Mousefest at Wormleighton

We've not been getting much sleep lately, due to Nemo cat bringing us presents in the night. Gill & Graham have had the same problem with Daisy - though she doesn't go out at night. So we've got Daisy taking the day shift & Nemo the night shift. We'd better move on from this spot before the whole mouse population is depleated. Nemo brought in 5 mice last night, 4 alive and one dead. We managed to catch them, as we now have a cunning plan in place to retrieve said mice:- Nemo brings mouse in & sits under the bed. We then trap him (and mouse) under the bed using tin trays, lift up the bed base (we've got a cross double which folds up) then quickly trap mouse in plastic jug. This usually works, but last night unfortunately a particularly lively mouse made a dash for freedom before the tin trays were in place, and dived into the skirting board & hid between the pipes. We managed to extracate mouse with the aid of a spatula, a delicate operation trying not to move the pipes too much. A split or leaking pipe is not what you want at 3am!

Yes you ......

Nemo's taken over the sofa as he's had such a busy night

Dave getting some help from Nemo on the computer

 

Scouting for mice

The Summit Pound

On our way to one of our favourite moorings on 'the summit' pound, we came accross many signs "say no to HS2", and also this one...

Hope you can read it ok - it says "you are about to go under HS2",  and this is it ....

What a lovely bit of the canal - which could be destroyed.  I find it very difficult to justify the argument of ploughing up the countryside in the pursuit of a couple of minutes saved on one's journey time - when we spend our day languishing in the slow lane, with a top speed of 4mph, downhill with the wind behind us.  Dave's view however is completely opposite, and fully supports it.  Hmmmmm!!!

Beefur, with Matilda Rose behind.

We haven't seen a boat today, after the flurry of activity of boats going up and down the Napton Locks before the stoppage started today.  Yesterday we saw a hire boat from Anderson at Middlewich heading south.  I hope the realise about the locks shutting today - cos they can't now get back.  I suspect it's one of the hire fleet which has been sold at the end of the season, we've seen alot of hire boats shuffling between hire bases, and new owners taking newly purchased boats to their new mooring.   We had a lovely view for bonfire night - far enough away not to upset the cats and dogs, but we could still see the illuminations.

Well I certainly didn't expect to be dead-heading on 7th November, after planting the flowers back in May, but they're still going strong ....

Fuschias & geraniums still going strong

Napton

We had a lovely night in The Folly, food and ale was excellent & landlord was very welcoming.  The Folly shop next door was open 9am-7pm, which is a bonus, considering it's now out of season.  (CLICK HERE FOR GREAT PHOTOS OF THE PUB). 

We moved up the Napton locks, as they are due to close for winter maintenance from Monday 7th, till the end of November.  You can just about make out the Napton windmill on the brow of the hill.

One of the locks, preparing for the stoppage ....

Surprisingly, these were a herd of buffalo grazing in the field at lock 12.

We're meeting up with Matilda Rose again tomorrow, and then slowly continue our way down the South Oxford canal.

Long Itchington & wide beams

We hung around Long Itchington for a couple of days but had to move on in order to get to the top of Napton by the 7th November due to stoppages.  We stopped at the Blue Lias for water & Dave was approached by a couple who's shiny new boat was moored just off the water point, (we knew the boat was new due to the cellophane still on the brass mushrooms).  "Is this where you get water then?".  Yes, Dave replied.  "But how do you open the box?" they continued.  "With a BW key".  "What's that then?"  Dave explained what the key was for, and that they would find the key on their key ring, which they retreived to examine.  Dave then had to explain how to look out for water points (buy a guide book).  They listened intently and thanked Dave for his trouble.  No idea how long they had been without water.   Well, that's another well researched start to life afloat then!!!!

Up the Stockton flight alone - Matilda Rose had departed a couple of days earlier to Braunston.  We're meeting up again at Napton in a couple of days time.

Hello swan-ee

The two planks Oak and Ash hotel boats moored up at Birdingbury wharf, season over.

Some unusual boats around, we're in wide beam country now ......

How 'bout one of these on the Llangollen !!

More wide beams - BW this time

One way of walking 3 dogs at a time - let them pull you along.

Right turn onto the Oxford Canal, and into Napton, with the windmill visible for miles around.  (Sorry about the quality of photos, I'm still using my phone for photos, and hoping Father Christmas will deliver a new digital camera.)

Loads of photos today, as we're taking advantage of the Folly's free Wi-Fi.  The Folly is 'under new management' and is 10 times better than the last time we were here - but still not the same without (Dotty) Lottie.

Google Ate My Blogspot!

We're back - after the blogspot mysteriously disappeared for a few days - "Account removed" for no reason whatsoever.  After asking Google to explain why this had happened, it reappeared, with an email apology.  We still don't know what happened, or why, but it all seems to be working again (touch wood).

After catching up with Gill & Graham on Matilda Rose, we decended the Lapworth flight in fantastic weather.  After a brief pit-stop at Kingswood Junction to use the BW recycling facility, (which, incidentally - someone had again dumped their rubbish bags into the recycling ggrrrrr),  we turned off the Stratford Canal, and onto the Grand Union.

Left turn Clyde

We decided to stop at Tom O'The Woods - purely as a fact finding mission of course - to see that now it has re-opened, it was better than the last time we stopped here, thankfully it was. 

A "project" boat

Shrewley tunnel, with horse tunnel to the right.

We moved on to Hatton, so we could celebrate Dave's 19th anniversary of living afloat and had a meal in the Waterman.  Very nice, with good beer.  The first day of Dave's life afloat back in October 1992, was spent breaking ice on the Leicester branch of the Grand Union, so we can't really moan about the weather - YET!

Another glorious day spent decending the Hatton flight, with Beefur & Matilda Rose strapped together, but steering like a brick.  I was nomiated driver for the day & this is the only photo I took as I was too busy clenching the tiller and concentrating! 

Gill took some lovely photos though (CLICK HERE)

Down, down, down to Warwick & Leamington Spa where we only stopped to do a Tesco shop & didn't do any exploring this time, as we've been there many times before, both by boat, and from visiting Rachel in Kenilworth up the road.

The towpath had been taken over at this point, with Gill having to pick her way through the kids, wheelbarrows of wood, and three legged dogs (yes really).  This is the spot near Radford Semele that we found all that wood last year, a 'community' has now grown around it!

Then it's up, up, up again towards Long Itchington.  Oh, by the way, if you need to use the elsan point at Fosse Wharf - dont!  It was absolutely disgusting. It doesn't have a BW lock and is open for all and sundry to use.  If the Environmental Health bods saw the state of it - they'd close it down.  Dave said he would have cleaned it if we had a couple of hours to spare, as it is a facility we need to keep.

Out of Brum & on to Stratford-On-Avon Canal

After doing the necessary at the BW point at Cambrian Wharf, (that's filling and emptying) we were on our way.  Through the middle of Birmingham City Centre, through Gas Street Basin and the lovely old working boats, under Broad Street and a sharp right turn at The Cube.  We passed Barrie Johnson NB White Locks of the BCNS, who had also been at the Stourbridge Rally.  Which reminds me:- Dave bumped into John Dunn off NB Druid in the middle of the Bull Ring Market the other day.  He wasn't at the Stourbridge Rally this year, or last year, and people were getting quite concerned about him.  His boat is now moored at Dadford's on the Delph.  He is no longer on the water and the boat has been passed to "a member of the family".  So, after much speculation - he is alive! - but not that well, arthritis having caught up with him & he can't do single handed boating any more.  Can still talk for England tho!

We've cooked our cheap chicken, bought with a fight from the indoor market on Saturday. I've never been shouted at by a butcher before for not buying his meat. It was a real eye opener. I didn't understand why customers for each meat stand were congregating at one end of each counter, until the butcher stall holder started bellowing "LISTEN! £10 FOR THIS TRAY". It slowly dawned on us that as it was 4pm on a Saturday, the butchers were selling their stock off cheaply. Talk about country bumpkins in the city! We stood our ground and said meekly "but we only want £5 worth, very sorry but we havent got the room for all that chicken". Loud Butcher shouted at us some more, but then gave us half a tray worth, for £5. We then ran away, leaving the masses glued to the display cabinets of the meat counters, ready to pounce on their bargains.   That's our city visiting done for another year!

The debris/litter from the Great Birmingham Run the day before was still in evidence, despite the litter pickers from Brindley Place.  We encountered a few silver 'blankets' in the canal and lots of discarded plastic water bottles.  Shame about the competitors making such a mess around the place - after running for such noble causes. Brindley Place was quite a different scene this Monday morning - all black suits and briefcases - rather than the lycra clad mobs of yesterday.

New Aqueduct and new overpass - though the grafitti artists have found a lovely new surface to deface....

Onto the Stratford on Avon Canal, and past that strange place that is Dickens Heath.  A huge conglomeration of flats and houses in the middle of nowhere!

We've caught up with NB Matilta Rose, strangely enough at the Blue Bell Cider House, and we may or may not be moving on tomorrow - depending on the weather.

   

Birmingham Markets and The Great Run

I've returned to Dave, the boat and Nemo pusss in Birmingham, and we decided to stay a couple more days so we could do a bit of shopping and exploring.  Nemo is not as neurotic as I thought he would be in the city, and has found sanctuary behind the gates of the closed Fiddle & Bone.  Stourbridge's busy towpath seems to have hardened him up abit.  Saturday night was busy for boats, with 3 separate operators running boat trips and party nights, with the usual hen parties belting out "I will survive" as they trundle past. 

Work on the construction of the new library continues...

A bit more to the structure than our last visit to Brum, 12 months ago, when work had not long started..

Stop Press!!!  We have found the Andean pipe music man! Horah!  He's alive and well, busking outside the Rag Market, it's been a while since we last saw him in Nuneaton, but I am pleased to report that he sounds just the same.

We had a good mooch round the indoor meat market and found some goat in a Halal butchers - yes - the curry was lovely.  We also came accross a butchers (if you can call it that) selling offal, including chicken feet (as per pic below) all sorts of bits of stomach (whole and bits), pig snouts, yep just the snout, and sheep heads (I refrained from taking a picture as it was enough to put you off your dinner).  What do you cook with chicken feet?  Chicken foot pie? Chicken foot omlette? The mind boggles.... (Dave suggested chicken fajitas) We've stocked up on all the curry ingredients we can think of, so hopefully the stocks will last till we visit again. 

There's a heron perched on the top of the Sea Life Centre - no doubt sussing out if he can get into the open otter enclosure below him.

Today Sunday, was extremely busy round the NIA area due to the Birmingham Great Run.  We watched the start on the telly, then went to see the finish line on Broad Street.  There were thousands of people milling around between Brindley Place & Broad Street.  Glad to see Batman & Robin completed the course (saw them on tv, they're centre picture with the black capes).  Unfortunately the silver blankets were discarded by some & stuffed into plant pots and left lying around.  No doubt the council will have everything cleaned up by morning.

Looking towards Broad Street and the finish line..

The atmosphere round the finish line was fantastic, with thousands of people cheering on the competitors.  The commentry from radio BRMB was spot on, enthusiastic and encouraging people over the finish line.  Quite emotional really.  All the bars around the canal side were heaving with competitors and their supporters tucking into chips and lager!  It was great to be able to sit around outside at the end of October and watch the throngs, that's throngs not thongs.  All in all a brilliant couple of days, we've been back to The Wellington & sampled a couple of their 40 beers on offer.  Dave was disappointed that he couldn't get into the Prince of Wales today, due to the number of people, you physically couldn't get through the door - good for the pub tho!

  Tomorrow we move on, and catch up with NB Matilda Rose.