Not everything that grows on you is mould

Friday 28^th October to Tuesday 1^st November 2016

We have had a quite lovely few days since we left Thrupp, which is not to say that anything before was not lovely – just in a different way.

Our moorings have predominantly been very very rural and very very quiet – both in terms of noises from traffic or trains and also with respect to passing foot traffic.

On our way down in June we found a lovely mooring south of Bridge 212 and wanted to moor near there again, but with it being a lot cooler and less bright we opted for one a little more south (just north of the quarry moorings) – so very quiet and there were no lights around at all and nobody wandering past – could have been almost anywhere, nobody would have found us.

Only problem was that the pins were in softish earth and a boat going past early the next morning was a bit fast and the back ones came out – it was a good 5 minutes later before I noticed and the stern was on the other side of the canal. No real problems.

 

Somerton Deep Lock

Next mooring along was south of Anyho and was really only just beyond Bridge 193 – this was even better – we had armco and chains – and nothing stirred anywhere around us.

Could easily have stayed there for a few days – which we might do if we ever come this way again.

We managed to stop for a good 45 minutes at The Pig Place on our cruising along – just for breakfast – we had missed the opportunities to stop before, but for Diane’s sake we would stop again next time as well.

 

Very happy with her breakfast...

...but don't tell Diane,
but this is where the bacon and the sausages come from.

Following that we spent a couple of nights in Banbury – and it was over a weekend – that would also be Halloween weekend.

Yep, we did it again - another picture of Banbury Cross

I think that everyone must have been really spooked as it was exceptionally quiet – a little noise on Saturday night but no problem near us – and Sunday night – it was just like all of the church mice had gone on holiday because there was nothing at all.

We needed to stop here as we wanted to get some shopping done; there was a Sunday in there, so that meant a roast lunch; we had some boat chores to get done also, but come Monday morning we were away and on our way – we still have the upcoming stoppage ahead of us and we would like to see that behind us sooner rather than later.

 

Cropedy Marina - looking quite splendid in the bright sunshine

Next mooring was just above Elkington’s Lock and beyond Clattercote Wharf – at first it didn’t look much but again it was really quiet and just very nice.

 

Spot the difference with the earlier photograph at Somerton Deep Lock -
That's right, we have swapped sides

This is the first time we have signs of occupation on this
landlocked boat

When we first came along the Oxford canal heading south, last year, we didn’t think a lot of it, to be absolutely truthful – a means of getting to the Thames.

The pound between locks 20 and 19 was very much down and
we had an effort to actually get through - everywhere else was quite OK

A combination of shallow pounds, areas of bad (or non-existant) internet and TV signals, small villages without much of interest, long meandering around obstacles – it didn’t enthrall us at all.

But now that we have traversed it a couple more times it has grown on us immensely and we do like the rural character of the canal; the picturesque countryside – still not enamoured about the signal issues – but you can't have everything.

We are now moored just above the top lock on the Napton flight and will be heading down there to ease our concerns about getting past the proposed winter maintenance on the flight.

We will miss the (South) Oxford.

33 Miles, 22 Locks, 2 Lift Bridges

YTD:  779 Miles (1254 km) , 435 Locks, 10 Tunnels, 21 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4574 Miles (7361 km), 3134 Locks, 122 Tunnels, 66 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges

Why is this river so narrow?

Monday 24^th October to Thursday 27^th October 2016

We are still pretty much ahead of the time to make it past the stoppage on the Napton flight in early November so we decided that a day or two in Oxford would be worthwhile and allow us to see a few things that we still had not done.

There was also the matter of re-stocking the pantry and fridge.

 

Spotted this litlle place coming up towards Oxford - make a nice weekender

One place that we had never visited in any of the many times that we have been to Oxford was the Ashmolean Museum, which has a fine reputation, but as we found out on Monday, it is closed and only open for business Tuesday to Sunday, so we headed off to the covered market to seek out The Pieminister for lunch.

This establishment has been here for a few years and with a great reputation for great pies, as the name suggests.

mmmm - The Pieminister

So we had lunch there and also got a bit of shopping done for ourselves and for Diane’s mum, who had asked us to source a book for her.

We could wait for Tuesday to re-assault the Ashmolean.

And so it came to be; after getting my work done (well most of it!) we launched ourselves from the boat – by this time we had come off the Thames and were moored in Jericho opposite the new waterside development.

We were a bit “surprised” at how narrow these other little “rivers” are when you do leave the Thames and there are plenty of boats close by.

Standing right opposite another Oxford institution, the Randolph, the Ashmolean has gone through a bit of refurbishment, which is easy to see.

You could imagine a stuffy old museum, as they used to be, and now there is a bright building – inside and out – with fine collections of relics from history with excellent and illuminary descriptions of the empires that have gone before us.

It was well worth the effort, but we have to admit that all of that walking around has had an effect on our legs and we did need to have a bit of a sit down and relax – think we must be getting old or something.

During our few days here we did manage to get the shopping done as well – although Diane was very disappointed that the Aldi was closed for renovations and so we repaid all of those free Waitrose coffees by getting the replenishments there – as well as having another free coffee.

 

Looking across Port Meadow back towards Oxford

A blog cannot be complete without a picture of cows - just because I can!

It was now time to move along and we left Oxford, for what may be the last time on the boat, and headed northwards.

The day started off just a little bit foggy, not misty, but not cold at all – there was no breeze and with all of the moored boats we just took it slowly.

By the time we were at the junction we had caught up with another boat so we were back to waiting at the lock – they were new to boating so it took them time; the hire boat coming down the lock were new as well, so they took their time, we were almost blocking the bridge hole for Duke’s Cut, so the boat coming through there took their time.

Eventually after 30 minutes we made it through the lock and continued north.

Coming to Roundham Lock (Lock 42) we noticed that there was a boat just coming out of the lock – I could clearly see the boat and the skipper, the weather had brightened up considerably – but I needed to sound the horn to let them know we were there as they were closing the gates.

Diane by this stage was already walking towards the lock; the other woman apologised saying that her husband didn’t tell her we were there – he did look a bit dim!

A very fine mooring was found at Thrupp – not on the 7-day mooring rings, but then we weren’t staying that long.

Whenever we stop in Thrupp there always seems to be a need to visit Annie’s Tea Rooms and since it was nearly lunch time, then why not.

The day had by now brightened up well and truly – the sun was out and it was quite lovely. The days are getting noticeably colder, and will get even colder in another month or two, but for now the presence of the sun, even a bit warm, is really nice, so we enjoyed it all.

There is such a huge difference between the Thames and canals – we have been quite used to the depth of the river, allowing us to cruise quite easily; little need to adjust speed when passing other boats; the canal with some shallow stretches, proximity to moored boats and the consequent need to slow down – there is a certain intimacy about the canals which you do not find on large rivers; but a sort of freedom on the rivers that is missing from the canals.

Love them both, we do!

14 Miles, 8 Locks

YTD:  738 Miles (1188 km) , 411 Locks, 10 Tunnels, 14 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4533 Miles (7296 km), 3110 Locks, 122 Tunnels, 59 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges

Dark Shadows, catastrophe and heritage trails

Monday 27^th June to Wednesday 6^th July 2016

We hung on in Thrupp for one more day before finally heading off early on Tuesday morning down to Oxford to moor up in Jericho; Sue and Andy veered off at Dukes Cut to head west on the Thames; Dot and Gordon carried onto Jericho where both boats moored up – there were what you might call “plenty of moorings for this area” and thus we had no problems.

We had seen most of the stuff in Oxford but still managed to while away a couple of hours before getting a message from Dot and Gordon– “fancy a drink” in Bookbinders – “hell yeah”.

A couple of bottles of red went down rather well before we walked back to the boats.

Just a late afternoon drink - Gordon was up for it!

Not long after, catastrophe hit – just simply wanting a cup of tea, the kettle was taking a bit of time to boil and would never have done so as we found out.

I had changed over the gas bottles just a day earlier, but we were out of gas – I can only blame myself for not tightening the connection fully – no chance of purchasing new bottles until the next morning.

Gordon came to the rescue loaning us their spare bottle for the evening; following morning we returned it; moved the boat down to the East Street mooring and strolled down to the Calor Gas Centre just a few hundred metres away and bought two new bottles – just £52 – back on board they were properly installed and we were literally “cooking with gas”.

First lock of the day - self service - the cruiser behind us was game coming in with us

Wednesday and we were ready to head off early; just waited got Dot and Gordon to come down through Isis Lock and then we headed off; we caught up with Andy and Sue who the previous day had about-faced and made back towards Oxford on the Thames but with no moorings until Sandford Lock had to settle for that.

Caught sight of and said hello to Tony (alias Peter) and Helen on nb Holderness who had moored there also – Diane had been reading their blog and knew they were around.

The three boats continued down to Abingdon where we moored up; Festina Lente morred behind us and Ewn Ha Cul carried on to Day’s Lock.

Abingdon

We had stopped at Abingdon last year but I had not been able to have a good look around and Diane liked the town so we thought that this was a good place to stop and with pleasant mooring it was an easy choice to make.

A bit of shopping and a bit of walking and we were largely satisfied; perhaps another day to just relax and enjoy the open space that we had been afforded would have been nice, but we do have a bit of a schedule (yet again!).

So it was onto Day’s Lock where it seemed that a great gathering of boats had occurred – well at least enough to make sure that the available mooring spots were all taken, but never to worry we breasted up next to Ewn Ha Cul and were behind Richard and Sharon (nb Oakapple).

We were being shadowed now as Holderness appeared from out of the sun (well just from the west) – they ventured through the lock to find a mooring spot below – hopefully.

Again, last year I had missed the walk into Dorchester; Dot wanted to see the archeological dig (in the middle of the allotments – probably likely to find an ancient carrot and cabbage as much as anything else).

The archeological dig - or is it just that the potatoes are ready for picking

Morning view...

...evening view

It was a lengthy walk into the town, but essentially it was well worth it – it has been the scenery used for many films and TV  shows – most notably Midsomer Murders – a visit to the church and to the museum and it would also have been an afternoon tea but the café wasn’t open - as a very last resort we opted for a drink in the pub – oh well, the sacrifice was worth it.

During this touristy bit we were surrounded by Tony and Helen – the dark shadows had found us – so the total for a drink now rose to 8.

from left, me, Richard, Sharon, Dot, Helen and Tony (at the back), Gordon and Diane
(at the front)

We knew they would be and it passed to be that they are a lovely couple with a good sense of humour – despite being from Hull, but we won’t hold it against them, just that Hull is in Yorkshire (sorry Jim and Joan!!)

Back to the boats; there was a bit of a gathering on the bank but the lack of any warmth and some tiredness necessitated a retreat back.

Earlyish (well very early - before 6am) next morning we cast off and the two boats headed further on – Ferndale and Ewn Ha Cul – we stopped at Beal Park; D and G carried on further – we had wanted to moor here to have a look at Basildon Park, which according to my lovely (distance-challenged) wife, was just a short walk away.

After jumping fences to avoid the road without a footpath and then hiking half the length of the A329 we found the entrance – it was then just a matter of an uphill climb to challenge the Tour de France climbers – we made it and luckily the air ambulance people were on standby with the oxygen tent already set up.

Despite the trek it was a particularly lovely property to look through – a property that has had a bit of a sad and abused history until a couple bought it back in the early 1950’s and saved it from ruin – restoring it to its appropriate grandeur.

Passed by Seyella in Wallingford - pretty well sure that they would have moved on by now

The entrance - found it after miles of trekking...

...but the house was well worth the effort

This is the Shell Room - just for Elaine

Going down the hill was much easier and the boat was just where we had left – thankfully!

Cruising along the Thames in the early morning is such a delight - just something that needs to be experienced..

We had said to ourselves that we would like to moor in places that we had not stayed previously and until this point we had achieved exactly no new places; now we would have a chance to see something new – and where do you think we picked – lovely Reading – some very lovely moorings well above Caversham bridge where we had stayed last year had become non-mooring sites – due to the lobbying of the well-heeled snobs across the river who had tired of seeing boaters getting to stay for free.

This was the early picture just down from the lock that Diane operated - the gate on
the right is where she would need to come through to get back on the boat.
Unfortunately I didn't get a photo, but moments later these cows all crowded around the gate,
and poor Diane couldn't get through - her "fear" of cows didn't help either.
The faint cries of "help" could be heard and after tying the boat, there was a little bit of
hand-clapping to move them all away.

Anyway we decided that the environs closer to the bridge would be just as nice – and they would have been had it not been few hundred geese and swans that inhabited the area – it was not that they were particularly noisy (only at about 4:30am) but it was the extraordinary amount of shit that they left behind after stuffing themselves all day.

Still we spent a couple of days there (we cleared a path through it all from the boat to the footpath) – we explored Reading a bit; found where D and G moored in the town and had a few drinks with them; of course, we found the Waitrose for the free coffee and as our visit also covered a Monday, Diane was quickly onto having lunch at the Slug and Lettuce.

Overall it was a pleasant experience.

The Kennett - going through Reading...

...and the old castle - now off-limits due to unstable stonework

We met a lovely lady from nb Lunas – Evelyn (cannot remember her husband’s name – sorry about that) – well when I say met, she rapped on the side of the boat and after a brief chat with Diane, very politely said that I needed to get a hurry up and get the blog up to date – how could I refuse? I wasn’t game to argue with her – she was about 2 feet shorter but I am sure she would have pummelled me.

So now I am getting it done.

Managed to spot this fellow at one of the locks...

...before he flew off

...and these guys waiting to be fed breakfast

The moorings were only for 48 hours so we needed to move, this time heading towards Hambledon Lock moorings – downstream from Henley.

Unfortunately Diane was talking to someone at one of the locks who told her that Elton John would be there in concert the following night – that was it, we had to find moorings in Henley and she would find a spot somewhere where she could listen to the concert.

I gently pointed out that Wales were playing that night also – which would she do?

At that point in time, Wales could wait.

Well we found a mooring spot, just up from Ewn Ha Cul, with Festina Lente a few more boats closer to town – yes we were all back together.

A little excitement in Henley, as though regattas were not enough; the Argentinian Steakhouse was obviously doing too many steaks much too well done - a fire broke out in the back area and all patrons were safely evacuated as well as the staff - also every other shop, cafe and restaurant for 50 metres in every direction

We managed to find a heritage trail to find out a bit more about the town; Gordon and Andy decided to do a heritage trail of their own – the history of some of the pubs in the town – so absorbed in the historical facts of these establishments, we found them just in time to direct them back to the boats – not inebriated, but they would have been happy to continue.

The girls at play on their favourite tree...

...and this - if only!

As it turned out the concept of listening to the concert lost it’s appeal and all three boats moved off the following day – Ewn Ha Cul went on and on and on; we opted for the free mooring above the lock at Marlowe and FL were able to drop in just in front of us.

We had definitely not been here before – apparently Steve Redgrave was born here.

Again, another heritage trail to follow here – these are very informative and free of charge – just book with Diane (you also have to moor in the same town as us as well!)

Part of the exclusive heritage trail tour

I understand that he is giant of a man in rowing circles, but
Marlowe favourite son - Steve Redgrave - has a slightly
larger than life statue.

Here we stayed for the night – very quiet and very peaceful – but sadly it was not a hoped-for win to Wales in the semi-final, but they have done very very well indeed!!

Just a photo of what appears to be a pretty normal post box - much the same as
you would see anywhere in the country ...

...not sure that the collections would be likely to be too regular - certainly it
would be difficult to post and collect

61 Miles, 29 Locks, 4 Lift Bridges

YTD:  376 Miles (602 km) , 258 Locks, 4 Tunnels, 14 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4125 Miles (6600 km), 2957 Locks, 116 Tunnels, 59 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges