Friday 29th July 2005
Stockton Top - Radford Semele (5½ miles, 20 locks)
We had arranged with Ownerships to arrive at 2pm but were half an hour early. It didn't take long to load up the boat and we were soon underway.
The children walked on ahead to get the first of the Stockton Locks ready which we shared with a boat returning to the North Stratford Canal after a three week trip. The man on the other boat asked if we would like to travel as a pair between the locks so that we didn't need use a rope to steady the first boat while waiting for the second boat to enter the lock. We had never been asked this before, probably because of being on a hire boat, which are treated with a degree of caution by private owners - sometimes with good reason.
I had seen boats travelling as a pair roped together, but that would be a problem on the narrow stretches or when passing other boats with the same idea, especially in short pounds. I was impressed by how easy it was and the journey down the Stockton Locks passed very quickly. We parted company at Long Itchington, where the couple were mooring for the day and visiting "The Duck on the Pond", which sounds very good, but probably a little out of our price range.
We travelled down Bascote Locks and reached Welsh Road before coming across another boat. We were struck by how quiet it was, with very few boats coming the other way. The other boat at Welsh Road Lock was a hire-boat with a non-communicative family. After watching them trying to enter the lock sideways, we decided not to suggest entering the next lock as a pair. Instead, we entered first and then shut the gate on our side, giving the other boat something other than Hawksmoor to aim for....
At the bottom of Radford Locks, we moored just after Bridge 34 and walked into the village to eat at "The White Lion". We had been here three years ago and the food was wonderful, but the atmosphere was different this time. My meal was served on a bed of mashed potato that tasted suspiciously powdery. Yet again the high-tech food industry has persuaded the catering trade that "just-add-water" is easier than "just-cook-decent-ordinary-food-in-the-first-place" and they think that the clientele will not notice. No wonder the pub was half empty this time. To add insult to injury, I didn't check the bill until the following day and we had been charged for an extra round of drinks. They can add us to their list of ex-customers.