Friday 1st July; Bridge 38 to Crick
The rain in the night woke us up, but apart from a couple of very light showers it was a day of sunny spells, warm unless the cloud came over. We were tired after yesterday’s drive up so we didn’t hurry this morning. Meg and I walked the somewhat muddy footpath through fields of ripening barley between bridges 38 and 39.
On our way back along the towpath we passed one of the Living Milestones, which I seem to remember were planted several years ago to replace the missing original milestones which I think were made of iron.
It was hoped they would grow to become a permanent feature of the hedgerows; this one I think may be a hornbeam and it has done just that.
We didn’t leave our mooring till after 10. We saw few boats on the move all day – I expect this will change once we turn towards Braunston. Bonjour handles a little differently from Chuffed - she is 5’ longer, so will be heavier. But she does have bow thrusters which was helpful in getting out of the marina yesterday!
It was an uneventful cruise – with no locks to think about, you can listen to the birds and enjoy the scenery as the canal twists and turns, changing from shaded and tree-lined to open views across farmland. Long stretches of meadowsweet and other water-plants alternated with reeds, which we fear may become a problem if they are not kept in check.
We stopped for lunch before Yelvertoft, and listened to the skylarks and yellowhammers. At Yelvertoft bridge I hopped off the bow to dispose of the poo bags (one Meg’s, one a lazy owner had left hanging on the hedge), and got back on the stern as the boat came under the bridge. We were aiming for Crick, and had rather hoped to moor opposite Crack’s Hill near bridge 14, where there is a footpath to the village.
Crack’s Hill
But we were so busy looking at the hill, as we haven’t been this way for years, that I failed to notice until we were under the bridge that we had passed the only spot where you can get into the bank. We would have reversed back, but one of the few boats we met today was approaching, so we couldn’t really. The few places to moor before the main road bridge (because of the various entrances to the marina) were all occupied, but luckily there was plenty of space after that. I walked up to the village, finding out that there is a Co-op opposite the Wheatsheaf, which was lucky as the Post Office shop had just closed. The car had been so full when we packed that there was only room for one bottle of wine! And we drank that last night!
We spent the rest of the afternoon carrying on with finding the right places to put our stuff, which we had just shoved out of the way into the nearest cupboards when we arrived yesterday. In the process we have found treasure – a good quality cordless cleaner, an excellent strong torch (LED, charging via USB), an escape ladder which should really be installed ready somewhere on the stern, and a Propmate! I was going to order one before we arrived, glad I didn’t. After we had eaten, we had a visitor – the field opposite is occupied by a herd of rather beautiful cattle. Some of them look similar to the Ruby Reds we have in Devon, and some were very dark, but the bull was more of a caramel colour. He came forcing his way through the scrubby hawthorns on the bank – now we know why they look a bit bashed about, the cattle come and scratch their backs before snacking on the leaves within reach.
Big Daddy
What a lovely day.
But there’s no signal where we are moored, annoying, but only because the blog post will have to wait.
8¾ miles
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