Michael Tyler

Just moving the boat.

Last stop was Gayton, before I put it in the marina.

There’s one possible stop, near Anchor Farm, then straight through to Nether Heyford, because stopping at Bugbrooke isn’t an option.

Easter Weekend

It’s Easter Weekend, possibly the most busy time for hire boaters.

Began washing Bonnie yesterday – cleaning all the winter grime off with a scrubbing brush.

Took me 3 hours to do the roof.

Still got to do the cabin, gunwhales and decks.

Due to some nefarious action on my database, I seem to have lost one of my posts.

Not to worry, it’s out there somewhere, and no doubt if I get bored enough, it will return!

Trip to Nepal

I’ve been trying to prepare the blog for my forthcoming trip abroad by putting some sort of header to make it easier to navigate as my trip progresses.

For the database, this created some problems in parsing any kind of requests, and when I went to make some alterations to the appearance of the site, all my requests timed-out.

I tried disabling plug-ins and running wordpress Vanilla, as it were, which had a slight effect, but still with severely limited functionality. Re-installed. Etc.

I contacted my hosts, Kualo, (you can find them here https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.kualo.com, ), to ask whether they could offer any guidance. …

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Only spent 2 nights in Stoke Bruerne. The rest was over the Christmas period during which I was out visiting people.

Stoke Bruerne

Has two pubs. Amongst other things… A water-point, and the pathways and car-park access is simple to the boat, with many visitors on a daily basis making it safe and easily accessible and a good place to leave your boat for a few days unattended.

I unloaded and loaded the boat in Stoke, (with Christmas gifts), then took the tunnel back to Blisworth.

Blisworth

This time I’ve decided to moor in the village, rather than further down on Station Road, which is probably about 1/2 mile.

It’s fairly quite, and apart from the odd walker and yapping dog, it’s pretty much silent.

I’ve been here a few days. …

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Only moving down a little bit.

This is the place closest to work, so I’m here until after Christmas to make things easier.

It’s roughly a four mile drive to Amazon from here.

16 miles less than the same time last year.

Blisworth

I went to the pub/restaurant, the Walnut Tree the other night.

They had a band on, which was quite entertaining. Just playing some soul/pop covers.

Free to get in.

No problems.

Mooring

Is quite noisy. …

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Where the dear and the antelope play…

Not so much as closer to the bin/toilet, town, coal merchants, motorway, supermarkets etc.

All the things you’re going to want to be close to as the weather closes in.

You can see Bonnie here on the right.

Post Offices

A problem round here is the lack of Post Offices wanting to do Post Restanté. The staff in Towcester seemed particular awkward. They get described as ‘miserable and un-helpful’ in reviews online.

That’s certainly the impression I got.

The woman starting trying to tell me what it was that post restanté was, and shift responsibility elsewhere, “you need to check with them check with that, check online etc“.

I put it clearer ‘I’ve been doing it for years. I’m not asking you what it is or how it works, I’m asking you whether you’ll receive my mail under the scheme‘, to which she grudgingly shrugged. I don’t expect much. They’re awkward twats at the best of times. …

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Weedon Central. Or Weedon Bec as some people call it.

New bypass

So… The new bypass opened next to my lovely spot in Dodford. Come 6am, I could feel the rumbling of artic’s, and couldn’t get back to sleep.

Here’s a picture of the new Weedon – Upper Heyford bypass.

As you can see, it’s probably about 300 yards from my boat at it’s closest point.

Didn’t fancy sticking around. I like my beauty sleep. It wasn’t the sound either, it was the vibrations from the road, which makes it slightly worse.

I’ve cut my losses, and moved down here to Weedon. …

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