Thursday 21/7/17. We left early from Banbury, with me pushing the boat off and getting going about 8.00am. The day was a bit grey and cold, with some rain as we motored from Banbury back north toward Napton. Jane and I made up when I joked with her; "Well one thing we've learnt on this trip, is that we can't live together!" Jane could have taken it the wrong way, but she smiled and we had a mutual hug and we were mates again. After working our way through lock...

Sunday 17/9/17 to Wednesday 20/9/17. It has been a busy time, working out how to operate this seventy foot narrow boat, making sure we grease the main drive, pump out the bilges and turn off the inverter at night to conserve the batteries. However we do have hot showers and central heating, although we need to watch our water consumption and do a daily top up. A complicating factor is that a Hett and I often awaken before 7.00am while Rowan and Jane like sleepin...

Oxford Canal Boat Day 1. Saturday 16/9/17. It was a miserable grey and wet day in Chipping Campden, when the taxi came to drive us to Napton-on-the-Hill, 30 miles away. Forty-five minutes and sixty pounds later, we arrived at Napton marina and became acquainted with Constance our seventy foot long narrow boat. Once we had unloaded our bags, we were given an amusing run through of how the boat worked. We learnt how to start and stop the engine and operate the ...

Cotswold Way Day 9. Wood Stanway to Chipping Campden. 22km 6.5 hrs. We left Mervyn and Anne's place at Orchard Cottage, Wood Stanway about 8.35am which was a relatively early start. After about a kilometre we passed through Stanway and not long after, Stanton with some beautiful Cotswold cottages of a more golden stone than further south. The climb to Shenberrow Hill nearly broke our spirit, but the gusty wind up there at first revived us and then began to chil...

Upper Hill Farm to Wood Stanway. 23km 8hrs. After breakfast with Paul and Helen, we had a squirrel feeding session, where Paul fed his pet squirrel, Cyril. Apparently he heard a commotion about six weeks ago and when he went outside, he found Cyril on the ground having fallen, or been pushed from a tree sixty feet high! At that stage, Cyril still hadn't opened his eyes and was dehydrated, either because he couldn't feed, or his mother decided not to feed him? T...