Banbury Lane Bridge to Stoke Bruerne.

Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March.

Banbury Lane Bridge to Stoke Bruerne, 4.6 miles.

Saturday.

The morning began early for me with the sound of a local farmers gas gun going off at 6am, which was not very welcome at all on a Saturday. We seem to have been hearing a lot of these gas guns recently and they have been going off at all time of the day and night. Try as I might I found it very difficult to get back to sleep and when Marmite discovered that both Keith and I were awake, she saw it as her opportunity to get into bed with us. Marmite climbed in under the covers and snuggled down for a time, before we spoiled her snooze by getting up to a lovely bright sunny morning. Paddy even had a spring in his step as we went for his morning stroll. A sad sight was set before us, with a Badger floating on the surface of the cut.It was another casualty of the cut, not many weeks ago we had a fox float past our boat, it is all very sad, because they are both majestic creatures.
Back onboard Keith was cooking us a breakfast which consisted of poached eggs on toast with bacon and mushrooms. I always let Keith do the cooked breakfast as he is really good at it. Once the breakfast was consumed, it was time to get on with boat jobs. Keith changed the generator oil, whilst I tidied the boat. For the first time this year we got our chairs out and sat on the towpath soaking up the sun, whilst eating lunch. It was so nice to be able to open the boat up and let a breeze blow through it. Later in the afternoon a chilly wind began to blew in, meaning we would close the boat up and sit in front the TV for the evening.

Sunday.

Having heard a not very favourable weather forecast last night, we thought we would slip our mooring and head for Stoke Bruerne whilst the weather was so nice. The sun was out and the breeze was not too strong. So having done all the usual morning jobs, we left the mooring at 9.45am. Boaters who had come past us yesterday, who were out for the weekend, were heading back to their bases. One very nice boater, who we met at a bridge ‘ole waved us through, which was really nice of him, especially as Hadar takes some stopping when she is laden with coal, as she is at the moment. Even though we always slow down when coming to a bridge, as we never know what maybe coming in the opposite direction.It was not long before we were heading through Blisworth and past Blisworth Mill, which I find to be such an imposing building. It is now apartments, but in its hey day would have been a hive of industrial activity.We saw our first swan nest of the Spring, with this swan sitting very tight on what looked like it may have been last years nest, being put to use once more.Perhaps when we come back this way, there may well be cygnets close by.
Having made our way through Blisworth Tunnel, we were greeted on the other side by cameras flashing and people staring as we came out into the sunlight. What we did not expect to find was a friendly face moored up on the towpath. As we came alongside NB Gerald No13, Keith gave a blast on our Klaxon to see if Roy was onboard, which he was as he stuck his head out and gave us a wave. We moored up in front of him and the conversation flowed, we then got on to the subject of lunch and the fact that Roy was going to The Boat Inn, so we thought what a great idea and so closed the boat up and joined him for lunch, which I have to say was fabulous. The beer and conversation flowed before, during and after a lovely meal. We were even joined by Mike from NB Jubilee for a few moments, but he could not stay as he is now running the trip boats from the museum, but I am sure we will get to chat to him another time. It is fantastic to see Roy again and Thomas his very handsome whippet, who is so well behave. Back at the boats we were then invited onboard Gerald No13 for a coffee, where the chatter was still flowing strongly. We have not had a chance to natter to Roy since the BCN Explorer cruise last year, so as you can imagine we had a lot of things to tell each other. This is the great thing about meeting up with friends, there is always plenty to natter about.
It has been a marvelous day, with lovely weather. Spring is really busting out all over with blossom on the trees.Spring blooms are to be seen everywhere, Daffodils, Primroses and my favourites Purple and White Violets.They have such delicate petals, which snuggle down in the grass.It has been the most perfect day. It is thought that we may set off early in the morning to travel down the flight with Roy. We will breast up with Gerald No13, Keith will move both boats whilst Roy and I lock wheel, so it should be a great days cruising.