Saul Junction

While we were at Shepherds Patch it was lovely to see Howard and Sylvia who came for an evening visit. The next evening Caroline came for a chat and look around Oakfield. Meanwhile we had a phone call from Mike and on opening the side hatch we could see him walking down the canal with family and friends. It turned out that he and Do were staying in the Tudor Caravan Park right next to us. So Thursday was spent ogling his new caravan over coffee, followed by lunch at the Tudor Arms together, then tea on the bank by Oakfield gongoozling in the sunshine. Opposite us a young boy was fishing with his elderly Grandfather and during the afternoon, much to the boys delight, they caught three young eels. These were proudly photographed and gently returned into the water. On Friday we cruised up via the pump out at the Cotswold Canal Heritage Centre, to moor opposite Davis Boat Yard at Saul. Another of their new boats is just being finished off, receiving a coat of paint out in the open air beside the workshop. It was great to see Colin and Hazel who called in for tea and a chat in the afternoon.This morning Edward Elgar came by and the junction has been bustling with boat movements of various sizes all day. This is one of the most interesting places to moor on this canal, with so many people ambling about enjoying themselves.

Our neighbour is David on nb Holmbury who has many years of boating experience and is from our hometown. Anna from nb Platypus stopped to chat just as I had finished hanging all the washing up. Then, you guessed it, the heavens opened and we had a heavy deluge of rain!

The CCT trip boat Perseverance set off towards the Tudor Arms at Shepherds Patch, Slimbridge carrying a boatful of  passengers all eager to enjoy their cruise and arrive in time for lunch there.

This boat provides a fabulous colourful feature to the junction. Just to the right of it is the old disused lock which led down to the junction of the Stroudwater Canal with the river Severn at Framilode.