Royal Leamington Spar

Hi Everyone

Today we made it to Leamington Spar maybe some of you are saying to yourselves that I'm going in the wrong way well yes you are right. We have turned round and we are now on our return journey
We have a problem with in the family and Noreen needs to be there the problem will occur in the next two weeks or so we will have to leave Buggerlugs in a marina whilst we nip home for a few days and any further south would have made it difficult and expensive.
So we are now making our way back, not the same route as the outward but this time via Birmingham as there are friends to see on the way back
Now that's out of the way Royal Leamington Spa is a dump beautiful buildings and a fantastic park  but the town is so so run down it was almost depressing to walk round it
Tomorrow we hit Warwick a place we know quite well so we are looking forward to that

Speak soon
Buggerlugs

Off the Oxford canal

Hi you will all be glad to know we left the Oxford Canal early this morning in fact by 12.30 we had done 18 miles and 14 locks but the most rewarding part was at 07.45 turning west at the Napton Junction off the Oxford and onto a wide the canal we are now on the Grand Union Canal we will now be passing through Royal Leamington Spar, Warwick  then towards Kings Norton were I hope to call in and say hello to the people who looked after Noreen and the boat while I was in the Queen Elizabeth after my little accident.
The weather has been very kind to us, we had to get our wet gear on this morning but that was soon over it only lasted 45min but it gave the coats an airing bad new though for last night I couldn't get any telle Noreen was not impressed. But to be honest the only thing on is that very silly game where 22 men kick a ball around a field some have the ability to dive on the ground then go into a kind of act of being terribly injured and upset, whilst others procrastinate with a man in black (maybe he is the undertaker for the severely injured player, after the allotted time of 90mins they all start kissing each other, Anyway its a game I do not like and cannot understand why its on? unless everyone wants to see the actors and see how the perform either Shakespearian or Method either way I'm not watching Does anyone know how long this farce in on for???
We passed a field yesterday morning I thought we were on the Serengeti a large heard of huge Buffalo the last time I saw one that close was in Kenya just before it turned a mini over the two lieutenants sitting were not best please but what else do you expect blowing your horn at it to get out of the way with that in mind I cruised past very quietly (we!l! I don't know if they are good swimmers)    
Todays is my Brother Colin's 70th Birthday Kieth is catching us up he has always be good with his patience but he will get there. HAPPY BIRTHDAY OUR KID.

Tomorrow we are off to Royal Leamington Spar

Keep Reading

Moored up yesterday and this Honey Fungi was growing around a tree it

looked very pretty

 Who would believe it

they looked very relaxed and acted as they owned the place like most people with a passport

Napton on the hill what a lovely name for a village

Old River Thames ??

Hi Everyone
On Sunday morning we left Oxford behind joining what I believe to be the River Isis though the signs say the Thames.  Isis or Thames it is the most beautiful piece of river its quite wide and flows with a gentle but forceful flow strong enough to remind you that it is a river and gentle enough to allow you time to enjoy the ride. The first quarter mile is very urban passing under the mail railway then turning past Bosom boatyard here the river opens up to about 180ft wide along oxford common as it was early Sunday morning the church bells were peeling it was like a scene out of the Archers so very very English. this gentle glide up a very gentle river seemed to wash away all the bad things about the Oxford canal into insignificance.
I will not attempt to describe the pure joy of that mornings cruise my command of the English language would not do it justice, you would have to be there to enjoy it as I did

But do enjoy the pis
God Bless
Buggerlugs

River starts to Open up

A little turbulence from a side weir  

passing the boat yard

Quite a dull morning so pics are quite poor

Their is always traffic wherever you go

many sights to check out

just a nice shot of Buggerlugs

Oxford done and Dusted

Well that's Oxford done and I must say I was not looking forward to walking the walls of Oxford as I was here in 1967 Putting a roof on the biggest hanger in the UK this was pre Jumbo jet era. Though with Maturity and Noreens expert knowledge on architecture I have changed my mind it is really a very Beautiful and interesting City and well worth the effort it took to get here. the Oxford canal is by far the worst I have ever come across. It is obvious the CRT and Oxford council do not want boaters on the canal. The canal bank is so overgrown that it is impossible to moor a boat even on the designated moorings and the overhanging trees are that low they obstruct your Navigation. All the boaters we met are complaining about it also the fact that some of the best mooring have been sold off to Residential mooring. THESE so called boat are not fit to keep a dog in I doubt if any have a BSC (Boat Safety Certificate ) don't get me wrong, I will fight for the right for anyone to live were and how they want but if these boats were council houses they would have been given warnings and then evicted. but CRT cannot be bothered and the council don't care because they are having to house the people who are having to live in such a way.
Never the less Oxford is a very nice place cant say much about its residents as for 10 Good Mornings given out we would get two return nods or sometimes the brave ones would smile, Maybe its because its Oxford One thing I did notice is that most of the grave stones and memorials are inscribed  in Latin especially in the bigger churches such as Christ the King, in my right wing way that tells me that the Academia did that to express their superiority over the lower class stating that they could read Latin and we could NOT. Or maybe in my more Liberal way it was inscribed  as the Bible and most mass were said in the language of Latin Whatever I prefer it to be in English so ignorant people like me can look back an see who is in the whole. I did say to Noreen that I want mine in plain English with a twang of Mancunian Noreen says (she is not wasting money on that I have said enough already to last me in this world and the next)
So that's it for Oxford
Tomorrow we head for the a few miles up the Thames
speak soon
Buggerlugs

NOW THAT BRICK WORK SHOULD IMPRESS ANYONE

Christ Church

Just a few Bikes Students are now allowed to bring cars into Oxford

This is the place were the compulsory education system was born.

Noreen hoping we get back OK

Banbury Cross

Hi FOLKS
Wait a minute after I wrote last nights blog Noreen said "did you tell them about the Naked walker.
Sorry I forgot,,  There I was watching the Oxfordshire countryside roll be then I spotted a walker nothing extraordinary about that we pass hundreds of them but was a guy on his own mid 50s thought nothing of it until he got closer then it dawned on me he was NAKED WALKER I gave a pleasant good morning and we passed the time of day I wanted him to know that I as not shocked, upset or embarrassed seen bigger than that hanging around the showers ?? however Noreen WAS MOST UPSET as she was down below and only saw the back of him and his little bum wobbling away into the distance, she was fuming! and wanted ME to give all the details Anyway that was yesterday
Today has been a much easier day the weather has been a lot cooler nice but cooler unlike yesterdays events we made good time and arrived in Banbury just on lunch time enough time to give Banbury the once over and Noreen some therapy as there is a nice shopping centre and the town is a real old fashioned town with proper shops quaint alleyways and some lovely selection of Victorian, Georgian, Edwardian and some earlier that I couldn't date but some very interesting architecture.
After asking in six different languages where Banbury  Cross was ( I know very little Polish) but my basic Arabic worked and we found the Cross. It is now in the middle of a roundabout with no access without taking your life in your hands. Actually if you want to learn all about the Bambury Cross and the fine Lady there are some great old photos and explanations in Weatherspoons (we had lunch there)and discovered everything we wanted to know.

We are now well moored up in the centre of the town ready for another day on the cut tomorrow
God Bless
Buggerlugs

That's the Banbury Cross Noreen is wearing it

Noreen this was before Weatherspoons

Hot so bloody hot

Hi Folks
As wee had 11 locks to complete in the first 3 miles we set off very early hoping to get a head start however "the best laid plans of mice and men" it didn't happen we managed to get as far as the second lock before we hit our first problem which was some daft drunken bugger had left the paddles up and the gates open consequently emptying the pound above the lock (for none boaters a pound is a short stretch of water between locks) IF THE POUND IS EMPTY YOU CANNOT FILL YOUR LOCK , so you have to go to the lock above the one that is empty to bring water down this could entail walking a couple of miles and if there is a series of locks it mounts up anyway after a couple of hours we had it sorted and were now cruising along canals with water in it then believe it or not a boat going into the lock before us broke down in the lock. They had got something around the prop I heard the incident it sounded like metal SO we dragged him out of the lock, it was a hire boat so there was nothing I could do. we are warned not to assist on serious breakdowns on hire boats they could sue us for damage. We assist where can but nothing technical
The rest of the day has been very nice the weather beautiful this part of the Oxford is very nice though it has a thousand twists and turns you seem to be constantly on a bend, boaters today were a different kind most returned our good mornings most new what they were doing and most were courteous. Again mooring is a problem as all the moorings marked on the map are taken up with overstayers tonight we are moored at a place called Fenny Compton I squeezed in between two knackered boats I counted the boats on the visitors moorings there are 18 boats 4 are visiting the rest are Dossing most have no licence I have just email CRT about my concerns that they are NOT doing the Job WE PAY THEM TO DO
Noreen has just put my steak in the pan
got to go
Buggerlugs

This was weird

down here its called camping

Changeing attitudes

Hi
This morning we pulled away from  Rugby leaving the high spots of the midlands behind us,and joined the gin swilling southerners and immediately you could tell the difference, gone had the cheery "good mornings from boaters and other folk on the canal, Gone had the sedate pace we had been traveling at replaced by the "got to get there first attitude". Unfortunate but that's how it goes. also mooring has become a problem as there are none, tonight we are moored in a nice spot out in the wilderness because all the recognised moorings marked on the map are filled with boats that have been their since the millennium leaving no room at all for cruising boats. I blame the housing market and the fact that some people find living on a boat cheaper that in a house. I don't want to go through that saga I could be here all night  The CRT notices for mooring "UP NORTH" they just say Mooring 24 hours, or 48 hours, seven days what ever the period might be. But here it also has the word Free or no charge WHY!! everything here is about money. Oh I am glad I don't live here uts very nice for a visit but that's it. Today we also passed some very extensive work going on at the side of the canal at first  thought it was a large housing estate But no it was is the new High Speed Rail so much work and the cost  FOR WHAT so some daft bugger can get to London 20 mins faster what a bloody waste of tax payers money what DH thought of that one its not even as if it was bringing employment have the work is being contracted out to the EU. I have just been told to calm down...... Anyway   the scenery is beautiful and  the canals are nice What I have to do is continue being a missionary and bring joy and love to these heathens I may even try and spread some happiness. just because they are miserable why should we.
Its now 20.11 the sun is still beating down my solar panels are giving the batteries a good charge Noreen wants to watch Casualty tonight.

Keep Smiling "we will"

Buggerlugs