SUNDAY LUNCH

Yesterday I fetched up at Long Buckby Wharf aka Norton Junction for a pending appointment with a boat engineer who will clean up the electrics in the engine room, a chore which has been threatening for years.  Sunday, being a day of rest, I am NOT going to cook dinner on board. 

Last night I went down to check New Inn to see how it has survived since my last visit. 

It was bought up in 2012 by two guys from Leicester about whom I know nothing. Maybe six years ago it was taken up by the present owner an ex boater who happens to be a surveyor who happens to have bought the cottage next door at an earlier time and come off the water. 

New Inn is a changed pub from the one I visited in 2012.

It was warm and inviting with log fires well tended and a quiet ambience, soft lighting and that undefinable atmosphere where Wellies and Grensons are equally at home with tweedy or boaty suits and everything in between. 

On Sundays they do a roast lunch and sensibly organise it in three two-hour sessions. 12oc, 2oc, 4oc. As a sea sailor I can cope with rostered watches so I pre-booked my place on the dogwatch and reserved table 15 where I can put my back to the wall for two hours of total relaxation.

For the past three months I have been majorly off grid surveying the length of the Leicester Arm from Watford to Foxton and always eating on board.  This blog was started on board BEFORE I got down to New Inn for 12oc. It was a nasty day outside, cold, clammy, overcast and the pound had a thin coat of ice but I made it to my table at 12.05, opened my tab with a glass of ale and ordered the breaded mushroom starter with garlic sauce followed by a massive plate of roast beef, yorkshire pudding, gravy, broccoli, cauliflower, roast potatoes, Julienned carrots. (Ta Brenda!)

Another half pint ensured continued fluid intake. On advice I took the chocolate fudge with ice cream option which must have hit a million calories. The £30 docket was entirely par for the course and I have to say all the food had a homegrown feel to it.  "Home-cooked" not sure?  Nowadays prepared ingredients are bought in and finished on site but that's ok with me.  Having a ringside seat for Buckby top lock I was able to record the ascent of one boat and the descent of a second.  I do like to observe the different ways people handle locks and used to even wonder why.