Short day on the North Oxford

Saturday 31st August

After a weekend off to celebrate Granddad's 90th birthday we returned to Jannock for a one day trip and met up with our friendly canoe traveller, last seen on the Llangollen canal. Tea and cake was exchanged for her tales. She was blackberrying for her second breakfast, a pastime we joined her in, and it was so necessary to explain to her how to make fruit liqueurs. She reckoned that Rugby Tescos could provide the cheap gin required. We have become used to seeing fruit and coconuts floating in the canals, especially in urban areas where our canals deputise for the Ganges, but today it was an oven ready chicken, sans packaging, we spotted floating upside down near Brinklow marina. One has to wonder .  .  .  .  .

On through Rugby and whilst I was making a cuppa there was a hell of a clonk on the steelwork. No unpleasant kids about so not a stone then. No golf course nearby so not a golf ball. It turned out to be a muck-spreader working in the filed alongside the canal hurling stones as well as muck about. It left a goodly hole in the paint work by the front well seat. Just as well himself at the tiller didn’t get an attack of the wurzels. We stopped by the shops at Rugby as G. wanted some oil from Halfords and I took the opportunity of purchasing some new shelves for Jannock from B&Q.

We ascended Hillmorton locks alongside a Viking Afloat boat whose husband and wife crew decided to only use the left  hand lock no matter what state the locks were set in. G. thought it was great as they ignored the empty righthand locks to use the ones that needed emptying. We passed Aldgate moored above Hillmorton locks where the owner was cleaning all the rust off of the hold floor before painting – what a mucky task. G. fetched the car from All Oaks Wood whilst I tidied up ready to go home. Another trip down to Hampshire tomorrow.

Brenda