Tuesday, 25 July 2017

Banbury to Priors Hardwick

Whilst in Banbury we had a little welding job done on Gecko by Tooley's Boatyard  adjacent to the Castle Quay shopping centre. I do like the way Banbury has embraced the canal over the last 30 years, although I am not sure the plans to demolish one of the car parks  by the canal and replace it with more large shops will encourage shoppers into the town centre.
Terry Pratchett published a book some years ago which I have  not read but have always liked the title -  Thief of Time. Amongst the thieves of time I put Facebook and most TV programmes. It seems to me that a documentary on the radio which would occupy 15 minutes has to be spun out to 45 or 60 minutes on TV with repeated shots of irrelevant, and sometimes inaccurate, views. I recall being encouraged to watch an episode of a series about the canals of northern England which was illustrated with a picture of a lock on the K&A.
However, I must confess to using a smartphone to check the weather before planning the next day's cruise.  The forecast for today is wall-to-wall sunshine but rain arriving tomorrow at lunchtime. Taking this on board we decided to make today a long day to compensate for a short cruise tomorrow.
As we approached Cropredy  I was negotiating a particularly narrow corner where boats were moored both sides of the canal when an oncoming boat suddenly appeared. I drew great satisfaction from the manoevre I exercised to avoid any collision. And to make my day the helmsman on the other boat praised my boating skill. I have worked all my life in activities where brickbats are the norm and bouquets don't exist so have grown accustomed to not having achievements recognised . Now I feel like celebrating this evening with one of Graham's home brews.


15 miles  /  12 locks

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