Finally staying in one place for a while.

We had a bit of a delayed start as it was 1030 by the time we left. It seems that the Hurricane may be working but it also may not be. We will have to wait and see what happens in the morning. The canal was busy with traffic both ways. It is like the motorway of the system round here with so many marinas and so many routes.

Braunston Church and windmill from around Wolfhampcote.

Strangely as we approached the junction at Braunston all was quiet. Just as we got to the left turn mayhem descended and there were boats all over the place,

On to the Oxford Canal proper it was still as busy as there were boats moored on both sides of the bend and up to the bridge.

Once clear of the junction the countryside returns and it is a delightful rolling view. All around this area there are signs of the the ancient field system or is it the work of Victorian farmers. In the middle ages each family under the Lord of the Manor had sections of a field to cultivate in strips. They followed a rotation system over three years. In the Victorian times the farm labourers were used to dig ditches and throw up the spoil into a bank. In this way the surface area of available land was increased. As all the fields that show this type of formation around Braunston are down to pasture I have a feeling it is the later system.

We chugged our was to Hillmorton and made a note of some good spots for the night if and when we come back this way later next week. Hillmorton is approached alongside the numerous radio aerials, some of which were made in 1926 and from where the first trans-Atlantic RT were made. Of course these days the signal wraps around the world.

Rugby Radio aerials.

These are the Oxford Canal Company's workshops that are found on a little side arm off between the middle and bottom locks at Hillmorton.

As one bloke from a boat observed, 'You don't boat round here much do you'. This was because Helen had used her long throw windlass and caught her fingers on the beam. Only short throw for this flight it seems. But hey it is good to get back to narrow locks again. I felt ten time stronger doing these size locks!

We are booked in to Clifton Cruisers for a week as I have to go home. We arrived at 1430 and sorted out a berth and electricity before heading into town to get the lie of the land, and some milk. There is a food and Drink Festival that has Helen's interest. There also several self guide walks too. We called at the Merchants Inn and found that it doesn't look anything like the outside on the inside. It was a lovely place and had several beers. I sampled Bumble Beer by Wentworth Brewery. On the way home we came across the statue of Rupert Brooke who was a poet. It was he that wrote 

' If I should die think only this of me, 

That there's some corner of a foreign field

That is forever England.

The statue of Robert Brooke who was lost in WW1.

These looked so inviting after a long walk but turned out to be carved stone and were in the little park where the Brooke statue was.

There was also a plaque explaining that on the same site, on a bit of a hill was an ancient British fort that was matched by one across the valley at Brownsover. There was also a plaque indicating that this was later the site of a 13th Century moated Manor house that was owned by the de Rokeby family and this gave the name to Rugby.