Helpful (as ever), but Unhappy, Lock Keepers.

 Saturday 28th June 2025 in Abingdon..

As we pulled away from out mooring to go into King's Lock very early on Saturday morning, we noticed this cheerful fellow sitting in the shade under a bush. Not something that you see often.

We shared a couple of locks with nb. "Orpheus", which is a new boat built in homage to canal "Inspection Barges" from the past. An unusual configuration but a very pretty boat and lovely owners. They were on their way to the Henley Regatta.

Recently, the Environment Agency, which controls the Thames, has been evicting long term lock keepers from these lovely lock cottages and replacing them largely with volunteers with less experience and fewer of them. It got to the point that the lock keepers and volunteers voted to go on strike because they maintained that reducing the number of lock keepers on the Thames was simply putting folk in danger. The strike was due this week but was later called off because the EA has since agreed to increase the numbers.

All the lock keepers whom we did meet (not many) were very cheerful and helpful as always. At Sandford Lock they clearly wanted more breakfast and were not averse to a roast dinner or two ...!

This notice reflects the fact that many boaters are not entirely as familiar with the rules of navigation as they should be... and it also reflects that some of the "lockies" have a sense of humour!

 Again, we were fortunate to find a lovely mooring in Abingdon, so we walked through the town to Waitrose for a snack in the café and a "few bits". It's a really lovely town, a bit like Reigate but with the beautiful river running through the centre, not a one-way race track like Reigate.

The moorings just below Abingdon Bridge are next to a lovely park, the only thing lacking was some shade as it continued to be very hot.

The obvious answer to the heat was ice cream and R walked across the bridge to the little café and then had to run back before both ice creams melted. It was worth it!

 Today: 12 miles, 6 locks and 4.4 hours.

Trip: 141 miles, 68 locks and 68.5 hours.

Onto the Thames at Last.

Friday 27th June 2025 at Kings Lock on the Thames.

The day started with breakfast at Annie's Café next to the lift bridge in Thrupp. It is a lovely tea room which serves an excellent breakfast and we were served by the owners' daughter, who was lovely. On display was a set of M's favourite china tea: "Old Country Roses".

These are the lovely cottages opposite our mooring. Very desirable properties in a picturesque setting.

After we set off it was really hot, even these sheep were lying down in the shade under the trees. WE, however, kept going!

This pub is the Jolly Boatman, where we met our friend Richie for lunch. It was great to catch up with him and talk about everything.

This was the last lock on the Oxford Canal before we turned on to Duke's Cut to join the River Thames. Unfortunately, Dukes Cut has been sadly neglected since we last came this way and is now a thoroughly unpleasant waterway, almost choked wiht noxious looking weed. You definitely would not want to fall in here!

We were lucky to find one of our best moorings on the Thames just above King's Lock, where we moored with Mel and Peter in 2021.

A family from California moored up opposite us and asked for some advice about whether to continue going on up the Thames or turning on to Duke's Cut. R advised them to stay on the Thames as the Duke's Cut is so nasty and, at  times, the thick weed made it difficult to keep moving. Also, the lock at the canal end is broken and very difficult to operate. R went over and spent some time talking to them, they were a delightful family.

 Today: 5 miles, 4 locks and 3.0 hours.

Trip: 129 miles, 62 locks and 64.1 hours.

The Abandonned "Rock of Gibralter"

 Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th June 2025 in Thrupp.

 As we were having breakfast, we noticed a cow meandering rather randomly across the huge field. She was limping badly from the hip and didn't seem to know where she was going. After getting halfway across the field, she lay down and we were worried that she might not get up. After half an hour or so so got up and resumed her slow random progress.

We relieved to see the arrival of a Landrover which drew up in front of her. The driver got out and encouraged her to limp slowly back to the end of the field from which she had come. It was painfully slow progress.

This doesn't seem to have been treated as anything unusual, so we imagined the farmer saying in a resigned sort of way, "Oh dear, Daisy's gone off wandering again, I'll go and get her back".

The day was quite overcast and there is not much of interest on this stretch so M didn't take many photos. Our overnight mooring was in the middle of nowhere and the birdsong was really lovely but unusual in its volumn and variety.   

On Wednesday morning we set off through very wooded countryside.

Last November, this whole section of river and canal was flooded after heavy rain. Two boats ended up on the towpath when the water receeded. One was teetering on the towpath and the owner gave it a shove to get it back in the water - and it promptly sank. This boat nearby is still there and nobody is quite sure what to do about it as there is absolutely no access anywhere near it - so it still sits there.

We stopped at Enslow Marina for water; luckily Richard was there and we had a good catch up. Sadly Tiff was away for the day; we were disappointed to have missed her.

 After Enslow, we passed the "Rock of Gibraltar" pub opposite which MM was launched in 2011 and where we had a joyful celebration. It was a wonderful day. Sadly, the pub is now closed and the lovely gardens have reverted to wild.

We moored up in Thrupp. For once we were able to moor beside the main street, which is normally full but this time there were two spaces free!

Every year, M always plants geraniums and lobelia in troughs in the well deck and they usually make a very impressive display. But for some reason this year the geraniums have hardly done anything while the lobelia are blooming like mad. M thinks that the geraniums may have been a later flowering variety, so we still live in hope that they will flower eventually.  (note from M: they did!!!).

Today: 5 miles,2 locks and 3.1 hours.

Trip: 124 miles, 58 locks and 61.1 hours.

A Short Cruise and Lots of Polishing.

Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th June 2025 in Somerton.

 We arrived back at MM in the afternoon and decided to stay overnight rather than leaving immediately, so we overnighted in the mooring outside the workshop. Simon and Matt had done a great job on the service and we chatted to them about blacking MM's hull in the autumn.

On Tuesday morning, we moved up to the service bay to fill up with water and to have a bit of breakfast at the Brew Box.

This is one of the bridges that was not left open but it had a hydraulic mechanism that was operated with a windlass. M said that still needed a lot of full turns of the windlass (about thirty!) to get it open The mechanism is on the black pole in the foreground.

The first lock after Aynho is Somerton Deep Lock, which lives up to its name as the deepest lock on the Oxford Canal.

This lovely nameboard was bizzarely on the towpath in the middle of nowhere and so of interest only to passing boaters and walkers, who probably knew where they were anyway! Nice to see, nonetheless.

 Another very hot day. We didn't travel far and moored up not long after the lock next to a very large open field as R wanted to work on cleaning and polishing the side of MM which was now next to the towpath. He also took the opportunity to clean and polish the bow area.

 Today: 3 miles, 1 locks and 1.6 hours.

Trip: 112 miles, 52 locks and 54.9 hours. 

Finally Through the Broken Lock.

Wednesday 18th June 2025 at Aynho.

 M had a restful afternoon yesterday as we were stuck waiting for an assisted passage through the broken lock. Meanwhile, R had to get the car from Braunston, where we had left it, to Aynho, where we will need it tonight. That meant a two mile walk to Banbury, two trains to Coventry and then Long Buckby, and a taxi to Braunston Marina. Then it was just a case of driving to Aynho, getting a lift from wonderful Sarah to Twyford and a one mile walk back to Grant's Lock. Easy!  "What took you so long? said M, as he arrived back (only joking!).

At 10:00am, the C&RT crew arrived on time and started pulling boats very gently in and out of the lock on ropes, to ensure no further damage to the broken gate. There was one very experienced lady in charge but the rest of the volunteers were drawn from wherever and had hardly seen a boat let alone a lock - so progress was painfully slow.  For example, one was a gardener! Meanwhile, as each boat went through, the queue gradually moved forward, also with ropes.

As there was no balance beam, the gate had to be opened and closed with ropes. Really hard work in the heat but the volunteers did a great job.

At the end of the alloted two hours, they had only got four boats up and three down. While they were willing, they were incredibly slow. Luckily for us, they agreed to stay an extra hour and eventually got seven boats up and down, including a family behind us who had flights to catch and couldn't wait another 24 hours.

When MM's turn came, she was pulled through the lock by two volunteers. 

As we left, the queue for boats waiting to go up still included at least 10 boats, most of which had already waited 24 hours and there was no guarantee that all of them would get through tomorrow. That's only part the queue below:

It was not too long before we arrived at Aynho Wharf, where we will leave MM for Simon to do her annual service.

 As the car was at Aynho, we were able to drive straight home without any problem. We are due to return on Monday 23rd June to pick up MM and continue our journey south.

Today: 5 miles, 4 locks and 3.3 hours.

Trip: 109 miles, 51 locks and 53.3 hours.

From Claydon to a Broken Grant's Lock.

 Tuesday 17th June 2025 at Grant's Lock.

 Very early on Tuesday we started off down the five locks of the pretty Claydon flight. Half way down there is a C&RT volunteers' hut and they record boat movements on a board on the side of the hut. This was for the previous day as we were the first boat down today.The volunteeer, who had just come on duty, wasn't evpecting anyone quite so early and he was taken by surprise when M stuck her head in the hut and wished him Good Morning!

Near the bottom of the locks we saw a Curlew on the bank. M said that it had been many years since she last saw one. They have a very distinctive long beak.

It pleased us to see that the lock cottage at Bourton Lock was finally being repaied. There are several very isolated lock cottages along this stretch, most without any road access.

We arrived in Banbury, but didn't stop as we had plenty of provisions and wanted to get on to Grant's Lock, which is broken and for which there will be a queue.

During its construction, the South Oxford Canal ran short of money and so built many lift bridges instead of brick bridges, as they are cheaper. M is not a fan of lift bridges and so is very pleased that most of them have either gone of are left open.

Sure enough, when we arrived at Grants' Lock we were number five in the queue. Last week, some careless boater hit the bottom gate so hard that it split the balance beam in the middle of the lock and the impact was so intense that it sheared off the end of the beam, rendering the gates inoperable.

As we arrived, the C&RT volunteer crew were just packing up for the day. They were working from 10 to 12 each day to pull boats manually through the lock and, as it was 12:15 they were just about to leave for today. The cottage next to the lock was burnt out a few years ago. This is one of the cottages with no road access so not a chance to get a fire engine anywhere near. Happily it does look as if it is being worked on but not sure if it will be rebuilt of demolished (hopefully the former).

This is the broken bottom gate of Grant's Lock. For safety, the C&RT cut off the broken end of the beam but this means that the volunteer crew have to open and close the gate with ropes.

Nothing for it but to wait until tomorrow and hope that we can get through then. It was actually quite nice to have a quiet afternoon in the sunshine. 

Today: 9 miles, 13 locks and 6.8 hours.

Trip: 104 miles, 47 locks and 50.0 hours.

A Lunch Invitation an then a Long Day

 Sunday 15th and Monday 16th June 2025 at Claydon. 

 On Sunday, we drove back to Braunston with the mandatory stop at the Brew Box for Breakfast. Naturally, R has a loyalty card for it!

 

Whrn we arrived at Braunston, we took MM out of the Marina and moored her up on the canal (to avoid another night's mooring fees). Then we drove to Scott and Paula's house in Daventry as they had invited us for lunch. It was really lovely to catch up with them, Amelia and Lachlan, who are very grown up now. A really relaxing and enjoyable afternoon.

On the Monday morning we set off early, turning down the South Oxford Canal On the way, we passed bridge 100, a much battered but very attractive example of the many accommodation bridges across the canal. 

In front of us was a large field of linseed in bloom, the colour was beautiful.

At Wigram's Turn we turned into the Marina to top up with fuel and water. The share boat nb "Rufford" moored here for a while and the staff are always very welcoming.

 At the top of Napton Hill is this landmark windmill and, thanks to Mr Brindley and his winding "contour" canal, we spent the next few hours driving all around it! Sometines it's on your right, then it's on your left, then in front of you and then behind. It lulls you in to a kind of trance, where you feel you are hallucinating!

Looking back from Napton Bottom Lock, there is a lovely view of the other side of Napton Hill with the windmill now behind us intead of in front of us.

For a while, M walked along the towpath on this narrow stretch of, what used to be, a tunnel.

This whole area is a butterfly conservation area and there were quite a few butterflies in evidence. Sadly, though, not nearly as many as there used to be.

At the foot of Claydon Locks, we moored up for the night. A very early start is planned for tomorow, so R got some rest in preparation.

Another beautiful sunset after a very long day, nearly 10 hours cruising..

 Today: 20 Miles,9 Locks and 9.7 Hours.

Trip: 95 miles,34 locks an43.2 hours.