Stoke Bruerne - Canal Village

Stoke Bruerne - Famous Canal Village

Mad Max and the Moo Cows

Cogenhoe just happened to be Max’s heaven, even when he did come face to face with COWS!! Thought he might try and scare them by fluffing up his tail, but they just looked at him a bit gone out, ah well cows are stupid anyway!!

Silly Cows!!

We all hit the Crow’s Nest club and had a really nice evening. The highlight being feeding the fish mini cheddars, which was a bit bizarre.

Thursday was boiling hot. We set off late morning for a leisurely cruise to Northampton for a nice rest and a bit of shopping. I fancied chips and mushy peas, but where the hell is a chip shop when you need one, certainly not in Northampton. Ended up with a McDonald’s, followed by a beer in ‘King Billy’s’. Ken sampled Betty Stogs (real ale!!) whilst listening to the loudest rock group we have ever heard in our lives. Still suffering with a bit of deafness!!

Friday morning was something else. Started off up the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal at 06.58, are we mad one must think. No, just wanted to get a place at Stoke Bruerne before all the mooring spots were taken. It was a red hot day for 17 locks, was so pleased when we hit lock one at the top of the flight. Blisworth Tunnel was blissfully cool for half an hour. We moored with no problem at Stoke Bruerne and hit the pub that evening to sample the live Jazz and real ale – Ken was on ‘Boondoggle’ (I think that’s a fab name).

Was I glad to see this lock!!

As you can see there are 17 locks in the Rothersthorpe flight

Our lazy routine

We are staying here until Tuesday, so have settled into a very lazy, boozy, foody routine. Max is having a fantastic time romping around the towpath catching mice and being fussed by every passerby. In actual fact the towpath is quite a petting zoo. There are numerous dogs, Max and a couple of boats down there is a 67 year old tortoise, who has upstaged Max completely!!!!

Oh Dear - Max upstaged by a tortoise!!

Our plan is to move off on Tuesday and go down to Milton Keynes for some shopping and a taste of civilization.