Mon 25th
Sep Oxford Osney Bridge to Aristotle Bridge
James was
woken up by Hugo miaowing at 6.15am.
There seemed to be no reason for it except that perhaps he had gone a
bit too far and was pleased to have found the boat again. It was pouring with rain, but he was mostly
dry. There are plenty of cars here to shelter under.
Everything
was very damp and misty this morning.
So we left
the Thames for this year and moved into the quieter Sheepwash Channel past the
unusual railway swing bridge and onto the Oxford Canal.
Arriving
at Isis Lock, we discovered that a hire boat had been abandoned there on the
lock landing, and another boat was moored alongside, filling up with water from
a tap by the moored boats on the level above.
So our arrival meant there were three boats abreast.
There are
no taps or Elsan points on the Thames between Abingdon and Eynsham, a definite
minus point for the Environment Agency.
We also discovered that the Elsan point, once open to the sky, halfway
along the final length of the Oxford Canal has now been built into a brick hut,
with locks on the doors which do not respond to a CRT key.
So we were
now on narrow canals, the first time since 24th March on the
Aylesbury Arm.
There were
some very low willows hanging down over the navigation channel, so we took down
our chimney to avoid it getting caught.
We found Sola Gratia by Aristotle Bridge and we moored there also.
Except for mid to late afternoon when the children are in the recreation
ground, it is a peaceful spot.
Moored below Aristotle Bridge with
Sola Gratia
We said a
brief hello to Tim and Tracey before taking a bus into city centre. James had a haircut, and we had a Thai meal
in the covered market
We looked
for a replacement laptop battery, but had no luck. We will need to wait until Aylesbury, and
order one online.
We had a
pleasant coffee and cake near the George
Street Market, before getting a different bus back to the boat.
James had
an email and a phone call from the hospital. He now has an appointment next
Tuesday for a scan. He tried to change
it as it is the day we planned to visit David, but the clinic is weekly, so we
will work round it.
There was
heavy rain later, which cooled the boat down and made everything seem damp. We
lit a fire which soon improved the atmosphere.
1 lock, 1
mile
Tue
26th Sep Oxford
- a day out in Woodstock and Blenheim Palace
We took Bus
number S3 to Woodstock. It was meant to arrive at 0925, too early to use our
bus passes. Thankfully it was about 7 minutes late so we were OK.
We had a
warm sunny day, and we walked in from Woodstock up the main drive to Blenheim
Palace, where we bought our tickets, and had our photos taken for a year pass.
This was good news as there was too much to see in one day, especially as were
to meet Priscilla and Gerard for lunch in Woodstock.
We had a
guided tour of the state apartments, and what our guide lacked in height she
made up for in a very clear loud voice. The talk was most interesting.
We timed
it just right to walk back a more scenic route for our rendezvous in the Crown
to have lunch with Priscilla and Gerard. It was good to catch up with them
after eighteen months.
We took Bus
number 7 back to the boat, because it came first. We discovered that there were still some
burning embers in the fire from almost 24 hours earlier.
No boating
today
Wed
27th Sep Oxford
As we were
having breakfast this morning, it was great to see a kingfisher sitting on a branch
outside our boat.
It was a
48 hour mooring and our allocated time was over, so reversed down through two
bridges and almost a mile to another mooring opposite College Cruisers, where
Tim and Tracey had gone with Sola Gratia. Our bow thruster proves most helpful
in reverse as a small touch at the right moment will keep the boat going
straight.
We walked
down the towpath into the city with Tim and Tracey and Oakley. We indulged in a
Pizza Hut Buffet. Then we left Hazel to
her own devices in the shops with a credit card, to find a wedding outfit.
James went
back to the boats with Tim, Tracey and Oakley. Tim showed how to enter Sola
Gratia to run the engine the next day.
They are off by train to Shoreham to see Tracey’s Dad who is in hospital
and about to have a gall bladder operation.
Tracey
left a wonderful bag of fresh food for us that might be useless by the time
they return.
Hazel came
back with a new top
0 locks 1
mile (backwards)
Thu
28th Sep Oxford
to Thrupp
There was
heavy rain in the night. There were also noisy trains in marshalling yard
across the backwater at 4am.
James
started up Sola Gratia’s engine for two hours before we set off.
Views of Jericho
The first
stop was at the facilities – cassette and rubbish. We left filling up the water
tank until later, after the washing machine had finished. As we pulled in we
saw the first kingfisher of the day. Eventually we saw four today.
In recent
years some of the bridges around here have changed, with two new road bridges
replacing one old lift bridge. The
Nicholson Guide has not caught up properly yet, although the bridges have been
there at least since 2006. Revisions were published in 2009, 2012, and 2016,
but they are still not accurate regarding names and bridge numbers.
Frenchay Road Bridge
Progress
was very slow on the canal. What should have been a three hour journey took
four hours. It was shallow, with low
trees and many moored boats. We had to stop
to take down the chimney. Then we stopped again to visit the weed hatch and clear
the prop.
Lines of moored boats
Another
boat came from Dukes Cut and travelled in front of us. After they had used the lock, there was a
boat waiting to come down, and it turned out that they were Christians from
Canada. When they reached Hazel, they
asked which was the way to Oxford.
Which way to Oxford?
Another
boat arrived behind us from Duke’s Cut.
Every lock seemed to be busy, and there were a lot of hire boats
returning to the boatyard at Jericho.
Drinkwater’s
Lift Bridge was the third manual bridge we had to open today. Thankfully we know the technique here. The
instructions say turn the key clockwise, but they mean anti clockwise. You also
have to press down on the bridge beam to release it. We fiddled around for ages
the first time some years ago, and then a helpful boater showed us how to do
it.
Drinkwater’s Lift Bridge
By now we
had glorious sunshine. Everyone was being
very pleasant to each other, helping one another at the locks.
We found
some fungi growing on the lock beams at Kidlington Green Lock
Narrow locks don’t usually have mush
room
Canalside cottages at Kidlington
Thrupp
Lift Bridge is now mechanised, although many people wondered why it was
necessary. James took our recycling to
the bins nearby, but it all went into the general waste bins as the only
recycling was glass.
We found
Ken who was in charge of the moorings, and he indicated where we should moor, alongside
the towpath above the lift bridge. We
established that car parking was possible for our hire car, but we could not
use the electricity. There was water
alongside the mooring as well.
Moored in Thrupp
We were
sad to discover that Annie’s Cafe doesn’t do breakfast, as we had hoped to
start our day there tomorrow.
We arranged
our pick up rendezvous with Enterprise at 11am tomorrow.
There were
some loud owls very close to the boat in the evening.
4 locks, 6
miles, 4 lift bridges
Next: collecting a hire car to go away for the
weekend in Hemel Hempstead with our church in Aylesbury. Then on Monday we will
keep the car for another day for a memorial service for a departed friend in
Cobham, followed by a folk session at the Bell in Adderbury. On Tuesday, we return the car, and are going
with Anne to visit David Clarke in his care home, and then a hospital
appointment for a brain scan for James.
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