On the move again!

After a visit up to Rob's Mum, we returned to Jasmine and celebrated his birthday with a relaxing chug to Cosgrove aqueduct, a pint in the garden at The Barley Mow and a curry back on the boat. It was a great spot to appreciate the splendour of the aqueduct, to explore Wolverton old village with its myriad of buttercups and to wander around the lovely Ouse Valley Park and the peaceful Floodplain Forest Nature

Reserve, busy with martins, swifts and a herd of Konic ponies. It was also very handy for the ice cream seller on his bike! We walked to Cosgrove and got close up to the wonderful bridge. Our mooring was surrounded by hawthorn bushes and Jasmine got covered with May blossom - which looked lovely to start with but then became decidedly unpleasant when combined with sticky tree sap...

We're very careful with our water usage - and we've never run out (yet!) - but we were conscious that we were getting quite low. Our tank was making unnerving echo-y, drippy

noises and so we moved along the embankment and managed to moor near the water point by the lock, where we filled up a container a few times and that kept us going for the time-being. It was also a good spot to leave Jas while we went for a 3-night break to Paris (courtesy of a Eurostar ticket from my parents, originally bought for us back in 2019 but never used due to Covid). We had a lovely trip, despite accidentally booking during half term - and a heatwave!

On our return we realised we had a new neighbour - Malcolm on nb Westmorland, who we'd last met in October 2021 at a very sociable gathering around a firepit on Nantwich embankment! The next day he had his range of lovely hand-made cushion covers for sale on display, so we kept him company and had a good old catch up before we moved to the

water point, filled up and cruised on to a beautiful spot near Yardley Gobion. Despite the heat, we ended up taking everything off the roof and giving it a good clean, including taking all the window glass out of the frames to de-gunk them - phew! Luckily we could then relax in our own private garden (the end of a nearby field). We also had an unexpected experience - a Lightning F1 fly over us twice - it was very fast, very low and very loud!

Then it was onwards towards Stoke Bruerne, sharing the locks with friendly hire-boaters, and mooring in a large pound. We continued up the next two locks the following day and found a great spot just past the village, just in time to see Ryan on fuel-boat Southern Cross and top up with diesel and get some more gas. Due to recent circumstances we've

had our car with us for quite a while now. It's been a necessity and has been really useful to have around, but it does mean we have to keep hopping it along with us. Whilst I've been working Rob has done much of the car moving,

but I did join him on the drive to Blisworth so we could walk back together over the Blisworth Tunnel. I'm not sure if it's the same route the horses would have taken back in the day when leggers would take the boats through the tunnel, but it was a beautiful route - complete with hares! The tunnel opened in 1805 but needed major renovation in the 1980, including reinforced concrete rings, technology which was then used in building the Channel tunnel! We finished the day off with a very tasty barbecue in the handy little space near the boat.

Then it was my birthday! After opening pressies in bed and having breakfast cooked for me

(yes, I know, I am a very lucky girl!), we sat in the sun and were treated to the sight of a pair of goldcrests in the bushes nearby whilst we were having coffee. We wandered around the lovely little canal museum and went up to the wildflower-filled churchyard, before a walk down the locks and back. Then it was a G&T outside the Navigation pub followed by a lovely meal at The Boat Inn before returning, very full and slightly tipsy, to Jasmine. What a splendid day!

The next morning we helped a new boater down the first two locks. He was heading to London and was still recovering from coming through Blisworth Tunnel as he hadn't realised that his boat, an unusual looking vessel which was wider than a narrowboat, should have had passage booked through. It caused a bit of a kerfuffle at the time, not surprisingly. Anyway, he was very pleased of the help and showed us around his boat (definitely a project and seemingly bereft of ropes or any suitable equipment). Good luck to you Finn, wherever you are now!

Then it was our turn to venture into the 3076-yard long Blisworth Tunnel - the first 'wide' tunnel we've done, with the slightly scary prospect of meeting something coming the other way! It was quite wet in places but not cold, and we managed to avoid the oncoming boats, including one which had broken down and was being towed by another boat. Having moored up in Blisworth we bumped (not literally!) into Rob & Emma, a couple of boaters we'd met in Stoke Bruerne, and agreed to go together to the Thai pop-up café they'd mentioned to us. It was a really hot evening and the boatyard was buzzing with people enjoying cold beers served from a converted horse trailer and delicious food produced by Ning in another little trailer!

I'd spotted a poster saying that Mikron Theatre (a touring company that travels by

narrowboat!) had a show in the village, so the next day we enjoyed the cool of Blisworth village hall and watched their brilliant performance of 'A Force to be Reckoned With' about pioneering women in the police. Do check out their website at: Mikron Theatre Co. :: Home. We also went along to the open mic at the boatyard the following evening but,

after days of heat, it coincided with a downpour and we ended up playing our songs under a gazebo to a crowd sheltering from the rain - not ideal. Still, we really enjoyed our stay in the village, met some friendly boaters, and I found Blisworth Wildflowers, a tiny, family-run nursery where I bought a couple of (hopefully drought-resistant) plants to add to the roof garden.

The weather continued to be a mish-mash of heatwave followed by thunder, lightning and

torrential rail (even hailstones!). We carried on, passing Gayton Junction where the Northampton arm branches off, and managed to find a shady spot for the night, enjoying a walk over the fields, spotting a toad by the canal and a seeing a marvellous sunset. Near Dodford I had a restless night, hearing strange noises from outside. I went and sat in the welldeck, shining the torch across the still water to the far bank. Something was moving through the undergrowth but I never found out what - I did see plenty of insects and bats though!

Then it was up the Buckby flight of seven locks, stopping at Anchor Cottage to buy a small can, hand-painted with traditional canal design, from Tricia the friendly owner. We turned left at Norton Junction, where the Leicester line carries on, stopping for a night before yet another tunnel, Braunston Tunnel, with it's infamous kinks! We'd not long found a nice spot

to moor between two of the locks (with its own bench!) when a young cyclist somehow parted company with his bike into the water nearby! Some fellow boaters provided their bargepole and boathook, but it could not be located. The chap ended up getting into the water (which was surprisingly deep...) and finally, with the aid of Rob casting our magnet on a rope into the depths, it was finally snagged and retrieved - hurrah! (especially as it cost £900, apparently...).

Braunston is a well-known canal centre so is busy most of the year, but we'd managed to arrive shortly before the annual historic boat rally so there was a constant stream of wonderful vessels passing us during our stay. We also met Kate Saffin of Alarum Productions at the village hall fete where we enjoyed tea and cake and a mini reading from her upcoming production. Before we left Braunston we managed to partake of some goodies from the wonderful Gongoozlers Rest narrowboat cafe whilst waiting to fill up with water, and also had a quick chat with the artist Ant Savage who was passing by (we could show him his print on our wall!). We then turned left under the famous double bridges at Braunston Turn, which we last went under in May 2022 after we'd come down the Oxford Canal. We also had our first hitch-hiker, saving her a long walk back to her boat with a heavy bag!

After a night in a gorgeous spot near Flecknoe we continued on towards

Napton Junction. Despite being almost midsummer, the walk back to the car ended up being done in full waterproofs due to the unsettled weather and the overgrown towpath. It was then our turn to be hitch-hikers as a family of swans and cygnets were blocking the path. Luckily nb Snailsway came past and were happy to oblige! After re-visiting this short section of canal that we'd done last year, we were about to move onto new waters again, heading west towards Warwick, but that, as they say, is for next time!

Evening on the Grand Union