I can only apologise to anyone trying to get some sleep last night. The silence of the evening was broken by the sound of our wet & dry vacuum working on overdrive. After accusing both cats of peeing in the boat and trying not to feel alarmed by Lewsey playing in the puddle, I glanced up far enough to see water seeping up through the floor. I was everso slightly alarmed by this. Our bilge was FULL of water. How long does it take to sink a narrowboat?
Smiles kindly popped by to ask about salvage rights as we were busy bailing out water. I offered him two cats but received a negative response.
It turns out our water pump was leaking. It had kindly refrained from making any auidable pumping water sounds to alert us to this matter, though the boat was beginnng to list port side.
By 11pm we had removed enough water to stop this list and by mid afternoon today the last lot of water was hoovered up. Rob fixed the pump and we are all slowly drying out.
The old Wilts & Berks Canal.
On a nice sunny morning not so long ago, the hubby and I decided to do a bit of exploring. Being boaty people we found ourselves at the site of the old Wilts & Berks canal in Grove, Wantage:
We started just before Grove Common Lock and made towards Abingdon, scurrying through undergrowth and falling in ditches.
Not much remains of the cut and it is easily mistaken for an old drainage ditch but, here and there, dotted amongst the fly tipping is the evidence of once used locks. Nature has reclaimed most of it and the bricks are crumbling away. 
Work on the Wilts & Berks canal was started in 1795 and 52 miles and 15 years later it stretched from Semington Junction on the Kennet & Avon Canal to Abingdon on the River Thames. It opened up a transportation route for coal and other materials to London, Swindon and Oxford. 
By the 1901, the canal was completely abandoned after part of the Stanley Aqueduct collapsed and the canal ran dry.
Source: WBCT.
We started just before Grove Common Lock and made towards Abingdon, scurrying through undergrowth and falling in ditches.Not much remains of the cut and it is easily mistaken for an old drainage ditch but, here and there, dotted amongst the fly tipping is the evidence of once used locks. Nature has reclaimed most of it and the bricks are crumbling away. Work on the Wilts & Berks canal was started in 1795 and 52 miles and 15 years later it stretched from Semington Junction on the Kennet & Avon Canal to Abingdon on the River Thames. It opened up a transportation route for coal and other materials to London, Swindon and Oxford. Like many now abandoned canals it fell victim to the advancement of the railways and other more efficient means of haulage. Ironically, it aided it's own ruin by being one of the main routes used by GWR to carry the materials used to construct the railway.
By the 1901, the canal was completely abandoned after part of the Stanley Aqueduct collapsed and the canal ran dry.Source: WBCT.
Rodney Quakes at The Temple Bar
The nice thing about being married to a musician is that I get to be a groupie by proxy. So, when hubby and Mr. F. booked themselves a gig in Oxford, I duly followed... with my folks and his folks... and as many friends as we could rustle up.
It wasn't certain whether they would get to play at all after the chappy who had arranged the evening had "accidentally" quadruple booked them. It was a bit of a rush to shorten the song list and there was a moment of mayhem when we reallised they were about to go onstage minus Mr. F. who had gone in search of food. Order was eventually resumed.
It was a rather lovely evening out, apart from Dad C. having his camera stolen by a rather dodgy taxi driver.
A new face on nb The Green Man.
We have a new arrival, much to the displeasure of our current feline crew mate. Lolly isn't quite used to being pounced on and milked, especially since its not by her daughter. But Lewsey seems so be fitting in rather well. She just needs to learn how to tie a few knots and use a windlass and she'll be fit for a life on the water. Sleeping through the night and not jumping on heads would be a bonus but who can really complain about something so small and beautiful? She takes her name from a certain london wasps player.
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