Retirement with No Problem

Banbury to Cropredy, Oxford Canal, 4 miles 4 locks

We were moored on the offside ‘unofficial moorings’ by Tescos, and I found out on the internet that a bus ran from Tesco to the town every hour. It’s about a half hour walk into the centre of town from there, so we decided to catch the bus into town after a lazy morning and go get a couple of bits from Matalan.  The bus driver was great, he actually stopped and dropped us off right outside, although there was no bus stop there..  Handy stuff!!

We treated ourselves to lunch out.. well there are so many nice cafes in Banbury.  Then it was off to the Docs for Vic… Yep the doc was pleased at Vic’s efforts to stop smoking.. three weeks today it is, but he will need a bit of specialist treatment at Oxford sometime.  We guessed that, but Vic is fine, he is feeling good, and all we have to do is wait for an appointment at Oxford Hospital.  The doctor in Banbury was excellent.. he was happy to refer Vic to any hospital in the country as he knew that we lived on a narrowboat.. well we decided Oxford, we can get to it OK from most parts, and it is sort of in the centre of the south of England!

Not wanting to wait for the bus back to No Problem we walked the threequarter mile along the busy road.  So much pollution.. travelling by canal is much healthier!  So we pulled the pins on Banbury just as soon as we got back not much before 4pm.  I was sorry to leave in a way, I have always liked Banbury, I wondered how long it would be ‘till we returned again.

It wasn’t long ‘till we were away from the numerous roads that circle Banbury and out into the country.  Here a farmer is out in the fields this evening lambing.. just got a shot of this black lamb, newly born that very moment.. ah but I am not sure if I can say black lamb.. I think I have to say rainbow lamb in Oxfordshire!

Cropredy we were heading for.. 8 lock miles and just a couple of hours to do that in… it wasn’t a problem although it was very slow going the last mile into Cropredy with a long, long line of narrowboats moored before the lock.. must have been a mile of them…

Hey look, second boat there is Jannock!.. Nobody ‘in’ today though.

The pins were put in at 6pm, hey not bad going… then Lucy was most insistent on a 45 minute walk across the fields… so dinner was a bit late tonight!