Lower Heyford reached, now returning for Crick Show

After climbing Napton locks on a lovely day in April I went on to moor at Br 124 at Priors Hardwick. Sadly access to bridle path blocked by farmer so I had to walk to Br 125 to get to the village - but well worth the visit as it is lovely - the pub/restaurant looked good too.

Next day I went on to the lovely moorings after the ladder bridge below Wormleighton - with a lovely view of Napton. Soon after I was joined by boating friends Peter and I met in 2001 - Roy and Celia on Strange Magic. What happened to the day? - we chatted from coffee and cake time (thanks Celia), missed lunch and on to 9pm when we all decided we were starving. It is so nice to catch up with friends you haven't seen for a few years.

Next day Roy and Celia moved on and I walked into Wormleighton - what a lovely manorial village this is - well worth the long circular walk.

Now I was to cruise slowly on, stopping frequently to visit many villages as I went. I have made this trip many times before, but never slowly and exploring. Each way spending some money in Banbury!

Eventually, on Wednesday 29 April, I got to Lower Heyford, my pre-Crick goal. Decided to turn in the winding hole, south of the village. Mistake - as I winded, lost forward/backward motion and had to pole to bank. Had very slight power so limped back to Lower Heyford and rang RCR. They sent an engineer within 1/2 hour - from Oxfordshire Narrowboats - just the other side of the bridge! He changed throttle cable, then thought it was the lever, no it wasn't.

It wasn't until Saturday that the problem was resolved. Was it broken throttle cable or lever? In desperation I re-called RCR and they sent another engineer who said it was a WORN lever. Anyway he didn't have a replacement, so repaired it enough for me to have replaced later.

At least I was able to get down to Oxford by train on the Friday, as planned. It is handy having a dog who seems to enjoy public transport! Had a great day doing the Red Bus tour, lots of exploring (shame you cannot take dogs into colleges), plus a visit to Osney moorings (no-one here I know!) and then walked to Folly Bridge to sit by the lovely River Thames for an hour or so.

So on Sunday 3 May I set off northwards. Now it is cooler and breezy. I will be making the return journey faster as I have done all my exploring.

On Thursday it was pretty windy as I left Cropredy so decided to make it to Claydon Top Lock - 8 locks for me is quite a lot! Got to mooring in time for lunch - to find Karel and Susie on mv Daniel who I had seen on a few occasions since 2003, but never had a chance to chat - we made up for lost time!

Am now sitting out the very strong winds - watching boats struggle and bump past me - grateful that I am moored up. But the sun is shining and I can catch up on a few of those jobs.....