Friday 23rd August 2019



We spent the day in Braunston. Such a nice place, Braunston and special within canal circles, full of history. We do enjoy the place, the people are friendly and we were surprised at the number of people who actually recognised and remembered us. The only trouble being, the canal sits in a dip and there is neither phone, internet or TV reception.

Brenda visited the butcher and put in our order for vacuum packing. The butcher’s wife recognised her and duly called him out. He had taken Brenda’s advice and has lost 3½ stone, feels better for it and doesn’t even miss his suet. She then took the bus into Daventry for her prescriptions. Straightforward this time, with no hassles.

I visited the Top Lock Shop, Tradline where I met my fiend Karen again, and Midland Chandlers.

Tradline is a fascinating place, a bit of an Aladdin’s Cave. They sell all manner of ropes and boat tackle and make rope work to order, fenders etc. Karen was, once again, very helpful and patient and I have now cracked the making of cabin strings that I been trying to master since the winter.

I checked that Midland Chandlers had our hull black paint and engine oil which we will call in for when we leave, save carrying it all.

In the evening, we walked up to the Wheatsheaf. There is a guy permanently moored in Braunston that I had tried engaging in conversation a few times previous, but had never been taken on. He was having a cup of tea with Karen when I visited Tradline and he did talk to me this time. We met him at the pub and he sat with us and we suddenly became enveloped in the Braunston boating community. Such a privilege we always feel when this happens. The canal community is a great leveller and an accepter of people without judging.  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday 22 nd June 2020   Brenda went to Devaney’s, the Middlewich butcher’s first thing, only to find them closed on account of a family bereavement, so went instead to Morrison’s. I stayed on the boat, readying to move and doing more work on family history. On Brenda’s return we both went to Morrison’s for a mega shop. Such hard work lugging loads of shopping back to the boat. We have decided we need to buy a second sack trolley. After the shopping was unpacked and stowed away, we had a cup of tea and some lunch and left the mooring just before 2pm. It felt so bloody good to be off cruising again, picking up where we left off when we left Middlewich on 10 th February, over 4 months ago, supposedly on the start of the cruising year after spending most of the winter static, in and around Middlewich, before the Corona Virus lock-down stopped us, and everybody else, dead in our tracks. We had an uneventful trip as far as Aqueduct Marina where we moored. When Bridge Street wa
Read more
Wednesday 24 th June 2020   Again, last night, the farmers were cutting and turning grass in the nearby fields but then, about 10pm, a heavy dew came down and stopped them working. And gave us a quiet night. We left the mooring just after 9am in order to arrive at Venetian when Susan opened at 10. We passed up Minshull Lock, such a pretty place. The lock-keepers cottage here, we nearly bought when we first moved back to Cheshire in 2000.                                          Minshull Lock-Keepers Cottage                                                    Marina Dwellers at Syke’s Hollow   Syke’s Hollow had been reclaimed by the marina dwellers, Gazebo Wharf as they term it, 6 boats in all. Good for them. I suppose they will be there now until the end of the summer. At the marina, we took on fuel and a gas cylinder, bought some goods and Brenda had a well-earned ice-cream. Susan was pleased to see us
Read more
Friday 26 th June 2020   We both had a terrible night. It got to 28 ˚ and was airless. Rain started at 4am but it did nothing to cool the place down. The rain stopped as soon as it started but came again before 8am and continued heavily until midday. Once the rain had cleared we walked up into Christleton village. It felt so good to be back out and exploring again, although the church was only open for private prayer on Wednesday and Sunday. The centre of the village was delightful, a pretty village, full of some lovely old buildings. Even outwith the actual centre, there was an abundance of gorgeous properties.                                    St. James Church, Christleton                                                            Christleton Village Centre   We returned to the boat, picked up Harvey and went for a walk around the site of the Battle of Rowton Moor, a Civil War battle fought on 24 th September 164
Read more