Should we move here?

 Kath and I are 152 years old (in total of course).No surprise then that we're slowing down a bit. Our current cruise is now 5 days old and we've done just over 20 miles, 6 locks and 8.6 hours on the move. In a year long gone by we did the four counties ring  (110 miles and 94 locks) in 6 days!

No matter, it's been hot and we've found nice places to stop, like where we arrived yesterday near All Oaks Corner- one of our favourite spots 

and very peaceful so we're staying an extra day.  I've done a couple of boaty jobs too, so I don't feel too idle.

It all begs the question, if we are not going to travel so far, and if we don't want to do too many locks, where should our base be?  Our current base is Ventnor marina, which is lovely, pretty and peaceful, but although there are nearby places to pull in and relax for a day or two, there's only one direction without a lot of locks.

So yesterday, as we were passing Brinklow marina we popped in for a look.  Brinklow sits on a long long stretch of lock free cruising, 53 miles of it if you include the Ashby canal and exclude the tiny stop lock at Hawkesbury.

The staff at Brinklow are friendly and jolly and the whole place is very lively.  They have 80 live-aboard boats and the place was bustling.  There's plenty of recreational space and they hold frequent get togethers and events including the well known Brinklow bash mini festival.

It's fair to say, the marina is still not that old  - still a work in progress.  Visually, pretty it ain't.  Cars and vans parked all round. 

Two boats each side of each pontoon and not much greenery other than grass (there is a large open field with a small lake).  

Walking round we were immediately struck by the friendliness of the place, people were more than happy to chat to us.  So is it for us?  Well, probably not.  Although it sits in a long stretch of very attractive canal countryside, there are not that many places along the canal to pull in and stay for a bit.

We cast our minds back to the South Oxford where there are so many good spots to pull in and settle for a day or two.  Of course there are locks to work, but at least they're spaced out so you get a break in between.  Ideally we'd like to have a base mooring somewhere like Thrupp - a pleasant spot, easy access to the Thames in one direction and a number of favourite spots in the other.  I think there's a waiting list though. Or should we go back to good old Cropredy?

Meanwhile we'll tootle on our current cruise. Next stop Hawkesbury and the fab Greyhound pub.  That's about three and a half hours from here, a long day by the standards of this cruise.