nb Bridge Street

Wednesday 14 th November 2018 We stayed on our moorings today and didn’t move. Superb isolation and so quiet, maybe just 6 boats passed us all day. I took Harvey out and brought back some dead wood and played with our rechargeable chainsaw. It is so easy cutting logs with this. Great fun. We had bought so many things prior to coming on the boat that we found we didn’t have a use for, and left at rubbish disposal sites for somebody to claim, but this is not one. I started to paint brush and mop stales in the same design as the boat hook, in grey primer just now. We have worn out one brush already. In the afternoon we went for a long walk to the nearest village, Flecknoe, a mile away. We wouldn’t have minded a pint but the village pub only opens weekday evenings from 6 until 10. Flecknoe is a tiny place, surprised it can support a pub, but is divided into two distinct parts. One side is made up of a mixture of old and modern but made to look old, expensive looking p...

Tuesday 13 th November 2018 It had rained heavily through the night and so, this morning, the paintwork on the hull side was still wet so could not be blackened until it had dried. So Harvey was clipped. He didn’t enjoy it much but, with a few sweeties, he put up with it. The result is perhaps not as good as Posh Paws did, but Brenda did OK. We went shopping to top up with bits and pieces, including more alcohol. You cannot, after all, live on love alone. Also visited the Braunston butcher again. Apparently a lot of people off hire and shared ownership boats visit him before they head home. Back at the boat, the hull side had dried off and so was blackened, although this time, it is just a touch up. This was left to dry while we had a cup of tea and then we set off. We have to be back in Braunston for 26 th November, to have a cover made to fit over the side door. So we have almost two weeks until then, so have decided to go down the Oxford and Grand Union Canals a...

Monday 12 th November 2018 We both had busy days today. After breakfast Brenda did housework while I painted the black stripes on the boat hook and touched up the blackening on the port side. The blackening hadn’t been done since passing through Braunston and Blisworth tunnels and badly needed doing. Once this was done, the boat was turned so the starboard side could be done. Brenda went shopping. This side was so bad that some parts had been rubbed down to metal so had to be primed first. It then came on to rain so the blackening still has yet to be done. In the meantime, the hull is full of grey patches. The roof vents and chimney flue bands were polished although the chrome on the flue bands is flaking off, after just a few weeks of use. The side fenders were re-spliced and the karabiners covered with cut-offs from a bike inner tube as they tend to scrape the side. My toolbox is kept in the engine room and was found with ½ inch of water in the bottom as well of a...

Sunday 11 th November 2018. Remembrance Day. Harvey had a long walk as he is being left on the boat during daylight when we go to church. We worry when we leave him in case he starts his howling. However, we don’t think we have too much to worry about, every time we return he appears at the foot of the steps looking all bleary eyed. He must sleep the whole time we are out. The church at Braunston is widely known as the “Cathedral of the Waterways” due to its importance to the boat people during the carrying days. Many were baptised, married and buried here. There are many people living in Braunston that are descended from working boat people. The Remembrance Service started at 10:45 but we were there early and went for a quick look in the churchyard. There was a grave there with many poppies laid on it. Three sons of the Clarke family who all died in the First World War. Poignant, that 100 years after the Armistice Remembrance Sunday should happen to fall on the ...

Saturday 10 th November 2018 After breakfast we were going for a long walk and explore Braunston. However, it came on to rain, heavily, and continued on and off all day, so we just visited the Coffee Boat to get coffee for Aaron then returned. Early afternoon, the rain stopped and we went to Midland Chandlers. We bought another kettle and a 20ltr water container. The kettle is another energy saving idea of Brenda’s, to sit on the stove and used for filling the normal kettle for tea, or for any other use of hot water, rather than using direct from the calorifier. The water container is for winter use in case we ever become iced up away from a water point. We can then walk to the water point and fill the container, dispensing it into the boats water tank. We spent the rest of the day quietly. Brenda read and I started to organise the photographs of the build of Bridge Street. We had Braunston butchers’ pork chops for dinner. This butcher would be worth travelling the ...

Tuesday 13th November 2018 We left Braunston today and, although we are just 2 miles away and absolutely in the middle of nowhere, we have re-entered the 21st century and regained internet access.

Friday 9th November 2018 Arriving at Braunston today and probably staying for a few days. There is neither  phone nor internet signal on the canal there, so no blogs for awhile.