Friday 7th April 2006
Stockton Top - Radford Semele (5 miles, 19 locks)
We collected Hawksmoor at 2pm and were underway about 45 minutes later. Loading the boat was very quick, but we spent some time buying Taybrite coal and trying to find the "Chinese hat" cowling for the chimney. It was only later that we read in the diary that this had been missing for at least a couple of weeks, along with the club hammer for the mooring spikes. There were veiled accusations about these going missing during the winter maintenance at the beginning of February, but they were definitely there when we were out at the end of that same month. All part of the pros and cons of shared ownership...
Robert and Rosemary walked on ahead to the first of the Stockton Locks where a Napton hireboat waited for us to catch up and share the lock. We made rapid progress and reached Radford by early evening, where we moored about ½ mile before the bottom lock, choosing a spot where the gap in the trees would allow decent satellite reception.
I had heard that The White Lion at Radford Semele had burnt down in February, and had not been over impressed on our previous visit, so we walked in the opposite direction to the village of Offchurch to visit The Stag's Head. With the exception of the anaemic looking under-cooked chips, the food was very good and the service was exceptional. This will go on our must visit again list.
The photo of our mooring was taken the following morning as the engine was warming up, so the white cloud is condensation rather than diesel fumes. If this had been the night before, it would look as if the engine was ready to meet its maker.