Where have all the boats gone?

 Having arrived at the marina in mid afternoon after collecting our son Peter from Cambridge, we set off rather later than planned I was a tad pessimistic about the prospects of finding a mooring space at Napton when we arrived there at about 5 o'clock.  Imagine our surprise then, when the normally busy moorings round the corner from the Folly were more than half empty, on a Bank Holiday to boot!

This morning as we set off up Napton locks the volunteer lockie also remarked that the volume of boat traffic had been well down lately.  Napton hire boats had quite a number of un booked boats as we passed there. Over the last couple of years since covid, the hire companies seemed to be booming, and now it has fallen somewhat flat. Hmm, what might the reasons be?  The changeable summer weather?  The financial squeeze?  Hiring a canal boat is not the cheapest holiday by any means.  It's probably a lot cheaper to fly off the the Med on a package holiday.

We had a great run up the locks, with boats coming the other way at just the right intervals so we had most of the locks in our favour.  The sun shone too.  The afternoon though was not so good. I should have taken the warning from the fact that the Napton buffalo herd were all sitting down. 

I'm not much of a fan of the South Oxford summit at the best of times, but hacking across there against the wind and with cold drizzling rain is not my idea of fun.  I'd also forgotten that it is still quite a way to Fenny Compton when you reach the Wormleighton hairpin bend.  I kept thinking  that Fenny was just round the next bend and it never was.  Until of course we did arrive and tied up just before the bridge. Half way across the summit you encounter the HS2 workings which consist of several mud mountains, a new temporary(?) bridge, a few bulldozers and not a lot else although you are struck by just how much land it all takes up /spoils.  I suppose somebody somewhere thinks HS2 is a great idea but I've yet to meet them.

Moored near to us were new friends we had met on Friday night at a quiz.  We had called in at the marina to drop off a lot of stuff aboard Herbie prior to driving up to Cambridge to collect Peter and decided to stay aboard that night because the marina was being visited by The Village Butty - a sort of travelling bar/ entertainment.  Friday was their quiz night and we love a good quiz.  They had question rounds on History (easy), Geography (easyish), Canals (easyish) and 1958 No 1 hits (not so easy).  1958 because that was the year that the Village Butty boat was built.  I managed to recall a lot of the old hits, but not until after we'd handed in our answer sheets.  Things like that don't come to mind quickly enough.  If you can recall hits by Perry Como, Conway Twitty, Lord Rockinghams XI and the like you'd do well.  The Village Butty folk seem a nice bunch and I hope they return next year.

Anyhow after a rather wet coldish afternoon we've abandoned our plan for a barbecue tonight and we shall instead  seek warmth and comfort in the Wharf Inn.