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| Oxford and back (not quite) http://boatsandcanals.fgo.org.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=457&t=21129 |
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| Author: | Graham and Jo [ Sun Nov 20, 2016 11:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Oxford and back (not quite) |
Sep 2007 We set out from home in our 1971 Triumph Herald, we'd lent out modern car to the son-in-law. He's back for two weeks leave from Iraq and as he'd managed to destroy his last car had no transport to take daughter and grandkids around. The Herald was its usual reliable self and got us to Calcutt, even if a little slower than the Peugeot. We filled up the boat with water, checked everything twice and set off. Followers of our blog will know how much we struggle with Calcutt marina but we made it out without hitting anything. There was the minor snag of another boat coming in at the same time but they let us out first. We moored near the Bridge Inn on the Oxford but, as I'm descended from a Welsh god-fearing family, stayed in the boat. We drank a bottle of wine instead. We tried out our new TV, it only draws 1.5 amps, works in the front of the boat and has excellent reception. The next day took us up Napton locks which were absolutely chaotic. Boats everywhere, took ages. We saw two working pairs, one going up and the other down. A Clifton cruisers boat was just ahead and I got quite friendly with the the female half of the crew. They were going to Banbury. We moored above Martson Doles locks and set about the paintwork jobs which we still haven't managed to do. Jo did the roof, while I got on with the hatch and side panels. The hatch is made of two pieces of metal which move with respect to each other, crack the paint and rust starts. I'me going to paint each piece and join with flexible sealant. While having a tea break a boat from Rose Narrow Boats went past so fast it pulled out our mooring pins! It was actually making quite large waves! On our 3rd day we met a hire crew who have actually hired our boat! Much happy exchange occurred as we past! The trip across the summit level was very pleasant and nothing happened except an emergency stop on the worst bridge (Griffin Bridge). Still we all missed each other, we had lunch at the Wharf, Liver and Bacon, washed down with cider and Brakspears's bitter. My ancestors were rolling in their grave again. Then it is was a dawdle behind a very slow boat until Claydon locks, a pleasant lock working session and then a very lonely mooring at the bottom. We went on down to Cropredy (and saw girlfriend from Clifton Boat on the way, they hadn't made Banbury). We moored some way out of Cropredy as we thought it would be packed but it wasn't! We visited the Green Scene Coffee shop and art gallery. It's an intimate place run by Gina. She's run it for 10 years but is thinking of retiring. Suitably refreshed we decided to move on via the water point to Banbury but the wharf seemed too tempting and we turned round. We were doing too few hours a day to get to Oxford anyway. We moored just above Cropredy lock and met a very nice, oldish couple who asked us loads of questions.They had been on a broads cruiser but it had been such bad weather the lady had been in fear of sinking. We had a beer or two in the Red Lion. (More rolling ancestors). The loo seat in the ladies (so I am informed) is made of transparent plastic with rose petals in it. Ours was similar but had barbed wired in it!!!! The next day the coffee shop beckoned and we had more coffee and teacakes, finally dragging ourselves back to the boat and heading off up the locks. We visited the Bygones museum at Claydon and had more coffee but with Bakewell tart and custard. The museum is a higgeldy-piggeldy mix of all sorts of things, occasionally labelled and almost overwhelming in quantity. Everything from old radios to farm implements to a traction engine. We had a pleasant late afternoon cruise back to Fenny Compton for more beer. A boat full of fairly merry guys and gals moored close behind and we saw them at the pub. They seemed quite nice but were boasting about drinking a litre of rum between two of them. We didn't fancy what we thought might be a noisy evening so set off again into the dusk and moored on a curvy piece of piling away from the rest and had a quiet night. It's our wedding anniversary, married for 27 years. Neither of us have bought presents or cards so we exchanged virtual ones. Unfortunately she had bought me more virtual presents than I had bought her. My virtual card was bigger though. Five swans came for breakfast, they actually knocked on the hatch. We fed them a bit, Jo having staggered out of bed dressed in just a quilt. We set off and had lunch before Marston Doles locks. It only took us 2.5 hrs to get down to Napton as opposed to 4 hrs up. On the way down we met a BW official walking the towpath checking on licences. He helped a bit with the locks which stopped me from practising jumping the gap between the closed gate and the open one. There was a lot of water coming down the weirs, apparently the back pumps were on. One chap decided to wait for another boat coming up. There was time for him to go through the lock and with all that excess water nothing to be gained by waiting. I find people a little rule bound sometimes, instead of thinking about the situation. We moored in the visitors moorings and went shopping. I cooked our anniversary meal, pork chops, mash and broccoli in a rich gravy. The next day we walked up to the windmill and looked down on the brickwork's site. Then wondered back and set off behind the slowest boat in the world. We had to drift out of gear to stay behind them, idle was too fast. They went straight on at Napton Junction and we went down the locks to Calcutt. We went in the first entrance, paused in the second and decided which way the wind was going and so which way to enter our mooring. Approach into the wind and go in backwards worked a treat. Maybe we are getting it at last. So we didn't quite make Oxford and got back to the marina 3 days early but never mind. We painted loads of the boat and have decided what to do in the lounge and bedroom. We'll be back on it soon enough. Cheers Graham |
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