Taking our leave of Sue and Vic, Lisa and David, and Maffi, we left Thrupp this morning g at 10am and set off towards Oxford. We had estimated that the journey would take approximately four hours, not because it was many miles but because there would be a lot of moored boats, a number of lift bridges and three locks. The advice re the moored boats was correct but there were still stretches of canal as you entered the outskirts of Oxford that were mooring free and designated as 'conservation areas' which allowed progress at a little above tick-over.
Entering the first lock of the day, Roundham lock
Bank repairs
Along by Kidlington (just past Thrupp) there had been a lot of bank repairs completed and we passed a CRT work boat busy piling.
Most of the run into Oxford is very rural and attractive but I must say that I was less than impressed by the condition of some of the moorings being occupied by 'permit holders'. Things appeared to have been allowed to slip and it was like walking past a third world refuse tip, nice new stainless steel water points every few yards and hedgerows full of detritus and general 'crap' that has been permitted to build up. Not a good advert to the non-boating community or Oxford for that matter.
Our mooring tonight in Oxford
Be careful. I know a couple of undesirables are going to be in your area tomorrow :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's worse than that, I hear they are going to be on board the boat!
ReplyDeleteSo here you need a few words of warning:
ReplyDelete* Greygal needs feeding every 2 hours or she becomes Joan Collins
* Do not let her take the helm within 1 mile of any Costa stores or you may find yourself taking part in the first ever Costa ram raid by narrowboat
* A plentiful stock of piztezas is essential. Herbie prefers pepperoni, Henry Beanz likes a meat feast, Archie will eat anything that moves.
* The white boats are really friendly, Greygal has an excellent technique for bresting up to them, don't worry about A and his sharpening steel at the front.
* I cannot stress enough that you must check the positions of Costa particularly if there is a weir stream in line with a direct route to a Costa. Mind you Greygal always wanted to shoot a weir?
Miffy
Sounds like an adventure...I suddenly feel the need for some retail therapy in Oxford so they can the boat ram raiding and weir jumping and I will mooch around the shops instead!
DeleteLesley
PS. No pizza thieves on board this trip..
Note to Miffy. So you think you're coming back home, do you? Who would have thought greyhounds could have such rapier like wit. It's all slanderous, of course - although the frequency of coffee being served today leads me to think Lesley wasn't taking any chances on the Costa front
Delete