Blogs from Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

3 locks, 425 in total. When there are only 4 locks on the North Oxford canal in 25 miles I fail to understand why lock volunteers are needed here. Locks are fun and exercise – cruise the rivers if you don't want to work locks. The Hillmorton locks are paired and you use whichever one is either set for you or is empty, so there really shouldn't be any sort of bottleneck and does it really matter if you have to wait a little while – it's good to go straight through but not the end of the world if you can't. There were 3 volunteers at the bottom lock in their uniform and lifejackets, one of whom didn't lower our top paddle completely so the lock took forever to empty. No-one at the second lock ... read more

In 48 hours time I should (providing all goes well) be in Ghana. Eek. This has been an incredibly tough year for me so far, and I need to do this to find out who I am again, go back to who I used to be. I'm looking forward to it, but it hasn't yet sunk in really... Tonight I have been googling, and I have decided that google is not my friend. Other than an aeroplane coming in from Africa bursting into flames at Heathrow today, I have discovered: Credit cards are very likely to get cloned You can't drink the water - must be bottled Small children will probably grab me and want to hold my hand, whilst shouting "Obruni, Obruni!" at me They have frequent power cuts You can't get Ghanain cedis (the ... read more

Ten more days to go today! Today was a very busy day as I had to do lots of home work. I also helped Daddy do the lawn and we went to Tesco. Me and my brother got a sweet. When Mummy got home after work I gave her a big hug and then we had dinner. Now I'm ready for bed as I have to go to school tomorrow. Goodnight, love Xcena... read more

3 locks, total 109 Lots of people on the move today, sometimes up to 4 boats waiting at a lock but the single locks fill and empty quite quickly and it's a good time for chatting and playing with dogs. Springer spaniels seem to be the dog of choice for many boaters. I shouldn't have mentioned the Cotswold stone bridges again yesterday – they've reverted to bog-standard brick ones again. We manahed to reach Aynho for a late pub lunch, which made a change. Our guide book suggested the one mile walk into the village was 'well worthwhile' so off we set, luckily having left Hattie on board. After about a quarter of a mile we gave up – narrow road, no footpath and a procession of speeding cars that weren't going to take prisoners – ... read more

(by Mark) The return to the UK should have been a time of happiness, catching up and enjoying company with family and close friends. Unfortunately, as I'm sure most are aware, it was not the return we expected. On 21st of October my Mum passed away peacefully in Cransley Hospice, Kettering. She'd been unwell for a while, but nothing that was diagnosed as or thought of as anything serious. She went for a scan two weeks before this at Kettering hospital and was admitted, diagnosed with a brain tumour, not to return home. It was a massive shock for both her family and friends. The suddenness left an air of disbelief about what was happening. Right to near the end she was chatting with and texting friends, still planning for the future. I am so grateful ... read more