Bethanhughes2’s Weblog

Well easter has been and gone. I have much to report: having taken off last Thursday, I spent the day spring cleaning and then went out to the pub and on to the noodle bar. On the friday we took it easy, I can’t remember quite what we did now. Anyway, got up rather early on the Saturday and drove round to my friends house where I would be leaving my car for the weekend. We started on our way down to Oxford. The whole journey proved to be a bit of a nightmare, we were expected to arrive at half past one, however the Police had other plans. They closed a section of the M6 off, thus we spent three hours queuing on the motorway, before we were diverted off into the wilds of Staffordshire. The whole of the southbound traffic of the M6 let loose in the wilds of the staffordshire countryside. Are you joking me? We spent 3 hours travelling 6 miles. It was a nightmare.

Anyway we missed our induction and didn’t arrive until half past six, and were also told that we would not be allowed to travel along our planned route because of flood warnings. So we wehad to travel northbound, however there would not be any sailing if you can call it that until the next day as barges aren’t allowed to sail at dusk. So we were stuck in a little village for the evening. We made the best of it and walked to the nearest pub. The food was OK, probably the worst meal of the holiday though, before making it back to the barge. Myself and Dom took the worst bed on the first evening, a table which is converted into a bed, it was OK, but extremely cold, we had a duvet and a blanket and that wasn’t enough so when I woke up in the morning I grabbed a sleeping bag too.

That first morning when I opened the curtains, it was the most amazing sight, at that point I didn’t even feel the cold. We had moored next to some fields that night before and they were now covered in a thick blanket of snow and the snowflakes were huge. So I huddled in the bed and stared out of the window for a while, it must have been about seven o clock in the morning. It was about 11 o clock before everyone was showered and ready to go, so we turned the engine on and off we went. We travelled to Aynho which was about three hours away by barge. Once we got there, mooring proved to be a bit of a nightmare, anyway we eventually moored up in a tangle of novice attempts. Dom insisted on watching the football so we walked a mile and a half to the nearest town. We got there and the pub was jam packed with easter eaters, nice sunday lunches were everywhere, even the bar area had been converted into an eatery. We spoke to the owner of the establishment, a very posh man, reminded me a little of Boris Johnson. Anyway, he said that there probably wouldnt be much time to put the football on, so out best chance was to walk into the next village which was about a mile down the road. So off we went, I was pretty knackered, and getting sock burn from my boots. We eventually got there, and Stacey bought a round in, only the barman voiced his concerenes that he felt that I looked under age. He asked for my identification, I told him I was 26, he said that he wouldnt serve it to me without ID, I told him I didnt have any, and said that’s it was OK I was not that bothered whether I had a drink or not. He got a little agressive after that and said that I shouldn’t come into the pub again without any ID, and that he was willing to serve me the drink, but there wouldn’t be another one. In the mean time Dom had had a route through his wallet and found my ID, the barman looked it over thoroughly and made his apologies. We then walked about the village trying to find somewhere to eat, there was no room at any of the inns it seemed, so we had the long walk back to the barge, and I was starving.

Mary cooked us some lunch, she had preprepared some spag bol, and set out to warm it up and provide us with some wholesome grub. Whilst Mary was cooking we moved onwards with the barge, opening and closing locks, and tried to get as far north as we could so that we could moor for the evening. It was about half past six when we arrived at Kings Suttons, which was a stretch to achieve in a barge. We stopped there thinking that there would be some connection to the village so that we could get some grub for supper. Having moored up, I nearly fell in, my foot got cought in a pot hole! Anyway we walked up to the lock, looking for pathways to the village. We couldnt see any and we looked so pathetic the man who lived in the house next to the lock came out and pointed us in the direction of some fields in the opposit direction to the village. He said “walk up that road for about a mile, you will come to a field with some horses, lock the gate behind you,  and there is a pub accross the road”. So off we went the road was a nightmare, puddles everywhere, we crossed a bridge which floated over a motorway and eventually got to the pub. The food was better in this pub, I had some meaty casserole thing with some puff pastry and chips. Yum Yum. After a few drinks we made our way back in the pitch black. Back at the barge we played a game of Mr and Mrs, which was very entertaining.

We got the bed at the front of the barge that evening, it was still cold. The plan was to get up as early as possible and head for banburry so that we could turn around and make it all the way back to the start. So at eight o clock, I got up and assisted Ben with the first lock, whilst everyone else sorted themselved out with showers and breakfast. We got to the turning point at Banbury at about 11am with some expert steering from Ben, and started making our way back to the start point.

By the time we arrived back at Aynho, it was felt that we should get some more water for showers and drinking. It was a bit of a disaster really, the group effort was a bit embarassing, and I felt really bad for everyone else who was moored, it drove me crazy, but nobody listened to me. Not that it would have probably improved matters, I would however have try my best not to get on the bad side of other boaters, instead of just doing as I please regardless of everyone else. Anyway hay ho, we got it done, and then left very quickly. We made it back to base by about five. It was good going. We then made for the pub, we had a really good night. The food was plentiful and really good quality, and a bargain for its price. We had pudding and lots of drinks and attempted the pub quiz. The locals were so friendly that it unnerved mary and she was convinced that they were going to eat us. We came fourth in the pub quiz, and everyone had a really good night! We made it back to the barge, everyone was so knackered from driving and locking it in the cold, that we all just went straight to bed.

We got up early the next day, as the boat had to be returned by nine, and completed that last couple of hundred metres to the boat yard. Everyone cleared the boat and we set off home. It was a great holiday all in all, despite the rain, snow, wind and cold. I fully recommend it, we had a great time!