We are on the move again, although not necessarily in the direction we really want to be going. We are aiming for Cheshire, but with the South Oxford being closed we’re going the long way round. There is currently a route open to us (although there are restrictions on several of the lock flights), so we have fingers crossed that a) they stay open; and b) that other routes open up again before we get to them.
Having spent seven nights on the Jericho moorings in Oxford, the batteries were down to 67 per cent and the water down to 35 per cent. We set off at about 8.30, not long after an Oxfordshire Narrowboats boat had gone by, whom we assumed would be going down the lock, turning round, and coming back up. We assumed correctly, but they made a right meal of the turning part — so much so that their lock crew refilled the lock for us and took us down.
It’s only a shallow lock so we were soon emerging, although the boat wanting to come back up was still some way from facing in the right direction. They’d have been better off having someone with a bow rope on the lower lock landing, then sending the stern round while the bow rope person moved the bow towards the lock.
We got out of their way and headed down Sheepwash Channel, under the railway, and under the footbridge at the end.
It’s quite a sharp turn onto the Thames downstream, not least because there’s a shallow section marked by a buoy. We went under Osney Bridge and down to the lock. There was a hire boat moored on the lock landing, but there was room in front so we tied up. The first locking is at 9.30 but the lock keeper was there early so she sorted out our licence; we’ve bought a week as we’re booked out of Teddington next Sunday. At 9.30 we went into the lock and started to go down — only then did the crew of the hire boat return with breakfasts in paper bags, so they’ll probably have had to wait until 10.
At Folly Bridge in Oxford we took the right hand channel round the island.
We went past all the boat houses and as we approached Iffley Lock there was a boat ahead. When we got there they’d already closed the gates, but came to re-open them. Unfortunately, when the lock is on self service you can’t just press the gates button again, you have to go through the sluice-raising sequence first, so it took a little while. The boat turned out to be a brand new one by Kingsground, out on its first cruise. They were planning to stop before the next lock, so let us go ahead. Iffley Lock is probably one of the prettiest on the river, although it’s garden has looked better in the past.
It’s not far to Sandford Lock, which was also on self service, and was also full. A boat was coming off the lock island moorings and also wanted to go down. It’s a deep one at nearly 9ft.
The other boat left first but had been having engine overheating problems, so took it fairly easy. We were soon going past them. This section down to Abingdon Lock isn’t the prettiest or the most interesting, so we just got the miles done. When we got to Abingdon Lock we stopped on the water point, where the tap had decent pressure. We also got rid of a mountain of recycling and a bit of rubbish, and used the Elsan. We had lunch while we waited, and there was also a torrential downpour. Rich, the lock keeper, came along and asked if we knew about Culham Lock: the lockie at Osney had told us there was a tree down before the lock, and Rich confirmed it was still there. He’d come to get a chalk board out of storage, to write a message for when he was on lunch. Another boat arrived, Trinity Belle (podcast listeners — thank you!) so as our tank was just about full we went down together just before Rich went on his lunch break, having deployed his sign.
With Culham Lock closed, we thought we’d be best off stopping in Abingdon, because there aren’t really any moorings beyond. We moored on the side where the playground and the outdoor pool are, as we thought they were unlikely to be very busy today. A boat behind us kindly moved back a couple of feet so we could still get on and off at the bow.
The weather had completely changed again and it was really warm in the sunshine. I took Macc for a walk around the meadows, and he particularly liked the wild flower maze, although it’s not really a maze and there aren’t really any wild flowers. It meant I could keep changing direction though, while means he has to keep an eye on me, which is all good training.
Adrian made a brief trip to Waitrose, which is much closer to these moorings than the ones beyond the bridge, and got us all an ice cream on the way back. We’ve also got Macc a new stick to chew. When he was a tiny puppy, the small coffee sticks lasted him ages, but now they’re gone in a day — so Adrian got one of the monster ones at Pets At Home yesterday. It looks far too big for him, but he’s already making an impression on it.
At about 2.40 the EA work boat came by, heading for Culham Lock, so the tree should be cleared this afternoon and we’ll be on our way tomorrow. We’d hoped to be at Clifton Lock today, which means it’s only day 1 and we’re already behind schedule! Fortunately, although our planned days are longer than we’ve become used to, they’re still nowhere near as long as ones we used to do.
9 miles, 5 locks, free mooring.