We drove up from Cornwall on Monday, leaving just before 8 am and in blanket of fog that had covered us for most of the Bank Holiday weekend whilst the rest of the country was reporting record sunshine! The reason for the early departure was that Mike had a meeting in London the next day and was staying overnight in a hotel near Waterloo - it would have been an impossibly long day to have left at the crack of dawn on a train!
The journey up was uneventful and we arrived around mid day and began the task of unloading the car - it is a bit more effort here than at some marinas as there is a steep slope from the berths to the cart park. As soon as we stepped aboard the boat we realise that we had a problem - the electricity supply bollard had tripped out and the 12v supply inside the boat was off. We quickly turned the engine on and the batteries began charging well. We are hopeful that a feature on the Mastervolt system has operated so that if this situation arises it is supposed to turn off the load to save the batteries. A full discharge does not do them any good. However, it will be a day or two before we find out. At least by the end of the day the readings indicated that they were fully charged.
Later in the afternoon, Christine went with Mike to Warwick Parkway station where he caught the train into London Marylebone. From there he had a short ride on the Bakerloo Line. Meanwhile Christine returned to the boat, to do the unpacking and the meal that we had brought up from home.
On Tuesday, with Mike in his meeting, Christine set about cleaning the boat and sorting out the change from winter to summer. Late evening Mike returned on the train just before 9 pm - Christine met him with the car - and was grateful that as soon as we arrived back at the boat a jacket potato was ready and waiting.
Today we started by driving into Stratford for a re-stock from Morrisons. It may be several days before we can find another supermarket.
11:30 and we were ready to set off, leaving our visitor mooring and carefully emerging onto the main canal. As the photo shows, the marina is still maturing - Christine noticed the day before that a lot of grass seed was being sown around all of the site, now that the ground has recovered from the very wet conditions when we arrived here. It looks as if they are now nearly half full, with more boats arriving each week.
The bright blue sky provided a wonderful backdrop to the canal views - along with some quite warm sunshine.
Before long we passed over the very short aqueduct at Wootton Wawen and continued for about an hour before we stopped for lunch just before the first lock.
Christine was particularly struck by how much the vegetation had changed in the three weeks following our last trip. Most trees are now very green (we will have to choose mooring spots with more care as the satellite tv signal does not come through the foliage!) and there are some impressive displays of blossom.
After lunch we immediately started on the Preston Bagot Locks. The bottom lock is just under this skew bridge where a local road passes over the canal.
We had rather a problem at the next lock - we recalled that several boats reported problems here when we came down. The bottom gate does not open as well as it should and our boat came to a halt half in and half out of the lock. It was even reluctant to back out but with a little additional help by pulling on the centre line we extricated ourselves. However it took three further attempts before we made it into the lock, with Mike giving the gate an extra strong push to be as open as possible. It was a little strange as at the waterline there appeared to be plenty of room so we suspected that the gate must be at an angle and traps the hull under water.
The lock cottage has a garden feature from old lock balance beams - strangely we have not spotted it when passing through here before. The metal frames may once have stored stop planks but we do not recall having seen any on this canal.
At the top end of the next lock there was an extensive collection of wildflowers growing amongst the grass - and a few narcissi that must have escaped from somewhere!
Alongside the lock, and the small river that runs close by, there is a footpath lined by lots of wild garlic. We detected its presence with our noses long before our eyes!
A little later we spotted a large clump of bright bluebells on the offside bank.
Another display of blossom just before we reached Lowsonford . . .
. . . and then these great specimens in the garden of the lock keeper's cottage (now owned by the Landmark Trust) beside the last lock we worked through today. A little earlier Christine eventually managed to get a mobile phone signal and booked table for this evening. Just as well we did not leave it any longer as they did not have any free spaces at our preferred time but fitted us in only a quarter of an hour earlier at 7:15. We moored opposite the pub with a very short walk back to the road bridge.
Just after seven we walked the short distance back to the lock, crossed over and then around the the pub - about four times the 100m as the crow flies! We found the Fleur de Lys to be a pleasant and welcoming place. Whilst it has a wider menu, its fame and speciality is for its range of pies. At one time the made and supplied pies to the local area but when the business outgrew the pub it moved elsewhere so here they are made specially for diners.
Christine ordered Kate and Sidney (steak and kidney) whilst Mike opted for Moo Bloo (steak with a hint of stilton).Although the menu warns that orders can take up to an hour to arrive (we had heard about this from other reports) ours was much quicker, less than half of that. When the food arrived it was superb. The pies were indeed most delicious with a wonderful crust - quite different from factory made shortcrust of puff pastry, and the accompanying vegetables were just al dente. Too often when kitchens try to do this they end up only on the warm side of raw - or boiled to extinction. These were just right and the chunky chips freshly cooked also to perfection.
After we had polished off all of our potions - and with a short interval to assimilate - we both opted for a creme caramel dessert - again very delicate and something special.
We had been here once before, a long time back when Alice was with us, and we enjoyed it then so it was extra pleasing to find that the place was even better this time. It obviously happily welcomes families and all sorts of visitors - most tables were tonight occupied by groups - we were one of the few couples. Eventually we had to pay up - the prices are also very realistic and we were not asked to add a separate service charge - so we really did feel that it had been a delight and well worth the money!
4.8 Miles - 8 Locks
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