Return from blacking: Day 1

I worked a night shift last night, and drove up to Weedon straight afterwards.  I did food shopping at Tesco in Towcester on the way, but was still at the yard before 9.30. After unloading the car, having a chat with Steve who has done the work on BR, and taking delivery of the bill, I set off.

It was only a journey of a mile or so, but it was all on tickover because of the number of moored boats.  I moored up opposite the little camp site just before Bridge 28.  The morning’s tasks included giving the inside a bit of a clean, as everything was very dusty and the spiders had been having a field day.

When we bought BR, the blacking had been done right up to the gunwales (even though it must have been paint on the top plank originally), and we’ve continued that each time up to now.  But over time, bits of the blacking have fallen off and it’s all looked a bit rough.  So Steve at Grand Union Narrowboats has removed all the old blacking and paint from the top plank and started again, and it looks much better.  He’s also repainted the tunnel bands, which were definitely in need of a freshen up.

We’ve also had a full engine service, because while I’m quite happy doing my own oil changes, I’m not confident with the fuel system and all the belts are definitely beyond me.

After lunch I walked back to the yard to get the car.  Adrian is arriving this evening after work and we’ll do a car shuffle in the morning. I’ve also made a chilli for dinner tonight, and went to find some blackberries from the hedgerow to go in an apple crumble.  This proved harder than expected; the hedges here have very few brambles and fewer blackberries — and I came back with barely a dozen.  They’ve added some colour to the apples if nothing else.

Also this afternoon, a boat tried to turn in the slight widening of the canal here by the camp site — the trouble is there’s actually piling just under the water line, so they gave that a clattering.  I was able to let them know that the winding hole is actually just through the bridge.  As they returned, I heard the couple d wondering where Lord Vernon’s Wharf is, and deciding to ask me.  It’s the question we get asked the most — at least once a week usually.

1 mile, 0 locks.