Thursday 10th November 2005
Hillmorton - Calcutt Bottom Lock (11½ miles, 3 locks)
After the extra distance we covered yesterday, we didn't feel guilty about having a lie-in. At Braunston, we walked into the village for shopping and almost went for a cup of coffee in what looked like a cafe. Just before it was too late, we realised it was a Christian Bookshop and the coffee was free apart from a donation. I'm afraid I couldn't cope with the idea of being bombarded by religious dogma in spite of my craving for caffeine - so it was back to the boat for high octane coffee.
Jen made lunch while I polished the brasswork. The mushroom vents were quite tarnished with the recent wet weather but were soon looking great, at least for the three minutes before the sky turned grey and the fine drizzle started.
The rain got heavier and then finally blew over as we approached Calcutt, where we filled with water and moored below the bottom lock ready for the short run back to the marina in the morning. It was slow (or should that be sloe) trip down the locks, as Jen could only be bothered to open the bottom paddle on the towpath side while she foraged for more sloes. The sun was just going down as I moored and then I phoned "The Bridge Inn" to check that they were serving food that evening, having worked out from the map that it was about a 1½ mile walk.
The trip to "The Bridge Inn" was quite exciting. The moon was obscured by cloud when we set out, but we were armed with a large re-chargeable torch. The only problem was that I had lost the instructions and had no idea how long it would last, so I insisted on only using it when the towpath looked dodgy. I hadn't appreciated how bad it was along the Oxford Canal where the towpath seemed to disappear into the canal quite regularly. The barmaid was surprised that we had walked so far and told us that she could have given us a lift as she lives on a boat at the top of Calcutt Locks.
The food and beer was excellent and the walk home slightly easier as the moon was now breaking through the clouds. The battery in the torch lasted easily and would possibly have gone on for several hours - I must run a test on it so we don't get caught out again.