Here we are on our new berth at Cropredy, only 4 boats along from where we moored four years ago. The staff here are exceptionally friendly and welcoming and all the admin was easy. Not a great deal has changed since we left despite the marina being acquired by Aquavista. If it ain't broke, don't fix it seems to be their mantra. The free wifi is beefed up a bit, but still not as good as you'd like. Of course there is the new basin up the other end, but that's well out of sight from where we are.
Speaking of moorings, I really like some of the offside ones you see above and below Claydon. I wonder how you get one and what they cost. Do people buy the plot or rent it?
How nice is that? You own little canalside garden with your boat right there alongside.
It's interesting how many of them have shepherds huts like this one
One just above Broadmoor lock even has a gypsy caravan, but my photographer of the day (Kath) was too busy with the lock gates to take a picture. Who said women were good at multi tasking?
What a difference a day makes in British weather. Wednesday was all heavy wind and lashing rain, and next morning, all sunshine and blue skies. We were somewhat trepidatious when we left Fenny in the morning after the engine problems we had earlier but everything went fine and the engine temperature gauge stayed exactly where it should be. Phew!
It's all getting a bit autumnal although some youngsters still think it's OK for a quick dip even if the canal is a bit shallow. I guess the water is still warmish, but I don't think I'll be trying it.
On the subject of autumn pusuits, two of my uncles, Bert and George, used to make a barrel of cider every year from windfall apples from the many orchards around our village. (You'd be right in assuming that I come from rustic stock). Everything went in, bruised apples, partly rotten ones, any old variety, probably quite a few wasps and various grubs and as you'd expect, the cider they produced was strong but quite frankly, bloody awful. Why do I mention this? Well it was seeing these apples, mostly crab apples, on the towpath that reminded me.
You probably could produce some sort of cider from them but I'm pretty sure it would taste as bad as Bert and George's. A pity, because this year's hedgerow crop really is a bumper one.
4 comments:
I made cider for a number of years with a press made of school locker doors and a hydraulic car jack. Any apples that were donated or windfalls from the verges of another village were frozen before pressing. I also made some very successful crab apple jelly one year that accomanied roast pork a treat.
We used to belong to a car club, one of the members who lived not far from Somerset used to make his own Cider, he would donate it a prizes at various meetings, we all reconed that it was only good for drain cleaner!!
Was the cider any good Ray?
The shepherds huts are most probably popular because they are on wheels and I believe they therefore don't require planning permission. Happy new mooring
Pip NB Oleanna
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