Saturday 12th
January 2019
Brenda had a broken nights’ sleep and was in the saloon chair all
night. I awoke at 6:45, got up and Brenda went to bed.
Once the dog was fed and walked we left the moorings as soon as it was
light enough, a grey, dull, drizzly morning. And so it remained all day with
the drizzle occasionally becoming a light rain.
We were now back-tracking over old ground towards Braunston again.
This was the fourth time Bridge Street was going over this canal.
One of the many short
arms on the Oxford Canal created when the canal was straightened
Nothing much of note. We saw a couple of herons, the first we had seen
for weeks. We passed a number of boats we had been seeing on and off over the
last few weeks. At Stretton Stop I just had to stop to photograph that annoying
little swing bridge and an old spoon dredger that we had seen a few times. The
spoon dredger utilises a huge shovel balanced on chains and a crane to scoop
the bottom of the canal, the dredgings are then dumped inside the barge for
disposal. Must be bloody hard graft using this.
At Hungerfield, a boat pulled out in front of us and then held us up
all the way to Rugby where he then took the best mooring to be had there. We
moored behind him but were on a bend and the boat was banging the canal side
the whole time we were there.
While the moorings at Rugby, between bridges 58 and 59 are safe
enough, they are surrounded by busy roads and the towpath is muddy. We were here
purely for shopping, there is a large Tesco’s a very short walk away, a few diy
shops and a retail park at Elliots Field with all the usual names, Debenham’s,
M&S, Next and Curry’s to name a few. We hadn’t experienced civilisation in
the form of shops since Coventry in early November and quite enjoyed the
novelty of just walking around. It was late and getting dark, the dog had been
left on the boat on his own so we returned and plan to go shopping here at a
later date when we next pass through.
Weather: although it improved in the afternoon, the day was largely
grey and drizzly. The wind also picked up in the afternoon.
Day Total: 0 locks; 13 miles; 1 Tunnel; 1 Swing Bridge; 0 Boat Lift;
engine running hours 5.4
Overall Total: 324 locks; 676 miles; 31 tunnels; 6 Swing Bridges; 2
Boat Lifts; engine running hours 420.3
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