I do not like hills!!

Monday 16/04/12

Heyford Marina Bridge 32 – Weedon Junction Bridge 24

We were low on supplies again and didn’t expect to be moving for the next couple of days so back on the bike I went to try and find some shops.  This would be a bit of a struggle as we were miles away from anywhere and my ‘app’ wasn’t being all that helpful.

I also needed an ATM and as Weedon Bec looked larger in the Nicholson's, I thought it would be more likely to have a cashpoint.    So, I decided to head for there while Yogi waited for the men to arrive. 

The towpaths here are ‘rustic’ to say the least and are sloping in towards the river.  Add the last few days of rain to the mix, freshly cut grass and sloppy mud and you have quite a hairy ride.   Normally I would have just stayed on the towpath till I got to the village but it was so treacherous that I couldn’t wait to get onto tarmac.  Add to that the river meandereing around so much that to take the towpath route would have doubled the journey. Road won the toss.

Hills.  I am getting better, but still don’t like them.  I particularly don’t like the way you can’t see hills when you are reading the map.  This is why I mostly stay on the towpath as it stays pretty level.  Roads tend to have hills and there were a lot of them between me and the shops.  All that aside, it was a nice ride.  I got a bit lost a couple of times and had to ask for directions but in the end I found what I was looking for. 

Weedon Bec is really pretty.  Thatched cottages, quaint little post office and hoorah a nice big shop full of bread milk and dinner.  A couple of boaters were outside the shop with their dogs, both wearing red bandanna's.  The dogs, not the boaters ;0) I  had a quick chat with them, (the boaters not the dogs), while I packed my shopping on the bike took a deep breath, and started the journey back to Heyford Wharf.

On the way back I noticed a road sign for Bugsbrooke, so, as I knew we were moored near there I thought I would take that way home.  The road pretty much followed the line of the river so long slow climbs would replace the steep hills of the main roads I had followed on the way there. 

This was a much better route, much more picturesque and far less traffic to deal with.  It took me through Nether Heyford and past a village shop!!  I was  NOT  happy about that.  

When I got to Bugsbrooke, Yog rang me to let me know he was taking the boat across to the boatyard.  Slightly frustrating as the only way into the marina was via a road I had passed apx 1 mile earlier!! Great!!  By the time I got to the boatyard I had done a 9 mile round trip and was knackered. 

Nether Heyford Village Green

Yog was on the back deck with the two chaps who were busy advising him not to get his diesel cleaned as all the people they knew that had had it done had ended up having to replace all the diesel in their tank as it didn’t really work.  Seeing as we had a full tank of diesel we decided to leave that for now.  They also couldn’t find any leak coming from the gearbox as it had miraculously stopped leaking.  The general opinion being that as Yog had put straight 50 into the gearbox last time it had emptied itself, this had swelled the seals and stopped the leak.  Both chaps couldn’t understand how this had worked as apparently you should only put engine oil in and not straight 50. 

So, pretty much nothing achieved or fixed so far.  The chaps asked us to take the boat up to  the next bridge as they could access the boat by road much easier there so that’s what we did.  The arrangement being that they would drop us in some de-greaser the next day to enable Yog to clean out the engine bay enough to hopefully see where the oil was leaking from on the gearbox.  So that’s where we headed.

The Olde Sun Inn

After the day we had had, a beer was in order so we moored up and headed for The Olde Sun Inn, which was signposted from Bridge 32.  

After a 15 minute walk uphill we finally found it.  Really pretty looking pub with painted mangles filled with flowers outside.  

Cant tell you anything about the inside as the bloody place was CLOSED!!!