Cropredy to Napton

Sat 4th September  Cropredy to Wormleighton

We tried to wait for a quiet moment to leave, to avoid lock queues. We said farewell to Graham as we passed.

Farewell to Graham

Another boat left before us, and a boat came up the lock behind us, so a small lock queue was likely. As we passed Cropredy Marina we saw that they had extended by adding another huge basin, which was only partly full.

Cropredy Marina

Broadmoor Lock was the first, and there were two boats in front of us. Because of the visitor moorings, there was no room for us to get close to the side until the first boat had moved into the lock. A boat arrived behind us – not the one that came up the lock, but another one that had emerged from the marina.

Lock queue for Broadmoor Lock

At each lock we caught up with the one in front. The guy kept putting down the offside paddle before opening the gate, and then complaining that it was hard to open. James pointed it out to him, and he did better at the next one.

Romany Caravan

Varney’s Lock

Claydon Bottom Lock

They were also slow when cruising, because there is about a mile between Elkington’s Lock and Claydon Bottom Lock, and we caught them up before they had taken the boat in. There was a volunteer on Claydon Locks, which enabled a crew member to go forward to set the next one.

We were hoping to moor at the top, but the suitable moorings were all taken, so we had to keep going. We went through the “tunnel” now opened up into a narrow cutting and there were three boats in a line.  We filled up with diesel at Fenny Compton Marina at 82p per litre.

Biplane flypast

Disused Railway Bridge

The “Tunnel”

Turnover Bridge 137a, which has a sign saying 137.

Diesel at Fenny

Soon after this, we came across Erin Mae, and Martin appeared at the side hatch. This was providential, as we needed to get our BCF songbooks to him as he is leading the worship at the event in Fazeley in three weeks’ time. We rafted up and transferred the books to him.

Martin Inchley

We went under the bridge at Fenny, and found the very last mooring where we tied to rings. Later we realised we were listing, so we cast off again and moved a further mile, before mooring opposite the medieval village of Wormleighton, now just a few mounds in a field.

Listing at Fenny Compton

Moored at Wormleighton

Thistle field

Pink flower

White flower

The view from our mooring

Medieval village

8 locks, 7 miles. Dep 1010, arr 1455 Fenny. Dep 1755, arr 1820 Wormleighton

Sun 5^th September   Wormleighton to Priors Hardwick

Dawn at Wormleighton

Bridge on the summit level

We had an uneventful but pretty journey following the contours on the Oxford summit level. We passed the HS2 construction site, where there was a huge pile of earth. Presumably they will need to make an embankment or viaduct at this point on the valley side, and a cutting or perhaps a tunnel on the hill side.

HS2

Canalside glamping

Ancient furrows

WWII prefabricated pillbox

We stopped at Priors Hardwick, just before bridge 123.  Erin Mae went past later.

Moored at Priors Hardwick

0 locks, 4 miles. Dep 1010, arr 1210.

Mon 6^th September  Priors Hardwick to Napton

Dawn at Priors Hardwick

We had a short journey to the start of the locks down at Marston Doles. We passed the boat in a field, which has now been there for several years. He doesn’t go cruising much. We also passed Erin Mae.

Field mooring

Erin Mae

There was a boat on the water point at Marston Doles, so we decided not to wait, but to go on down the locks. There was also a small lock queue of two boats in front.

Marston Doles Top Lock

Bandaged lock beam

Although it was fairly quiet as we started down, later there were lots of boats coming up, and some were causing chaos by not waiting their turn, and causing congestion in the lock pound.  It was interesting to see the buffalo herd making use of a puddle to wallow in.

Buffalo pool

Pill box and hut

Napton flight

Congestion

We used the sanitary station, emptying a cassette and disposing of rubbish, before moving on to the water point. We moored just around the corner, where we had some shade from the hedge.

Water point

Moored at Napton.

Looking back at the bottom lock

Later we went to the Folly Inn, where they have erected large marquees in the garden. The pub is too cramped to allow people in, even for the loos. They have been very enterprising in creating outdoor spaces. They also had some local Napton Cider, which was good. We met Bernie, from Lion Star, whom we have met before on the Kennet and Avon, and at the Taft. We also spotted Richard and Elizabeth Martin, and went to have a chat as they waited for their food to arrive. They are BCF, and have a boat called Dutch Courage. They had come by car from Calcutt.

The Folly at Napton

When we were back on the boat and it was completely dark, we heard the sound of a traditional engine. It was Brighton and Nuneaton, coming from an event at Braunston. They had to moor at the sanitary station as everywhere else was full. Hopefully they left early before boaters needed the facilities.  Going up the locks would have been interesting the next day, as they would have to pull the butty through after the motor had gone up.

9 locks, 4 miles. Dep 0905, arr water point 1220, dep 1255, arr 1310 visitor moorings.

Next: from Napton to Braunston, before going through Braunston Tunnel and starting the run down the Grand Union towards Aylesbury.

Banbury to Cropredy

Wed 1^st September  Banbury to Slat Mill

We fancied a cooked breakfast, and the Waterside Bar advertise a full English, but they don’t start serving food until noon. The new Premier Inn, very handy on the Quayside, don’t offer breakfast to non-residents. We had something on board instead.

The mooring rules in Banbury say, “Two Days”, with a maximum of 14 days in Banbury in any month. There are at least three ways of interpreting this if we arrive on a Sunday:

1) Sunday is our first day, and Monday is our second, so we have to leave on Monday.

2) We arrive on Sunday, and leave two days later on Tuesday.

3) We can have two full days, i.e., Monday and Tuesday. Leave on Wednesday.

We didn’t see anyone checking who was there. There was always a space available for anyone arriving. We chose option 3. As for 14 days in one month, in our case we have visited once every two years on average, in our 24 years of boating, spending anything from one to three nights at a time, helping to support the local economy.

We needed to empty a cassette, but because there is no path past Tooley’s, and the footbridge isn’t open yet, we would either have to trundle it right round over Tom Rolt Bridge and through Spiceball Park, or take it through the shopping centre. We decided that neither option was very good, so we would take it by boat. We set off in reverse, going under the lift bridge and stopping at the water point there. We topped up with water, and trundled the cassette down past the lock to the sanitary station. While we were there, a boat called Minstrel came up through the lock.

Reversing through the lift bridge

Water Point

Lift bridge again

We set off again, raising the lift bridge once more, before cruising slowly past all the moored boats out of Banbury.

The other Tooley’s restoration project

At Hardwick Lock, there was a lock queue of four boats. We arrived behind Minstrel. Several boats had departed from Banbury at about the same time, and the result was inevitable.  A boat called Ellen arrived soon after we did. 45 minutes later, we were through, going under the M40 for the third and final time.

Queue for Hardwick Lock

Leaving the lock

Under the M40

There was a shorter queue at Bourton Lock, where the lock cottage is being restored by friends of ours.

Bourton Lock Cottage

The final lock for us was Slat Mill Lock, and we moored soon after, opposite Peewit Farm, where in the past we have seen curlew in the field. Ellen went past heading for Cropredy.

Ellen going past

Moored at Slat Mill

3 locks, 4 miles, 2 lift bridges (the same one twice). Dep 0955, arr 1305

Thu 2^nd September  Slat Mill to Cropredy

Cropredy Mill

We set off early, and found a space on the 14day moorings before Cropredy Wharf bridge. We walked into the village and went to the Mulberry Café where at last we had our full English breakfast, very nicely prepared. We returned to the boat via the church where, years ago, we had outreach in the churchyard, with puppets and music, during the Fairport Cropredy Festival.

Curious road name

Thatched buildings

St Mary’s Church

In the afternoon it became chilly, and James put our chimney on, thinking we would have a fire later. Strangely, it then became warmer, so the fire was not needed.

Moored in Cropredy

Barley Twist (Byfleet Boat Club) arrived and moored in front of us, and Terry and Chris came on board later to catch up over drinks.

Terry and Chris

0 locks, ½ mile. Dep 0910, arr 0930.

Fri 3^rd September  Cropredy

Barley Twist left before 8am, before we were up. As we were about to depart, James saw a pigeon on our roof. He went to shoo it off, but it didn’t move. James took a photo, and then it flew and landed on his head! He turned the camera around and took another pic, which surprisingly, came out OK!

Pigeon

We set off and moved up to the sanitary station, where we emptied two cassettes and disposed of rubbish. We went up through the lock, where James took down the chimney again, as the forecast was for warmer weather.  We moored just above the lock.

Cropredy Lock

Moored above the lock.

Later, Graham and Sandra arrived on Micah 6:8 (renamed from Dawn Run) and found a space two boats in front. We all went to the Brasenose Arms for a meal. It was good to meet Sandra for the first time, other than online.

Brasenose Arms

1 lock, ½ mile. Dep 0920, arr 1000.

Next: through 8 locks to the summit level at Claydon, as we head towards Napton.

Kings Sutton to Banbury

Sun 29^th August  Kings Sutton to Banbury

Blackberries season

It was cooler this morning, so we put on the central heating for a short while.

As we cast off from the mooring, a boat came round the corner from behind, and another boat further ahead pulled out as well. So there were three boats in a row, resulting in the inevitable lock queue at the first lock, which was Grant’s Lock. As we arrived, we counted three boats in front and the one behind.  There were no bollards except for the first boat, so James had to hang on to the centre line until we were up near the lock. The boat in front was Whisper, which has a hospital silencer, and soundproofed engine compartment. We were surprised to see that the lock cottage there was derelict and had had a fire.

Lock queue for Grant’s Lock

The derelict lock cottage

Two sets of steps: one at deck, the other at roof height

The man in the hire boat behind had found a phone on the ground, with a debit card, but we couldn’t work out who it belonged to.

We went under the M40 again, and under several open lift bridges. We passed the moorings for Morrison without stopping, and when we arrived at the facilities, we had to wait for a hire boat in front, who had used the facilities bollards as the lock bollards, and they were waiting for the lock.

Under the M40

When we finally managed to get in there, we scraped the gunwale at the front, as the edges were concrete and just the wrong height. We emptied two cassettes and disposed of rubbish. We didn’t need water.

Concrete and paintwork don't mix.

We went up through the lock as a boat came out, and we raised the lift bridge, and moored on the right in the first space, just past the museum.

Lift bridge in Banbury

We went into the town later and had a hot and spicy “banquet meal” at an Indian restaurant called Jool. We only managed half of it, so we took some back with us. We noticed a large number of Goths in the town, wearing black clothes, with body piercings and chains. Perhaps there was some event going on.

We returned via the new Premier Inn, hoping to cross the footbridge, but found it was a new one, not yet open. We had to walk round via Spiceball Park.

2 locks, 3 miles, 1 lift bridge. Dep 1020, arr 1250

Mon 30^th August  Banbury

Moored in Banbury

Narrowboat restoration projects were going on at Tooley’s. There was the last wooden boat built at Nursers in Braunston, and a rusty looking working boat that is destined to become a theatre boat.

Wooden boat Hardy

We visited the brand new Lidl, which is just behind the Social Club, and very handy, and then Hazel went into Castle Quay Shopping Centre to collect her prescription from Boots, and to nose around the shops. She returned in time for reheated curry from last night, which was very nice.

We went out again later into the town where we bought a new pair of secateurs, which all seem to be called pruners now. This replaces the pair that fell in the canal a few days ago. We also bought a Bluetooth mouse for James’ laptop. He is getting some RSI pains in his left hand. Hazel saw a hairdressers and made an appointment for tomorrow.

We returned via a garden centre and bought some more plants for the roof.

No boating today.

Tue 31^st August  Banbury

We went to Waitrose for some things, although they didn’t have Hazel’s wholemeal bagels. James took the shopping back to the boat, while Hazel went for her hair appointment. When she returned, she potted out the plants we had bought.

Hazel gardening

Later we went to Peter and Fran’s for a Chinese meal. It was good to catch up with them and Alex. After the meal, we had some entertainment when a mouse ran across the room. We were all on our knees, armed with plastic ice cream tubs, trying to catch it, but it was too quick for us, and ended up hiding somewhere.

No boating today

Next: Leaving Banbury and heading for Cropredy, to meet Graham and Sandra on Friday.