It was a lovely evening last night, pity it wasn’t a full moon as it was quite red. not the best photo of it.
Overnight was not the best nights sleep we have had with a cow calling on and off all night, I went out on deck at 5am expecting to see an animal in the cut, but it was calling from the field behind the tow path. When we got up this morning it was all quiet with no sign of any cows.
We were away at 10am heading for Braunston to pick up a new water pump strainer and also fill with water. When we arrived there were two hire boats on the water points but no sign of a hose. we stopped outside Midland Chandlers and got the bits I needed, then Diana walked round for a word with the hire boats who were on their way as we reversed back to the water points to fill up. That sorted it was a trip round the triangle to head back up the Oxford. It was good to see Sandbach without her makeup on.
We headed back north and called in at Dunchurch Pools Marina to top up with diesel as they are the cheapest in the area at 96p/lt domestic.
Some years ago WRG repaired this bridge for CRT, I think it was a sort of try out as to where WRG as a charity could go maintenance for CRT also a charity. Today the brickwork has a crack right through it as the bridge continues to move.
Back at our marina I reversed in to call at the pump-out station before returning to our berth. One of the things that is worrying me is that with the low water levels we don’t actually slide under the pontoon. I also needed to do an oil and filter change as well as fitting the new strainer and adjusting the pressure switch to control the water pump pressure.
Today’s Journey
7 miles with no locks in 4 hours
1 comment:
It is all too easy to be concerned about cracks in wing walls (as with cracks in new plaster in a house). These walls are not especially structural as can be seen with one or two, I think on the N Oxford where they have been removed to allow wider agricultural machinery to pass over. There principal purpose is to stop people, animals, things from falling over the edge. The strength for the bridge is the arch which is surprisingly thin when stripped of its decoration. The foundations of the wing walls (unlike the parapets mounted on the arch itself, is that the foundations are not especially strong and do move with time. Something has to give and the good thing about bricks is their ability to absorb this movement without losing all of their integrity. (AIUI!)
Post a Comment