We drove up to Brinklow Marina on Thursday, arriving just after 1. We took a coffee break at Stow-on-the-Wold - an open fire felt very welcoming!
After lunch we unloaded the car and started to stow away. However, we decided that it would be a good idea to charge up the car so that it would be more comfortably full after the car shuffle, well able to get us back home without having to stop again. We had planned to charge up at the marina overnight but unfortunately the charger has developed a fault since we brought the boat here three weeks ago. One of the staff in the marina office, who lives on a mooring here and also uses the charger, advised that the best option was to go to Rugby Services where there is a large set of rapid chargers.
Leaving Christine to complete the stowing away, Mike set off as suggested - about 14 minutes drive. The service station does indeed have a large number of chargers - with more being added - and a substantial proportion were being used. Mike used the time to pop into the M&S Food Hall for some more milk.
Friday was car shuffle day, with the car being taken down to Cropredy where we are headed and have our new Home Mooring (from the start of the month) The drive was only about 40 minutes. Now for the return trip. Neither marina has a nearby bus service (the one in Cropredy is one bus a week!) and about four miles from a main line station. Using advice from the marina, a taxi was booked about a week ago and, most efficiently, it arrived dead on time. They even have an app that gives details of the booking, the car and the driver but also allows you to follow the car on its way from its base next to the station to the pick up point.
Two trains - a change at Coventry - took Mike to Rugby station on time. Assuming that it would have a good taxi rank no car had been pre-booked so it was a tad alarming to see passengers quicker off the platform jump into all that were waiting. However it was only a few minutes before another one arrived and equally efficiently transported Mike back to the starting point. We were not planning on leaving until the next morning so the afternoon was a laid back reading session!
After two glorious days with clear skies, today began grey and at times a bit wet. After casting off from the mooring pontoon we only went far enough to the service point so that we could fill with diesel and check out with the office. They did make yet another attempt to persuade us to stay -we could transfer at no extra cost! Tempting in a way but it is the extra drive - from home to Cropredy is possible without a stop, even for us!
Eventually we were underway for this final trip of the season. Our schedule for the first week is a little fluid as Andrew plans to join us next weekend and we need to leave a good trip, getting to Cropredy in time to be able to return home on the following Saturday (we need to be home for Sunday)
At the entrance to the marina the line of the original Brindley canal can be seen. passing alongside what is now the marina basin.
The first bridge surprisingly has a number but this was an original bridge across the old line of the canal and carries a local road. It has, of course, been re-built in recent times to carry modern weights of traffic.
The splendid cast iron bridge at the point where we re-joined the present day canal is the same as quite a number that also mark where new sections were bult when the north Oxford was later improved to shorten the distances involved in following contours. Later technology allowed more direct routes with embankments and cuttings.
The rain soon cleared and we had a number of pleasant sunny spells - most with sunshine in one direction and cloud cover in the other!
Newbold Tunnel is short and sometimes when we can see that there is nothing coming towards us we do not even bother with the head light for such a brief time (just over a minute) Fortunately we did switch it on this time as before we reached the other end a boat arrived - the approach is on a bend so we could only see it at the last moment, not helped as it ran aground on some unexpected silt.
After the tunnel came another straight, clearly part of the improvements. Here there are at least three bridges close together that highlight the size of the cutting we were passing through.
Rugby Wharf, with a hire base, is also located on the stub end of a former original section.
Opposite the entrance is a winding hole, unusually large as it was formed from the start of the next abandoned section that crossed here at right angles to the new alignment. This was one of the largest time savings as there is a deep valley that Brindley could not cross directly. Instead, he contoured up the valley for over a mile to a small hamlet called Cosford and then back down again only a few hundred metres from the start!
That short section now has a couple of aqueducts that indicate why Brindley found the diversion a necessity.
And here is where the old line came back in. Just after this point we were lucky to find a free mooring spot as close to Tesco as possible - understandably this is always a popular spot for mooring.
After tying up we went immediately to do the shopping - we did not bring a few set of stores with us from home, knowing that we could stock up here. We were somewhat over ambitious with the quantity which, even with our new shopping trolley, was quite a test of our 'beast of burden' skills.
After lunch we set off once more as we planned to get as far as just below Hillmorton Locks, close to the village church where we plan to go in the morning.
We have shown the new Houlton Bridge before - we watched it gradually taking shape several years ago as the new 'village' development was being prepared. The first occupiers of new homes moved in about 6 years ago. We will not actually see any of it until tomorrow once we start to pass through Hillmorton.
About 25 minutes later we were close to our destination. We spotted good moorings but passed on until we could see that there was no more space below the locks. Actually we had to back up a few boat lengths as we reached this conclusion as we came around a bend and saw that what looked like a suitable gap turned out to be an overflow weir! Still, close enough.
5.7 Miles - 0 Locks
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