Catch Up Time Again

Thursday 25^th July                             
We enjoyed a wonderful BBQ last night at King’s Lock not a breath of air and the sun shone right up until sunset. 

Time for a Swig!

At 8:35 this morning it was time to say goodbye to the glorious River Thames. This is the first time that we have we have had the opportunity to sail on her and it will hold many memories for us.

What a contrast as we negotiated the claustrophobic Duke’s Cut that links the River Thames, at its northernmost point, with the Oxford Canal. Down one lock and then up at the next as the canal opened up in front of us.

The mission for today was to visit two fellow boaters that live almost canalside at Thrupp. David and Ann have been friends of ours ever since we joined the Boaters’ Christian Fellowship when we bought our first boat “Anna of The Five Towns”

We spent a precious few hours with them at their house over lunch catching up on our previous boating and fellowship experiences. They have a wonderful house set in one acre of grounds. Thank you so much you two and we hope to see you again at the BCF AGM in November.

 

 

As we left Thrupp we soon came across a lock that joined us onto the River Cherwell. For some reason it was an odd shape being very wide in the middle.

Late afternoon we continued on for a short while in order to charge the batteries up to 100%. We stopped at the “Rock of Gibraltar” and had a wonderful meal on the terrace. When the sun had almost set we ventured inside and supped our drinks on the comfy leather sofas. It was extremely quiet for a Thursday night until five people walked in and began to play their accordions, violins and banjos.

We were thoroughly enjoying the practice night of the “Fiddly Didilys” when one by one their number increased to 14!! It was a marvellous night.

Friday 26^th July

Today was a chill out day. Only 7 miles and 3 locks. At Heyford Common Lock there was a very long waiting area that was bordered by well-manicured grass verges and so we moored up at the very end and spent a glorious evening in splendid isolation.

Saturday 27^th July

You can be sure that, when boating, each day is different and unpredictable. Today was no exception. We were just getting ready to cast off this morning when a boat went past going in our direction towing a butty. This would mean that it would take an inordinate amount of time to clear each lock as the butty has no engine and so had to be bow hauled into the lock by hand. We were destined to follow them for the rest of the day!

As we approached Banbury the pounds between locks were getting seriously low. This resulted in the boat and its butty to progress very slowly as they were scraping the bottom of the canal. Whilst we were waiting at one lock Keith rang the Canal and River Trust emergency number to report the situation. Fortunately they were aware of the problem as the previous night the paddles in the locks through Banbury had been left open causing the levels to drop. We were told that it would take 24 hours to restore.

At Banbury we moored up temporarily in order to visit Morrisons as we were down to the last rasher of bacon! We happened to moor up next to a boat named Campanula.

 

The lady owner, Penny, is a Bellringer and is a friend of Stephen and Brenda who we were to visit at Cropredy tomorrow. Whilst we were chatting to her a steam boat passed with the boiler being stoked with wood and not coal.

 

We also spotted another boat and notice that the McGregors have joined the ranks of boatees! Well done Margaret.

After taking on water, emptying the buzz box and disposing of our rubbish we set off again. It was getting darker and darker and eventually at 7pm the heavens opened and kept on sheeting down until we reached Cropredy. There the Fleetwood folk festival will take place in two weeks time and so all the visitor moorings were taken already. We had arranged with Stephen and Brenda to brest up alongside their boat so we were assured of a spot in Cropredy. We arrived at 8:40pm after casting off 12 hours earlier. As said, each day is different!

Sunday 28^th July

We had arranged to meet Stephen and Brenda at their church, St Mary The Virgin, at 9:15am in order to ring the bells with them. It was a ground floor ring of 8 with a 16cwt tenor. We then joined them for the Family service afterwards followed by coffee and cake.

We are grateful to Stephen and Brenda for giving us design ideas for our boat some four years ago. After lunch they saw us off through the lock and we were on our way again.

Interesting Canalside Properties