Thursday 19th A bit tipsy

A bit tipsy, not us but the boat! During the night the water in the pound has dropped somehow. Usually overnight everything fills up but not where we are. The boat ahead of us has the same problem and has had to cut his mooring rope as it was too tight to untie. 

Fortunately, even though the boat was tipped over, we were only aground in the middle and I was able to work us free. (After breakfast, of course!) 

When we did set off we took it slowly and stayed very much in the middle of the canal.

We stopped at Cropredy to use the services and the captain took the opportunity to pop into the Bridge Store 

Cropredy is a good place to stop but being only 11am we decided to push on.

We went through 3 locks and stopped at Clattercote Wharf to explore their farm shop.

There it is and look what we bought.

Homemade honey, plum jam and vinegar with 'mother' in the bottom. As we understand it, when the bottle gets low just add some juice, leave it for a few days and you've got more vinegar. 

We next tackled the 5 locks in the Claydon flight.

Every lock has a date on it showing when it was last replaced.

In some cases the repairs are temporary until the canal can be closed and replacements made. At least it keeps the waterways open.

They have sawn off the rotten end of the beam and put in place a clever replacement.

We stopped just round the corner and, as you can see, the sun's still shining.

Another long day and we keep saying that it's another last day of summer. May it continue a bit more.