Hello my name is Chris, and I went to the boats on Monday 27th December, at Aynho. When we arrived it was very icy, I slipped over twice, so did my dad!
We set off and was going round a corner when a boat came round it and the captain (Mark) stopped the boats but the other boat couldn't get out of the channel, so we gently hit them so that they could go past us. That evening we met up with them at a pub and the next day and made friends....
Next day we got stuck but my dad and the captain freed the boats , so we set off, we sold 20 bags of coal at Banbury and the locks that day were hard..!!
On the last day we got the boats to Stockton and we tidyed the boats up (boy, the locks were hard!) I really enjoyed myself (the 7 locks at Stockton were harder than i thought!!). Our other crew was Andy and even though it was really cold we had a good time..
Christopher Knight (aged 11).

On Monday 27th December, Nuneaton and Brighton left Aynho, on the Southern Oxford Canal, skippered by Mark Collins and crewed by Rob and Chris Knight and Andy Belton. Though the cut was frozen, a path had been broken through the ice by another boat earlier in the morning, so we made good progress, arriving at our first night's destination of Banbury, shortly before dusk.
The following day, after making some coal deliveries arranged the previous evening, we continued northwards, through Cropredy. While not as cold as the day before, the wind was stronger and the going was slow. It was dark by the time we stopped near the 'Wharf Inn' at Fenny compton.
On Wednesday we continued along the long, contour-hugging summit pound before dropping down to Napton in the afternoon. We carried on round the Hill and Turned left at Napton Junction onto the Grand Union. After negotiating the Calcutt Three in twilight, we stopped for the night near the Boat Inn, just before the Stockton flight. On arriving at the pub, we discovered it was closed for Christmas (!!!!), so we ended up in the Blue Lias instead that evening.
Thursday morning we took the bouts down the Stockton locks to their winter destination at the Warwickshire Fly Boat Yard, mooring between the yard and the Blue Lias. After tying up the boats and tidying up the cabins, we were finished by lunch time.
Cheers
Andy Belton.