Bus, train, bloger, shop and friends

And so we progress slowly south now on the Oxford canal. We stopped at Ansty where Ann got a bus, train, bus all the way back to Gnosall. She got there and back in one day with time to enjoy the visit. It took us all of 12 days to do the same by boat on the canals! Just had to go back to see No Problem’s latest crew member namely a puppy called Meg. Also of course to say hello to Sue, Vic and Lucy. Sue’s homemade soup was consumed on board.

Next day we moved on down to Clifton. When passing through All Oaks Wood we recognised the name painted on the bow of ‘Khayamanzi’ and exchanged greetings with Andy as the blogers passed. Stopped at Brownsover near Rugby where only one other boat was moored. Usually many boats occupy both sides of the canal here. Went to Tesco to stock up. A very busy store on a Saturday afternoon. Bit of a culture shock with so many people about.

Continuing south we noticed that T. F. Yates was closed. Just hope it was because it was the weekend. Clifton Cruisers was open for business but on enquiry not Sundays over the winter months. Our navigation is limited now that Hawkesbury Lock is closed in the north and the canal is drained down at Lower Shuckburgh. We got filled up with diesel from Gosty Hill, a supply boat operating on the Ashby, Coventry and Oxford canals. Iain and Alison have been operating for a few years and have now painted their boat. They loaded up at Hawkesbury with the diesel and coal and found it slow going in the shallow canal. So we were pleased to see them as our tank was getting quite low. Always try to use the supply boats if we can. They won’t be back for three weeks so expect to fill up from one of the boat yards, marinas or hire fleet operators. The diesel price is going up due to extra duty.

Down at Barby we met up with Terry & Myra on Juno. Spent a few days in their company and walked up to Barby and back on a warm sunny morning.