A "Good Road" on the Thames

Saturday 15th September 2018 near Kidlington.
As the sun rose, so did the mist - until you could no longer see the bridge just yards away.

We have enjoyed our time in Abingdon, it is a lovely town and (unlike many other towns) clearly welcomes boaters and provides excellent facilities.
The lock keepers at Abingdon lock obviously have a sense of humour and are used to dealing with boaters who are not very familiar with the river!

The lock keepers also appeared to be in need of sustenance. M's response was that she was not parting with a sausage sandwich for anything!

This time of the morning, particularly at weekends, is very popular with rowers of all kinds.

Abingdon, like many towns, offers a free Saturday morning timed 5km "Park Run". It was lovely to see so many cheerful faces, including one chap running with his baby in a buggy.

Today, we had a very "good road" as the old working boatmen would say - as we approached each lock, the gates opened for us. All the locks were manned and we seemed to time it just right at every one (this is very rare!!).

Sandford lock is beautifully maintained with flowerbeds full of roses and the lovely lock keeper's cottage in the background.

As we travel along the canals and rivers, we see many delightful houses with their own moorings. This was certainly one of them.

The Regatta on the Isis was probably one reason for all the locks being manned. Luckily, everyone was still setting up as we sailed past, so we were not delayed.

This ornamental balustrading and bridge made a very elegant picture of days gone by.

Yet, in their own way, smaller residences can be just as attractive next to the river.

Having had such a "good road" on the Thames, we entered the Duke's Cut behind another boat that proceeded very slowly. At King's lock, the first narrow lock on the Oxford canal, we had to wait behind them and MM seemed impatient to get into the lock. After the Thames, it felt so narrow!

At Drinkwater's lift bridge, M struggled with the locking mechanism that was reluctant to unlock until Mick appeared with his two grandsons and, with four helpers, the bridge eventually yielded. The two lads had never been on a narrowboat, so they came on board for a look around. They were overawed to see that we had things like a fridge, washing machine and even a proper bed.
We waved goodbye and thank you to them as we sailed on.

Today: 14 miles, 9 locks and 8.4 hours (3 days).
Trip: 303 miles, 193 locks and 203.3 hours.