Thrapston to Oundle

Saturday 11th August

We set off in bright sunshine at 9.15 this morning – our companions were going to leave a little later and were travelling together. We had an interesting time getting through the designated arch of Thrapston bridge; it may have been better to go out into the river turning upstream, turn round and head back towards the bridge, but we didn’t, with the result that we left a bit of paint on the bridge and a bit of stonework on the boat (not to mention a rather dented chimney cover).

We came to Thrapston in 2015, now we’ve gone through Thrapston bridge, we are on new water for us. Between Titchmarsh and Wadenhoe we came across a lot of traffic – 1 narrowboat, 3 female swimmers, 1 male swimmer and 2 canoes. We spoke to the women who told us they had swum from Wadenhoe to Titchmarsh and were now on their way back.

We were due to meet our daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters at Wadenhoe for lunch at the King’s Head. We moored at the bottom of the pub garden and as we had arrived a bit early, Steve put some undercoat on the newly acquired scrapes, while I walked up to the church which is somewhat isolated from the village. The village itself has some beautiful houses and a tea-shop in addition to the pub.

Following a really good meal and a short family visit to the boat, we continued our journey to tonight’s mooring at Oundle Cruising Club where they are very happy to welcome visitors and just ask for a donation. We had quite a (relatively) speedy journey to Oundle as boats were coming up in each of the three locks which meant the locks were set ready for us. Settled down now for a quiet evening after a short visit to the club house; we felt it was only polite to swell their coffers slightly.