, and we moored to one of these, still in daylight (just). We had a quick bite to eat, then I showed Neil the way to Snow Hill station to pick up his car from Lapworth. On his way back to the boat, I renewed my acquaintance with the Prince of Wales.

Subsequently

This was to be our mooring for the winter, which we had pre-booked with BW, and where we still are at the time of writing. Every couple of weeks we potter round the corner to Sherborne Wharf for a pump-out and whatever else we need. There's a water and rubbish point just on the other side of the basin.

Wendy, in particular, has started picking up the threads of knowledge of the area. Birmingham cats are still so refined that there's only one shop that sells cat litter - Tesco at Fiveways. From 7am to 5pm there are frequent 'buses to Oldbury (less frequent outside those times). Near the Bill Ring, the fruit & veg market is good. Also she found a replacement for our worn-out coal-shovel in the Rag Market. The nearest source of low-calorie tonic (Sainsbury's Local in Broad Street) charges 39p. B'ham Rep is doing a musical of Alice in Wonderland for Christmas. Symphony Hall has various interesting offerings. We still need to find the Crescent Theatre open to find out info about what they're doing. The neighbours on the moorings are nice: Bunty (Hindu gentleman) and Dan & Sue on the other. BW man Grant is still here but John has moved to Camp Hill. We've yet to learn the name of Grant's present colleague.

On the weekend of 25/26 November, we took part in the Save Our Waterways protest in Birmingham. Read my report of it here.