Aileen Rose and a Hungry Duck.

 Tuesday 5th May 2026 in Braunston.

M was up early again (4.30!) to listen to, and record, the dawn chorus, although a problem with her phone suddenly demanding age verification meant that R was up early too! However, it was worth it because the morning mist lingering over the water was magical.

Following our decision last night, we walked up into the village so that M could post the card and we could sample the village shop's breakfast menu. The shop was delightful, a true cornucopia stocked with everything you could want including coffee, a bakery, pies and - breakfast!

The sign outside said it all. Better still there was a constant stream of customers coming and going all the time that we were there, even at 8am, and the staff could not have been more helpful.

The shop no longer has any seating inside but they did have seats outside.  We were most pleasantly surprised and pleased when a member of staff kindly invited us to sit in this lovely covered area behind the shop for our breakfast. It is the owner's private back garden!

 Their lovely one year old mouser "Winston" inspected us to make sure that we were safe and was very affectionate. 

 

 After breakfast, we set off again on the lock free section to Braunston. On the way we passed nb "Aileen Rose", another Kingsground boat. It was being shown around Aileen Rose in 2010 by the then owner, Fiona, at Beale Park that decided us to choose Kingsground as our builder for MM.  We could see there were people on board so we hovered alongide and chatted to the new owners for some time.  They said that they had bought her in February from Fiona and were "beyond thrilled" with her.

Bridge 100 in one of M's favourites and passing it means that we are getting close to Braunston. The weather this morning was beautiful, gentle sunshine and no wind.  M said the cruising was so very lovely that she was almost hoping we would never reach our destination!

When we arrived, we managed to moor up in what appeared to be one of the last available spots just before the Stop House and the Gongoozlers' Rest, which sadly only opens weekends now so we will not be able to have breakfast there.

 The day included seeing several broods of very small ducklings but we also had a visit from a very inquisitive swan who tapped on the window but left breadless.

 At Braunston, having closed the back doors to keep out the cool breeze, we were surprised to be visited by a very hungry duck, who demolished the slice of bread that we gave her and even cleaned up most of the crumbs before leaving.

 

 We walked up to the office at Braunston Marina past nb "Raymond", which was the last wooden working butty launched at Braunston in 1958. It has now been restored and is looking resplendent.

 In the office, where as ever they were most obliging, we confirmed our mooring in the marina for tomorrow until Monday, when we will return with the car. Our plan then is to take MM up to Crick and leave her there for the following weekend.

 Today:7 miles, 0 locks and 2.9 hours.

Trip: 55 miles,38 locks and 27.3 hours. 

Another Early Start.

 Sunday 3rd May 2026 near Wormleighton.

Again we rose early, although there was no dawn chorus in Banbury once the youngsters had finally abandonned their carousing and gone home at 1:00am. We set off at 7:00am once more, intending to reach the summit pound of the Oxford Canal.

 The sun of yesterday was sadly not in evidence and the morning air was cold so we both ended up wearing several layers.

Breakfast was again eaten on the move as rain was forecast later and we wanted to get as far as we could before it arrived.

 

At the middle lock of the Claydon Flight of five locks there is a former lengthsman's hut, which is usually manned by C&RT volunteers and we were delighted to see that today was no exception. Not only do the volunteers help operate the locks, they also keep a tally of "number of boats up" and "number of boats down" on a blackboard.  We were number three going up! 

 

We did the five locks in just under 55 minutes with M walking ahead to set the next lock each time while R operated and closed up the last lock. 

Finally we reached Claydon Top Lock and the start of the long summit pound. Fifteen lock free miles through wonderfully rural countryside - what a marvellous prospect! 

These roses were already in full bloom in the garden beside the top lock.

We passed through "Fenny Compton Tunnel", which is still called that but is no longer a tunnel.  Its "roof" was removed long ago and so it is now just a narrow cutting. Here M got off to walk the towpath, which she has done many times before as it is a beautiful nature walk high above the canal.

 

 

 

 

She passed this signpost indicating distance in both directions but not giving the destinations!  The names had been weathered away long ago. 

There were banks and banks of wild roses already in full bloom. 

 The entire section of the towpath here is a butterfly conservation area.

By this time, the sun had broken through to give a lovely late afternoon and evening.  Finally, we moored up miles from anywhere with fabulous far-reaching views and only the birdsong for company.  Unfortunately, the white bridge in the distance of the photo below turned out to be where the path of HS2 crosses this waterway, as we discovered tomorrow when we had the great misfortune to cruise right underneath it.  Other than that, it was a truly wonderful day's cruising. 

A lovely quiet rural location for the night.

Today: 13 miles, 12 locks and 6.9 Hours.

Trip:39 miles, 29 locks and 20.8 hours. 

The South Oxford Summit Pound

 Monday 4th May 2026 at Napton.

As we are doing so well for time, we made a late start after a leisurely breakfast. We have arranged to moor up MM in Braunston on Wednesday until next Monday so that we can go home as M is babysitting over the weekend. The plan when we get back next Monday is to take MM straight up to Crick as we understand that we can moor her there for the week before the show.

As we set off we passed underneath the montrous carbunkle of a white elephant that has scarred the countryside for miles around. Too expensive, too ugly, way behind schedule and totally unnecessary - it was the north of Englnad which needed an improved rail network, not down here. As it is, this hideous structure has done irreparable damage to this, the most peaceful and beautiful of our waterways, not to mention all the surrounding landscape. 

What a ghastly sight... 

At one point this massive embankment nearly falls into the canal and dominates the landscape for miles around. Makes you want to weep.

As you leave the horrid disaster behind, the relief is that some unspoilt countryside exists (so long as you don't look behind you)..

There were even newborn lambs gambolling in the fields in an attempt to cheer us up.

Soon we came to the end of the lock free summit pound and prepared to go down the Napton Flight.

After taking on water (which took ages; it was very slow!,) we ended up at the end of a convoy of four boats, so every lock was against us. However, M went ahead at each lock to set it so that we still made good time, arriving at the bottom lock at 3:00pm. As is usual with a flight of locks, you make short term friends with the other boaters going down (or up) with you and share life histories/boating histories with them! This time, we have made friends with a lovely couple who had hired a boat for the first time and it turned out they live in Redhill!  M gave them our contact details and we hope they follow up our suggestion that we all meet up later in the year.

 

Just round the corner, we moored up as M wanted to walk into the village to post a  birthday card. On the way we met lovely Belinda, who was scraping the roof of her narrowboat (huge job!). She told us that the village shop does excellent homemade bread, pies and breakfasts, so we decided to stay the night here and go to the village shop tomorrow for breakfast.

Today: 7 miles,9 locks and 3.6 hours.

Trip: 48 miles,38 locks and 24.4 hours.
 

The Dawn Chorus.

 Saturday 2nd May 2026 in Banbury.

Forgot to mention that yesterday mornning, as we set off on MM. a sudden flash of jewel colours was a kingfisher, as it flew past at lightning speed.  

Last night we deliberately moored up in a very wooded area so that this morning M could arise at 4.40am and sit up on to the back deck to listen to the dawn chorus. The "Merlin" app on her phone identified more than a dozen different birds as they greeted the dawn.

After M's very early start - and even R getting up as the sun rose (yes, really!) , we actually set off before 7:00am heading north towards Banbury in brilliant sunshine.

Breakfast was eaten on the go as we wanted to get to Banbury today where M could acquire a "few bits". Most of the lift bridges on this section are left in the up position but not this one, which M had to operate, but it has had a new electric system fitted and is, in M's words, a "piece of cake".

This huge tree trunk had a "Green Man's" face carved into it wth a rather high chair carved next to it to  sit and contemplate nature.

In case we had forgotten which canal we were on, some helpful soul had put this random notice up beside the tow path.

We did stop off at Aynho Wharf for the mandatory visit to the Brew Box and to see lovely Sarah. Sadly, M was so engrossed with her bacon butty that she forgot to take any photos. 

 

Just north of Aynho is Aynho Weir Lock where the canal joins the Cherwell river. This lock is diamond shaped to maximise the amount of water going into the canal each time the lock is operated. 

Finally we arrived in Banbury and moored up in the centre so that R could wander off to Waitrose with a shopping list. Shortly after, the forecasted rain arrived. The moorings in Banbury are lovely but it proved to be a bit noisy late into Saturday night now that all the new venues have opened on the east side opposite Castle Quays. The carousing and shouting continued until the early hours. So a bit of an unsettled night for M, although R slept right through!(nothing new there, said M!)

 Today: 13 miles, 8 locks and 5.9 hours 

Trip:  26 miles, 17 locks and 13.9 hours.

 

 

Welcome to 2026

 Friday 1st May 2026 at Heyford.

At last we are back in 2026! Hallo again!!

Last year, everything became rather crazy due to the continous dry weather and a severe shortage of water in the canals. Both the Oxford and Grand Union Canals were closed and this prevented us from getting MM back to her usual winter mooring at Aston Marina in Stone. Luckily, MM was booked in for some work at Aynho Wharf, south of Banbury, with Matty and with Simon, who was the engineer who built MM for Kingsground. Matty very kindly found MM a mooring for the winter after the work was completed. 

In March we left Aynho and cruised MM down to Enslow Marina, where she was launched in 2011 and where Tiffany, at very short notice, had very kindly found us a mooring for the spring.

In the meantime, the two of us have decided that, after nearly 15 years, the time has come to sell MM as neither of us is getting any younger and we wanted to make the decision ourselves before some problem(s) made the decision for us.

It has been such a wonderful experience and we have so many great memories; this is a decision we always knew would have to be made one day but even so, we have taken it very reluctantly. It's a classic case of the head versus the heart - the head understands but the heart remains to be fully convinced!

Tiffany, from Kingsground, has been fantastic and so helpful. She suggested that she would like to show MM at the 2026 Crick show to illustrate how good a boat can look after 15 years when Kingsground builds it.

So, today we set off from Enslow beginning to make our way to Crick for the huge annual narrowboat show, which will be held this year from 22nd to 25th May.

We had spent the last two days doing some work on MM to make her look her best but finally set off at about 3:40 on this beautiful sunny day.  It was very, very poignant for both of us, knowing that this may be our last ever cruise on her.

Very slowly we manoeuvred MM out of her mooring and set off past Enslow's Service Bay. 

The first bridge of our 2026 Summer Cruise. The Oxford Canal looked beautiful in the spring sunshine. 

We only cruised a short way before we stopped for the night with the intention of making an early start tomorrow.

In March we had moved MM from Aynho to Enslow, 9 miles & 6 locks, taking 5.8 hours.

When we left Enslow, MM's engine had done 4000.9 hours.

Today: 4 miles, 3 locks and 2.2 hours.

2026 total: 13 miles, 9 locks and 8.0 hours. 

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.