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January 2012

Narrowboat Blog - Canal boating, England UK

Narrowboat Maid of the Mist Blog - September 2010

We hope you enjoy reading about our travels around the British Inland Waterways

1st - This morning we went over to the Wadworth Stables to watch the Shire horses being harnessed ready for their daily deliveries. Once harnessed they were taken across the road to the collection bay and loaded up. Their first delivery was to the Crown, where we had lunch yesterday. The horses used today were Prince and Monty. Prince had a brass name plaque on, and when I asked why Monty wasn't wearing one, the driver said Monty had chewed his strap. I thought only dogs did this, but heh ho! now I know horses do as well.

Graham then went off and caught the 49 bus to Avebury to see the standing stones surrounding the village. I will upload some pictures later for you to see, but having not seen them myself, I can't really say much. I was not idle, I do what most ladies do, and that is shop. After that I cleaned the fridge out and made lunch ready for Graham's return.

After topping up our water supply we eventually got away about 2pm, and are now moored by Bridge 127 on 48 hr moorings (with proper rings etc). A good place to stop for boaters' visitors as there is plenty of parking close by. The journey here was very picturesque, but not sure how a widebeam would get through, it is very overgrown with reeds in places leaving just enough space for a nb.

2nd - Today we did 14 miles and 8 locks and this took us 8.5 hours of cruising and ended up at Crofton visitor moorings. We had terrible trouble with the locks today. It seems there was more water flowing into the locks than we could get out. I think we spent at least an additional 1.5 hours fiddling about with the locks trying to overcome the problems. At one point a BW employee had to help me open the gate as it was just too much for one person.

Nothing else really to give you, other than the problem with the locks it was a beautiful cruise.

3rd - A long cruise today, from Crofton Pumping Station to Kintbury. Altogether 9 hrs cruising. Prefer shorter cruising days, but our long days are all but over.

The only thing of note really today was a greater spotted woodpecker we saw on approach to one of the locks. It was on a dead tree merrily pecking a hole. Unfortunately it was a little too far away for a picture.

4th - Kintbury to Newbury today. Another lovely sunny day. Moored at the Victoria Park moorings for ease of access into town.

In the evening we went to watch a open air performance of Arquiem by Periplum. The story was about a boy who having become obsessed with his girlfriend ends up killing her in a moment of madness, he is then hung for murder. It was a sad tale and very well told. The play started at the Market Square and moved through the town and back into Market Square for the finale. The performance featured stilts and pyrotechnics.

We understand this group of players perfom these plays in Newbury about three times a year and they are free to watch. Their next big event is Halloween. The Newbury Outdoor Arts Programme is funded by Greenham Common Trust.

5th - Zoe arrived today. She is with us for a week. Apart from the pleasure of seeing our lovely daughter, the best part of her visit is the return of our dog Jack.

6th & 7th - Newbury to Reading. Quick visit into Reading on 7th to book our holiday to Malta in March. Zoe was quite excited as she hasn't had anything other than a boating holiday with Mum and Dad for 10 years.

River Thames

8th to10th - Onto the Thames from Reading to Oxford. A very rural cruise on this stretch of the Thames. Saw a couple of Kingfishers and Cormorants. We also saw a Kestrel perched on a tree stump quite close to the boat.

Bit of a shock waking up this morning (10th). We moored just outside Abingdon about 200 metres from Marina on towpath side and were rudely awoken at 08.00 am by a hammer drill. Two properties near the marina were having a landing stage built.

11th - Spent the day in Oxford with Zoe. Climbed the Saxon Tower at St Michael's. This tower is the oldest building in Oxford (built about 1040) and has 97 steps to a fabulous view of the Oxford skyline. At one time this tower was connected to the Bocardo Prison from where two bishops were burnt at the stake for refusing to convert to Catholicism.

There is a charge for admission, however today was free Oxford day, so we were allowed entry without charge - we did however give a donation.

12th - Still in Oxford, but spent the day on the boat with Zoe as she went home today.

13th - Cruised from Oxford towards Lechlade. A change in the weather today. A lot more blustery and we hit rain about 3pm. Passed a young man setting traps for crayfish. We love crayfish, so we set out our own trap this evening, and having lifted it about 8pm we think we are in for a promising catch.

14th - Another rural day today not many signs of civilisation. Very blustery again, but made it to Lechlade. There are very few moorings on this stretch of the canal, so instead of taking 3 or 4 days to get here, we did it in 2. Bought ourselves a couple of new crayfish traps from St John's lock, so hoping for a good haul tonight. For dinner we are having yesterday's catch as part of our Paella.

15th - Stayed a second night in Lechlade. Not impressed with the cows we shared our moorings with. They ate our daisies off the stern and our fuschias off the roof. In addition they had a good chew at the centre line which is only a couple of weeks old.

Round House, Lechley We spent the day having a look around Lechlade a spent some money in the local store and tackle shops. There are a number of quaint unusual shops including a Christmas Shop. We also took the dogs for a walk to the Roundhouse which is the extremity of the Thames course for powered boats.

16th - Set off quite early as we wanted to get as far as Eynsham today. We were held up briefly at Shifford Lock as there was a tree across the river about 2 miles downstream, but made it to Eynsham by 6pm. A quite night until 12 midnight when a lorry generator revved up. Graham had to go out and ask the driver to move a little way away from the moorings so we could get back to sleep. Fortunately, he was happy to do so, with an ooh aarr.

17th - Back at Oxford now for a couple of days R & R. Planning a couple of museum trips so hope to have some more photos for you.

18th - Today was the turn of the Ashmolean Museum. It was a beautifully presented museum, situated on Beaumont Street. The museum was founded in 1683 and is Britain's first public museum. To bring it into the 21st century, it has had help from the Linbury Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Their collections show the development of east and west.

Left is a musical exhibit from the musical gallery.

See other images here. I have tried to give you just a small taste of what is on display. Entrance to this museum is free and is well worth a visit. Allow about three hours.

19th - Sunday and a rest day for us and a play day for the dogs.

20th - Had a nice afternoon at the Pitt Rivers Museum. A bit difficult to find though. We new it was on Parks Road (which is not on a bus route btw), but what we didn't expect was that it was inside the Natural History Museum.

This museum is a must see for all visitors to Oxford. It was founded in 1884 after General Pitt Rivers donated his collection to Oxford University. He stipulated that his collection should be housed and grouped and that there should be teachers available to impart knowledge on the subjects.

T Pitts River Museum - Pota here is no chronological order to the displays, so no start or finish. You will just find lots of cabinets with the same type of objects displayed in them (ie. shrunken heads, pots, clothing, tools, weapons and so on). The collections show how humans worldwide adapted themselves to their environment both in what they wore and the tools they used.

The original Pitt Rivers collection contained 20,000 objects, but now through new donations, bequests and museum purchases the collection now is in excess of half a million objects. The lighting in this museum is quite subdued so you may need to request an LED torch from one of the staff members. We always carry a small LED torch with us, so we managed ok.

Yesterday we noticed nb Just Jo Ken had arrived in Oxford, and we saw Jo and Ken in town today. They were off to do a bit of sightseeing. So after a short chat we arranged to spend the evening together with a couple of bottles of wine. We had a lovely time and didn't get to bed until 1.00am.

Oxford Canal

21st - We set off from Oxford today and our first task was to free an unlicenced boater who had grounded in the basin next to Osney Lock. Once free the crew tried to make themselves scarce, away from the Environment Agency staff, but a quick phone call from the lock keeper had a boat out looking for them.

The going was very slow as the stretch we did today was fraught with Agency 21 moorings and conservation areas. Also we have had a bit of trouble with fuel blockages and have had to keep stopping to clean out the filter. We have moored just below Kidlington Green Lock.

22nd - Still moving slowing along the Oxford Canal. Only did a few miles today. It's quite nice to be moving slowly again after the rush of the River Thames. Graham spotted a green woodpecker, which had been on the towpath, but by the time I came out of the boat, it had flown across the canal to the golf course and hidden itself in the scrub. This always happens to me. Every time I go into the boat (which is not that often) I miss the event of the day.

23rd - Travelled 16 miles, 11 locks and 4 lift bridges. Passed a lovely farm with free range pigs (with piglets) and hens. A long day today, but very relaxing. Keen to get into Banbury tomorrow as we need provisions.

Seeing lots of boats who were on the Thames or Kennet & Avon at the same time as us.

24th - Arrived in Banbury and moored just before the lock. Graham went off on the bicycle to get some filters for the engine, and I arranged for some flowers for my Mum's grave as it would have been her birthday today. Lea, my eldest daughter is visiting with her partner tomorrow and we are going out to lunch. Looking forward to seeing them.

25th - Had a lovely day with Lea, Matt and the children. Had a meal out and then played with the children and dogs in the park for a hour. We find the boat is quite restricting for young children and to top it off, we have no television signal, so equally boring for them.

26th - Staying in Banbury until tomorrow as Graham has ordered some parts for the engine and we can't collect until then. Will top up on our heavy shopping and then have a relaxing Sunday.

27th - Went for a long walk today to the Banbury Cross Retail Park to see if I could buy a satellite compass from Maplins - guess what the, the pains to my feet where all in vain as this item is an online purchase only. So no TV again tonight. Trouble is, we give up too easily.

28th - Banbury to Fenny Compton today. A lovely day's cruising. Did not moor up until 7pm.

29th - 9 Miles and 14 locks today in the pouring rain. Saw a herd of buffalo which was quite a treat - I love mozzarella cheese. Moored up just before the last lock at Napton-on-the-Hill.

30th - Last day of the month today and the sun is shining again. Cruised from Napton on the Hill to below Stockton Locks on the Grand Union Canal.

Author: Jean Beven

Monty and Jean at Wadworth Stables