We had a great time last weekend when two motorhomes, one caravan and one narrowboat got together for a family and friends gathering at the
Blue Lias Inn near Long Itchington and on the Grand Union canal main line. We moored on the offside of the canal whilst the others used the adjacent caravaning facilities.
We left Wigrams on the Thursday afternoon in snow showers and a strong cold wind - ah spring is so refreshing this year. A short trip as we moored by Ventnor Park Marina just past Calcutt locks-good for sattelite tv. Friday morning had a layer of thin ice on the canal but the wind had dropped. The cruise down through the eight Stockton locks was very pleasant as the sun had decided to come out and we could therefore take a few layers off. We had the company of a very competent Kate Boats hire crew from Aberdeen, a lovely day for cruising.
Saturday morning dawned cold again but the sun soon came out for our planned walk along the canal towards Bascote locks and at bridge 30 we turned onto Welsh Road so we could then take the Ridgeway into Long Itchington for lunch. Our plan was halted by
The Wolfrun (or
Muddy Run) which involved 5000 runners over 2 days who had paid £40 each to take part in a 10k off road wild run. We eventually got to Long Itchington and The Green Man which is a lovely local pub which does excellent sandwiches.
On our return to the Blue Lias Inn on Saturday it was warm enough to sit outside to enjoy the spring sunshine. We had dinner at the pub in the evening which was good basic food although it was a bit slow which could have been due to the fact that it was very busy.This is hopefully a good sign as we did notice that The Two Boats Inn by bidge 25 looked very deserted with a "sorry temporary closed" sign on the door.
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| Outside two of our four modes of transport |
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| Working Royalty class nb Victoria built in the 1930's for the Grand Union Canal Co |
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| Simon on the helm of BB with all our helpers going back up Stockton flight on the Sunday morning as we start to go back to Wigrams- we did the flight in under an hour if only we could have this crew more often. |
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| Looking up Stockton flight from bridge 23 by the Blue Lias Inn. The original single lock is on the right. The double locks being built in the mid 1930's. |
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| Adamant a very much converted/adapted replicate Bridgewater tug. The hull was a joey built in Birmingham in 1890,the compound engine built in 1895 and it all came together in 1988 with a new steam boiler |
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| Near the Blue Lias Inn and just before the next lock is The Warwickshire Fly Boat Company which always has a lovely selection of working boats. |
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| At the top of the Sockton locks was this wide beam stealth like boat. |
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| BB on the right moored outside The Blue Lias Inn |
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| nb Crane built in 1924 it has a very traditional Bolinder 15hp engine |
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| No idea what make this is-it just looked interesting! |
