Gypsy Rover

Last Friday was a busy day.  After helping Sue and Vic down the Rothersthorpe flight and buying a few essentials at Braunston I had a little time to spare before heading to Birmingham and North Wales.

I knew from their blog that Derek and Dot weren’t far away so a quick phone call confirmed their position and off I went to find them.

Dot soon had the kettle on and I was made very welcome, despite the short notice of my arrival.

I was sorry to hear about the problems with their central heating - and about the leak from the pump which still needs even more attention.

You won’t be able to tell from the photos but their accent soon gives away they are from New Zealand.  Touring the country by canals seems an excellent way to see England.

They’re also heading for the Rothersthorpe flight and have probably completed it by the time you read this.  I hope they enjoy their summer.

Posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 18:57
Comments (0) Category(s): Grand Union Canal

Rothersthorpe

Vic and Sue on No Problem, were heading down the Rothersthorpe flight of locks on the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union last Friday.  Pacing themselves for the seventeen or so locks to take them to the River Nene for the summer.

They’d hardly started when Vic came under the bridge to be faced by someone aiming a camera at him.  Vic watched Lucy hurtling down the towpath to greet me and he knew it wouldn’t be such hard work after all.

Part way down the flight I discovered this old lady sitting on the old lock beam at the side of the canal.

There was just time to admire their new headlight - with a big bulb Sue won’t mind the tunnels as it won’t go dark inside.

Following down the flight was Chas and Ann on Moore2Life and there was time to help them with a few locks too.

Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 20:32
Comments (1) Category(s): No Problem , Northampton Branch

Happy Birthday to Waterway Routes

Waterway Routes (the boat) is one year old today.

It was on Good Friday 6 April, 2007 that we started our maiden voyage, heading southwards along the Southern Oxford Canal from Fenny Compton to reach Oxford.

We’ve been to lots of places since then, including Llangollen (twice) and around the Four Counties Ring, the Cheshire Ring and the whole of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN).

During that year we’ve done 1,307 miles, 754 locks and 84 lift/swing bridges and consumed 1154 litres of diesel at an average of 51p per litre.

Most of the winter has been safely tucked up at Sherborne Wharf while we spent a little time working on the boat to prepare it for this summer.

Our summer cruises will be to the south and west of Birmingham, including the Avon and Stourport rings so watch out for us that way.

Posted on Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 00:01
Comments (0) Category(s): BCN , Build our Boat