Yesterday's trip to the New Inn for fish and chips ended with some amusement. During our time in the pub the level in the pound between the locks dropped over a foot. It had already been a bit on the low side, but this further drop had been too much for one of our mooring chains. It had snapped, and the base plate of the boat was 3 or 4 inches out of the water at the stern. So, I collected a windlass and returned to the top lock to run a little water down, whilst the crew retrieved the remainder of the snapped chain and our mooring rope. It was during my absence the crew took their first dip in the cut. Fortunately, it was not a full immersion as they somehow managed to throw themselves onto the bank. Sadly, a photo opportunity missed. Today we walked down the flight of locks to visit the chandlers at Whilton Marina, replacing the broken chain and obtaining a spare. We also found a farm shop a two minute walk from the canal. It was very well stocked with fresh meats, sweet and savoury pies and some home baked cakes and cookies. All the produce is direct from the farm. We like to support these small canal side businesses, and this is close enough for us to visit by car when we are back at our winter mooring in Yelvertoft.
On the walk back we spotted a duck with her newly hatched ducklings, eleven in total. She will have her work cut out keeping control of that lot.
Our route took us back passed the canalware shop and this time resistance was futile. I was relieved of my wallet and we now have a new flower box to adorn the roof of the boat. Finally, I thought we had moored in a 48 hr zone but it turns out we can stay put up to 14 days where we are. Not that we will stay that long but if the weather on Monday is unfavourable we don't have to move.
We've moored in that pound a few times, and the level does go up and down quite a bit -- although usually in the evening and overnight it goes up rather than down because of the back pumping. Glad you've found the farm shop -- it's excellent. Stock up because there aren't very many shops for a while as you head south. If you want to eat out really well, then the Walnut Tree at Blisworth has always been good. If you're into beer, there's a beer festival at the Barley Mow in Cosgrove next weekend, Fri-Sun.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a good butchers and a general store in Nether Heyford - a bit of a walk but worth it. Nice to see that the crew has joined the club. Seems to be a common theme for us crew :-) Enjoy Sunday lunch.
ReplyDeleteThanks both for the tips. A general theme of our blog is eating out so we will try the Walnut Tree.
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