Bob and Jenny Narrowboat Infinity: July 2017 travels

July …...has been and gone.. . The summer is passing so fast...On the last waffle piece we were heading back to home marina to attend the 50^th wedding anniversary of George and Pat. . Jennys brother and sister in law..that has been and gone as well.

A lovely night in a Chinese restaurant, so much food !!! We made complete pigs of ourselves, It was beautifully cooked and displayed. I was nominated driver as we were still driving Darrens car The Merc. The car went back the next day and we set off to our next destination Birmingham.

Old narrow boats are a constant work project we are finding out. Just the bits that need doing , engine checks, running the engine to top the batteries . .putting the paint back on the sides, where I keep scrapping it off going into locks !! One job that really needed doing was . . clean the chimney or flue as they call it on the cut. It is or was clogged, very badly and really needed replacing. We had a quote to do it from a mechanic who...sucked air into his mouth. . over his teeth...you know the sound ? That can be done, it’s err. . ,..about £700.00...Ok ………...we’ll think about it.

Glad we did...when we had the new steps fitted we had a word with the fabricators who made them for a second quote….about £200.00...err slight difference aye ??

So many people are ready to rip you off, so glad we are making some good contacts. Dale and David came out to our marina removed the old flue, took it away made another one, returned the next day and fitted it. When talking to them we mentioned the door to the Squirrel fire was a bit iffie.. needed a new seal. They repaired that as well..Lovely guys and the fire is totally reconditioned so if its a hard winter...we won’t freeze.

After leaving home we headed down to the Grand Union and turned left at Braunston on to the Oxford arm, and headed towards our first planned stop. The canal runs through some lovely country side, rolling hills and open fields, one point, before we turned right on to the Grand Union towards Warwick, the canal goes down hill. . . well, it feels if it does. It always gives me an optical illusion because of the hills and the way they lay by the side of the canal.

We stopped in at The Two Boats pub for the week end at Long Itchington and saw again the lovely Sam the landlady and John her partner. Saturday night was music night. A great evening was had by all. Great professional musician who lives in the next village to us...we were talking afterwards and he had actually heard of me...My alter ego….The Busking Bargee…

The run up to Birmingham was fairly uneventful, passing though Leamington Spa, we managed to get past the spot where the engine blew up the first time we took her out ..Into Warwick, where we went on our first narrow boat holiday..

We didn’t stop as we had been there lots of times. Moored for the night to get a good nights sleep to face the next day !!! . . . 21 locks up the Hatton Flight. . luckily enough, we managed to link up with another boat going up and shared the work, also had a laugh, the guy driving had the similar sense of humour to me. We are doing about 4 hours a day that’s enough to get to were we are going by mid August.

The canals seem very quiet, considering its the start of the holiday season. Some of the holiday boats are still in their home marinas..Mind you talking to one holiday maker on a hire boat, he told me he’d paid £1700.00 for one week!!.. are they pricing themselves out of the market??...

We stopped to do all the necessaries before turning into Gas St. Basin to moor. . Filled with water . . empted toilet (s) and thanks to a couple of very good CRT cleaners got rid of all our rubbish...So, here’s to a good weekend off…

We have been to Gas St Basin before, when we came by car. It was, many years ago, a complete, too quote a local . . a sh*t hole!!. . however a few years ago a lot of money was invested into the place and its money well spent. It was very busy, we managed to find a mooring place right at the end or the visitor rings, and very near the night life !!

Its a combination of the old building which have been repaired and given face lifts and also the new buildings which fit in so well. Its a job to work out which is new and what is old. We went out for a walk and made the mistake of taking the pooches with us….Jake wasn’t happy he wanted to get back to the boat. He’s a country dog and is worried by the buses and cars.. Mind you I don’t like them ether these days prefer the slow life of the canal. We had a walk along the canal to the International conference centre where we saw Cliff and the Shadows a few years ago. There are lots of hotels in the area and it was like the league of nations with all the different languages being spoken.

After a quick shop at the local S’bugs, we topped up wine and a bottle or two of beer we returned to the boat for our evening meal. After checking the local menu’s, sadly they had priced us out..far too expensive. But the visitors had no choice.

We had a walk in the evening around the area, stopping to have a small libation at a local bar, and sampled the atmosphere, on passing a pub on the way back, called Canalside a lady ran out clutching two sausages, promptly started to feed our two !! . . . they didn’t object...Its really friendly

a busker set up a mike and PA system and played for the revellers heading for the night clubs..Thats when we realised...THE NIGHT LIFE !!! Oh no !!!

The night passed with no problems...One pratt thought it was funny to knock on the window at mid night and set the dogs off, but other wise it was all good natured ...kids out having a bit of week end fun.

A few party boats are here ..a floating restaurant, one had a birthday party and other’s had hen parties...as I looked out of the window as one of the boats sailed past, the male ‘entertainer’ was just getting down to the……. …..well use your own imaginations... I was so shocked !! ….

It put me off me cocoa…

Sunday was a quite day, we went back to the Canalside for a mid afternoon drink...dogs got more sausages while we chatted too two lovely ladies who were here for a hen party weekend...no, not the one with the entertainment...They were disappointed….

Monday saw us leaving Birmingham and heading towards Wolverhampton. Over 22 locks. It took us 7 hours, we stopped twice to let people past us, we won’t be rushed..

26^th of July was my birthday and went out for a meal in the evening at a pub called the ‘Wharf Tavern’.Its a lovely old ale house owned by Greene King.. a busy pub ..Sadly the brewery believe it is possible to run a busy pub with 3 members of staff.. One trainee manager ..One chef. . and wait for it. . one bar maid . . who was on the first night…

I felt so sorry for them...We had a lovely rib-eye steak and chips salad etc, before the melt down started. The food side was busy and the so was the beer side. It took ten min’s to get a beer and the food side over an hour !! lots of people cancelled and had their money refunded… Raquel the manager was in tears at the end... I sat with her and tried to comfort her, as did another couple, Spoilt our evening out really but hae...thats life.

We are now on the Shropshire canal, known as the Shroppie, over the weekend at Market Drayton, last time we were here was my 60^th birthday treat with Peter and Sue Huggins on a hire boat called Snowmain….where have the years gone??

Tomorrow, . . Monday. . We have a big flight of locks at Audlem, so an early night and off we go again...We’ll have to increase our daily hours cruising, so we can have a bit longer at Llangollen, so I’ll say bye bye for now and hand you over too the picture department...ttfn XXX