Tuesday 9th
July; Somerton Meadows to Thrupp
A quiet night, apart from a couple of goods trains rattling
along the railway line during the night.
There were only 2 other boats on the moorings, a fair distance from
us. The cattle had been
moved to the next field along so they didn’t wake us. Meg demanded, and got, a lovely pre-breakfast
walk and I got a non-fuzzy picture of the field.
We set off sometime before 9, waving goodbye to the Calcutt
hire boat couple, who we had seen several times, having breakfast a little
further along. They are on their way
back now.
Here is a good boat name - Toblerhome, with a paint job to match.
There were several boats on the move this morning. At Allen’s lock an elderly single-hander was
attempting to bow-haul his boat into the lock.
I asked if he had engine trouble but he said no, he thinks it is easier
to pull the boat in on the ropes with the engine off. Well it might be if your bow hasn’t grounded. I suggested he motored in as I was there to
do the bottom gate and that was a bit quicker, once he had got himself unstuck.
Eventually we were able to come in.
Allen’s lock still has the British Waterways sign, which looks to have
been repainted.
On we went through Lower Heyford, where Mill Lift bridge is
electrified (it was so heavy that before electrification, although I could raise and lower it, I wasn’t
heavy enough to hold it open without a lot of effort, so always tried to get
a passer-by to sit on the beam). It’s a
doddle now. We cruised on towards
Kirtlington through banks of green willow and meadowsweet.
Although there was space to moor at the quarry, Chuffed is too
short to use the pole and tree to moor and the bank was mostly concrete so we couldn’t
use a stake. So we went on past the
lovely Tea Gardens (we will miss their opening this time, sadly) and down
Pigeon Lock and moored on the stretch below for lunch.
We didn’t stop long, as we hoped to be able to moor
overnight in Thrupp. Enslow was quiet,
but there was a bit of a delay at Baker’s lock, where you drop down onto the
Cherwell. A single-hander was
stuck. He said there was an obstruction
behind the gate – true – but the main problem was that all his side fenders
were down. Once he had lifted them he reversed out, managing to release the stuck one, and then of course his ascent
was trouble-free.
As we descended, we saw a narrowboat coming up steer
directly below the bridge that carries the towpath over a side branch. But far from being inexperienced or strangers
to the area, they knew they could use it to turn, and once we were past they
reversed onto the end of the mooring for their lunch.
We shot down the river, revs as normal but with deep water
and the river flow it felt very fast.
Once through the diamond lock at Shipton Weir we slowed down through the approach
to Thrupp, where we found it completely rammed unless you paid £10 for one of
the spare permanent mooring spots. Dave
brought Chuffed smoothly round the bend and under the lift bridge. The bench on the bend has been yarn-bombed most beautifully.
We spotted Maffi, who said there was a little space down by
the Jolly Boatman. There was, luckily,
and far enough away so we couldn’t hear their extractor fan. The busy road is quite close though.
We thought, being so close to the Jolly Boatman, we’d eat
there. Even on the terrace by the canal
the traffic was too loud, so we sat inside with a view of the canal, where it
was quiet. The beer was good, but the
food …. Well, we finished ours, which was more than the people sitting outside
did. The ducks had their burger buns and
the man threw half his burger onto the grass for the next passing dog. The staff were lovely but we won’t be eating
there again, I think.
11 miles, 7 locks, 2 lift bridges (electric)
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