20th - 22nd November 2015. Stoke Bruerne and Blisworth.

Friday was sunny but blowy and with definitely a bit more of a chill in the air. The first part of day was a few rural and pretty miles. Between the brown hedgerows, the fields seemed to glow green in the sunshine. Even the canal looked blue today!

Eventually we saw Stoke Bruerne above us as we approached the first of the 7 locks to take us up into the village.



Stoke Bruerne above us; 7 locks will take us up there.

As promised,we had our curry at the Spice of Bruerne on Friday night. Mixed reviews; Robin liked the chef's special but the onion bharji and the naan were burnt and the service a bit lax.

The Spice of Bruerne, just next to the top lock.

Saturday was freezing cold and with an icy wind and we decided to stay put despite the lack of G or phone service. The village is very pretty and there were quite a few people about even in the cold. We had bacon butties for (a late) breakfast at the museum café and settled in for some pottering on the boat.  Robin had a successful day in the kitchen, making bread and a cake. The canal was choppy again (it's all relative of course!).

Choppy waters even at Stoke Bruerne.

This was the coldest day we've had on the boat so far. The fire kept the living areas warm and cosy. However, because it's at the other end, the bedroom was a bit chilly with central heating time limited to preserve the batteries. Jo needed an extra jumper in bed and is seriously considering bedsocks. On Sunday morning the water in Scooby's bowl on the back deck had half an inch of ice on the top. It was a cold night.
It was still cold but without the wind so we set off in search of G and phone signal, heading through the Blisworth tunnel and into the village of Blisworth itself. Lots of boats on the move today; a weekend day and not quite so bitter as yesterday. Connections were still not great, but at least there was something, so we pulled over and moored in Blisworth. We have about a mile to go tomorrow to Gayton marina where we will leave the boat to go home next week.

Approaching Blisworth village where there is an old wharf and other canal buildings, it was once a real hub of canal industry, just as Stoke Bruerne was.