26th - 28th of February Verity and Ryan visit for Robin's birthday weekend.

Having moored at Heyford earlier in the week I awaited the arrival of Verity and Ryan on Friday. Verity arrived in time for lunch and we had home made Thai red curry soup and toast. We then set off and filled up with water by reversing down the canal to the water point then back to our mooring. Ryan arrived in the evening and we headed off to the Bell for dinner. Had a nice meal to start the weekend.


Setting off for the water point. Robin displaying his best view!!

We got up Saturday morning and headed off planning to have breakfast on the move. But after 2 locks the cold Easterly breeze forced us to stop for a warm up and breakfast indoors.


Ryan demonstrates his mooring skills by pulling the boat in and slipping over on his arse.

Fully refreshed we set off again heading north Ryan now getting over his lay down.... and me and Verity had stopped laughing.

 The happy captain and crew under way

Ryan complains to Dad that he's going far to fast.

 One brief glimpse of Ryan actually doing some work and not playing his game boy.

It really was that cold...
Having all got a bit cold we stopped for the day and moored just past Twyford bridge. We had dinner and spent a lovely evening catching up playing cards and had a glass of wine or two.......

On Sunday we headed off and into Banbury and then moored up for breakfast in the middle of the town. It was still quite cold and we then pottered along to Cropredy where we were due to meet Jo.
Safely moored up Jo arrived with a somewhat suspicious looking package.

The suspicious package on the car.

It turns out to Be Robin's birthday present a complete surprise. It's a paddle board and the old boy can't wait to get it out and have a paddle.

The paddle board unpacked

Robin sets off quite gingerly, somewhat worried about falling in to the freezing cold canal

Having got the measure of the board his confidence increases and manages to stand up and paddle up the canal a bit.

 

The old boy finally comes into the bank for a well earned rest having managed to disappoint everyone by not falling in.

 

Ryan also had a go and managed to stay upright as well avoiding a dip in the canal.

 

Proof that Ryan managed it as well.

 

What a fantastic end to a great birthday weekend. A big thank you to all involved in the paddle board surprise.

February 21st to 25th 2015. Loitering in Thrupp and Lower Heyford.

Sunday 21st. We had a lovely dinner in the Boat Inn on Saturday night and decided to hang around Thrupp for an extra day because the wind had got up and we didn't fancy boating.

Our mooring in Thrupp.

We had a lazy day, going walks and then having lunch in Annie Tea Shoppe (also very nice - Thrupp clearly is the place to eat on this canal!). Robin and Scooby got lost and ended up working their way back through fields, under a railway and over a river in the dark.

Shipton church, right by the canal, which we found on a walk.

Would get hypnotised on this boat?

On Monday we moved from Thrupp to Lower Heywood after which Robin and Scooby cycled the 5 and a half miles to Enslow Marina and fetched the car. The new off-road tyres on the fold-up bike made for a safer ride on the slippy towpath, but the grip also made it harder work. They were both knackered when they got back! The next day Jo set off for home and Robin pottered about cleaning the boat and making up a drawer to go under the cooker (every square inch of space matters on a boat). He also tried fishing but none were tempted.

  

19th and 20th of February. In which we turn on a penny to leave Oxford.

On Friday we saw sights as planned. The Ashmolean museum is, possibly predictably, full of old things. Despite our reservations, the tour of the castle/prison was rather good. We climbed the castle mound too, so Jo got to see some of the dreaming spires.

Oxford from tube castle mound.

On Saturday we set off in the grey for Isis lock where we needed to turn around. This involved going through the lock onto the terrible Thames (while keeping the boat firmly held by the front rope from the pontoon provided) and letting the current take the back around until able to motor back into the lock. It worked perfectly and we were soon safely back in the lock and facing the right way.

Safely back in the lock. You can see the pontoon and turning area in the background.

We headed back up the canal out of Oxford, meeting some interesting boats on the way. This rather precarious rowing/punting arrangement...

And a couple of hire boats full of young men dressed a pirates with little idea about what they were doing...

 

It all added interest to what turned out to be a mainly wet and windy cruse the five and half miles to the visitor moorings at Thrupp, which happen to be right next to a rather inviting looking pub :)

 



Thursday the 18th of February. A beautiful day in Oxford.

The first of our 2 days as tourists in Oxford. Even in February the city is rammed with trippers from every nation. The visitor moorings here on the canal are also filling up! The architecture of the city is lovely. We particularly liked the Cathedral, Christ Church College and the Bodleian library. Robin went up the Carfax  tower, but Jo lost her nerve at the last minute! The Ashmolean Museum and Balliol College are on the itinerary tomorrow.

Christ Church college.

Inside the cathedral.

The Bridge of Sighs.

In the morning, Robin walked Scooby and found the Thames flooded across a great swathe of meadow.

This bit doesn't look too bad....

 

However just a bit further upstream....

The river goes round to the left, although it's impossible to see the channel. You can see why it's closed for navigation. The narrow boats on the right are moored to a narrow wooden pontoon which is surrounded by water!

In the evening we walked there again and the glorious blue sky was replaced by a fabulous sunset.

 



Wednesday the 17th of February! Dripping spires in Oxford

Despite a weather forecast which said it would be dry until mid-afternoon, we woke to drizzle which gradually developed into persistent rain. The few miles into Oxford were slow going as well as wet, with a stop for water and a lot of moored boats to creep past, plus 2 locks and 2 tricky swing bridges. The highlight was being able to have a good old nose at the back gardens of some seriously gentrified houses.

Our clothing was tested to the limit and by the time we arrived we were both of us were cold and wet. We spoke to two local boaters and got some tips for turning the boat around at Isis lock despite the strong steam on the Thames, and feel much reassured. We decided to stop for now though and turn round another day when we are less cold. We moored near the lock which is also very near the town centre but decided that any sight seeing will have to wait till tomorrow when the famous spires may have dried out a little.
Hot showers, tea and the fire blazing and we are already feeling a lot better!

Our soggy view of Oxford today!

We plan a couple of days in Oxford seeing the sights and then we'll turn round and head north again, ready for mid-march when the closures will be completed and we can explore the rest of the network.

Tuesday the 16th Of February. We almost get to Oxford.

After a few days at home, we returned to the boat yesterday. We walked down to Bakers lock (where the canal meets the river Cherwell) and happily found the levels in the river low enough for us to proceed south to Oxford.

The indicator board on the yellow; safe to proceed with caution.

This morning we woke to freezing weather, ice on the inside of the bedroom windows and a thin covering on the canal. However, bright blue skies boded well for cruising so we set off wearing all our winter clothes and Christmas gifts. We went through Bakers lock and onto the river. The flow was easy and all went well. After a half a mile or so, the river continued on but we made the sharp right turn into the Shipton Weir lock and back onto the canal.

Harold heads out of Bakers lock and onto the River Cherwell.

Harold makes for the Shipton Weir lock and the Oxford canal. Note our daffodils coming up in the foreground!
 

There was ice on the canal, although thin, and Harold did a bit of ice-breaking as we went along.

We went through the village of Thrupp with its rather pretty church right by the canal, and not so pretty rows of moored boats. Then almost immediately, we were into Kiddlington, enjoying looking at all the houses and back gardens as we passed. 

After a paltry three and a half miles, four locks and two swing bridges, we stopped on the southern edge of Kiddlington, preferring to leave for tomorrow the excitement (stress?) of Oxford and finding a suitable mooring there. 





28thJanuary - 3rd of February. An internet black hole and we get to Enslow Wharf

We have had no internet signal for the last week, so no blog!
Robin pottered about for the few days that Jo was back home, making his way to Upper Heyford, just two and a bit miles further on. He amused himself with lots of nice dog walks and some touching in of boat painting and blacking, amongst other jobs. Jo returned to the boat on Sunday the 31st, bringing the car back with her. On Monday we moved on to Lower Heywood to get water. The moorings are before the water point, so we reversed back down the canal about 400 yards to find a spot. This is a team effort with Robin on tiller and engine and Jo fending off. In the afternoon we walked back to collect the car. We need to go back home for the 5th of February and will be there a while, so Robin booked the boat into the boatyard at Enslow Bridge for Thursday.

The river Cherwell has never been far away for many miles and continues to stay close. It has been pretty high and fast for most of the time.

The Rover Cherwell just the other side of the towpath.

We have been told that there is very limited mooring in Oxford and there is also nowhere to turn around in the city before it joins the Thames (and we don't want to venture onto the river at the moment). As we had a spare day (Enslow Bridge is only one day away) we decided to visit and see for ourselves before deciding what to do. Upper Heywood has a station right next to the canal which goes directly to Oxford but we decided to reccy the city by car (Scooby hasn't done a train yet!).

 

So on Tuesday the 2nd of Feb. we set off and investigated the area in the city where the Oxford canal meets the Thames. We found there is mooring, at least at this time of year, and it is possible to turn around just after the lock onto the Thames, providing the Thames water levels are not too high. There is an indicator board and instructions of how to manoeuvre. We were somewhat reassured and decided that it would be great to get to Oxford and spend some time looking around. 

 

However, we also saw this boat which had come to grief on the Thames. It clearly hadn't been properly secured and as the river is pretty high and fierce at the moment, it had come loose and ended up stuck here where there is a bridge and an overflow weir. The Environment Agency people were trying to pump it out but it looked as if the water was going in as fast as it was going out!

The moral of the story is to beware of rivers in winter!

 

  

On Wednesday we set off for Enslow Bridge and moored just before the boatyard, ready to leave the boat there and head home tomorrow. There were just 3 locks in 5 and a half miles and we saw hardly any people and no moving boats en-route. We did see a kingfisher, first sitting on the lock gates and then on a branch as we went past. We were within a few feet of him and he was bigger than you would think and absolutely beautiful. Robin took a bike ride with Scooby back to fetch the car, a dangerous operation which they happily did survive, with only the front wheel of the bike taking a dip in the canal.

So home again tomorrow, planning to be back on February the 15th when we will try to set off for Oxford. First we will have to negotiate the River Cherwell at Bakers lock, just round the corner, which is only navigable when the river levels are low enough (which they are not at the moment, so no rain this week please...).