Spring at last!

We'd moored overnight in a pleasant secluded spot near bridge 130 when the rain got too much for the gallant cap'n. But Lady Barbara was disappointed that we hadn't made better progress towards Banbury so the gallant cap'n (despite a late night watching a DVD) got up reasonably early (6:30am) to get the boat underway before most of the rental boats were likely to be moving, or for that matter, the rest of the crew!

He was rewarded with early morning mists rising up from the canal:

little rabbits with their white tails bouncing away through the wet grass:

newborn lambs:

a new swan family:

and a colourful herd of cows and calves:

Not to mention the odd heron and other varied wildlife. And that was all before we stopped for breakfast!

In fact, it worked out quite well as we stopped just short of the Claydon lock flight which, we soon found out, was closed anyway due to the (supposed) water shortage. After breakfast (chilli black pudding - fantastic!) we moved on a short distance only to find the back of a six-boat queue for the locks.

So it took a while to get through the Claydon flight, but we got through eventually and continued to make good progress south. After another stop for lunch (food and drink assumes a significant part of life on the canals) we pootled on and cruised into Banbury just in time to find the shops still open.

Looking north from the Tom Rolt  Bridge over the canal, there's Saros (above) and looking south from the same bridge is the Castle Quay shopping centre (or mall for our American readers):

So a very short walk found us in M&S topping up on the essentials (caviar, champagne, truffles, etc) which was very convenient as it was a bank holiday and we hadn't expected many shops to be open. During the later afternoon/evening somebody announced to us over a nearby PA (public address system) that the good people of Banbury had noted our arrival in their pleasant town, and in our honour they had put up a Jubilee Beacon and were going to let off some fireworks.

To great applause, the beacon (erected just a few metres away from our mooring in Spiceball Park) was (supposedly) lit, but nothing appeared to happen for several minutes. After several attempts with a ladder and a blowtorch, a man in a bright yellow suit succeeded in getting a little smoke to issue from the beacon. You can just see it in this photo:

With a patient wait, it did eventually erupt in flame to further applause:

And then they started letting off a spectacular series of big fireworks with musical accompaniment: 

We were  most impressed with our welcome to Banbury and as we strolled the few yards back to the boat, noticed that a very full moon was just rising over the trees in front of the boat:

And so ended a very pleasant day with plenty of sunshine and no rain.