From Oxford Canal On To Thames (Or Isis)

(posted by Alan)

Another swan's nest in an unusual location.

Not making a particu- larly early start seems to have been a theme of this trip so far, and today was not particu- larly different.  In fact it is possible we did get away a little bit earlier than some days, but being low on supplies, and knowing where we were heading is so rural there will be precious few villages, let alone shops, we stopped again very soon to walk to a Co-Op in Kidlington.  (We were almost out of one of our most essential supplies, namely ground coffee, and whilst we can live without most things, that would be going too far!).

Last true Oxford Canal lock before turning on to Duke's Cut

There is a total of just 4 locks to get from the Oxford, and out via "Duke's Cut" onto the Thames, (with somewhat curiously the last lock being uphill ).  It actually took longer than we expected to be on the river, perhaps because there really are lines and lines of moored boats on what are really quite narrow and shallow bits of the canal. So we plodded along very sedately, to ensure only friendly waves, rather than any shouts to slow down!

Turning on to Duke's Cut

Unusual paddle gear at, and bridge over, Duke's Cut Lock

Duke's cut always seems an odd thing.  The lock is under a bridge, for a start, and although now just "uphill" as you leave the canal onto the river, clearly shows signs of having had double gates at each end in the past, so presumably once upon a time the Thames could actually have been lower at this point on occasions than the canal ?  Presumably it's this history that causes it to have highly unusual paddle gear for the exit gates onto the river ?

Now at last we were on to new territory for Chalice - we have gone down river from the Duke's Cut towards London, in the past, but never turned right onto the upper reaches towards Lechlade.

Despite apparently little flow on the river, progress is slightly slower than I might have guessed - we are generally bettering 4 mph, but not by a lot, although it is clearly deep enough.  Perhaps there is more flow than there appears - we will see when we come back te other way.

Chiswick & Chalice in Eynsham lock

We knew the "Big Woolwich" ex working boat Chiswick was ahead of us, but spotted it tied to a lighter before we entered the Thames.  However by the time we reached the first lock, and had completed the lengthy transaction to buy a 15 day Thames licence, (at under £100, better than I feared it might be!), Chiswick was ready to lock through with us.

..... and again.

I was very surprised to see it steered by James, who is normally with the coal boats Archimedes and Ara, but also does commercial river work, I believe.  Knowing James doesn't exactly hang about, (to put it mildly!), and with consideration of Chiswick's classic Lister JP2 engine and big propeller, I suggested he went first - a good move, as they quickly drew away from us!

David goes into "self service" mode at next lock.

However, he wasn't going far, and we actually had to hold back at the next lock, as he turned Chiswick to pass back down river.  The locks are meant to have keepers during working hours, but most are displaying the "self service" sign, and you never quite know if a "locky" is going to appear or not.

Although we had a target of where we wanted to get to, we also had an idea we fancied yet another pub meal.  However the power of the Internet comes into play at times like this, as it is often possible to look up menus, and even whether pubs are "dog friendly".  What looked like best choice locationally, ("The Trout" at Tadpole Bridge), was quickly ruled out as being an expensive and pretentious restaurant, rather than coming close to "pub grub".  So we stopped much short of plan at Newbridge, as one of the pubs there, the "Maybush Inn" looked more like we wanted.

In practice we had a very nice meal, although for what we were paying, I felt main course portions could have been more generous.  Bitter at £3-80 a pint, and a decent Pinot Grigio at £5-20 for a large glass quickly inflated the bill though.  I know the pub trade is suffering, but prices like these rule it out as a regular thing for many families.  In a way they are doing themselves no favours - a bit more reasonable, and we would probably have stopped there on the return, but that's now unlikely.

My party piece was to open up my head on a light fitting projecting from one of the low beams, (I knew the beam was there but not the light).  It bled profusely fopr a few minutes, and got me much attention from the staff and landlord, but Cath is a trained first aider, and decreed that other than pressure to stop the bleed, I was fine - she proved right, of course!

Not content with that though, the pub had it's own entertainments in the form of Oliver, a very poshly spoken young man who's family apparently breed race horses - he was most keen to show s pictures of a "potential future winner" born just that day.  The evening got more surreal when his brother appeared - near identical, other than being dressed smartly in a suit, versus Oliver's casual.  People always seem genuinely to want to know about the boat, how we use it, and where we end up.

Quiet mooring - lovely old bridge as background

A very quiet night on moorings presumably owned by the nearby farm, although they made no effort to collect the £3 overnight charge that was displayed on a sign nearby.

Thrupp (Oxford Canal) to Newbridge (Upper Thames)
Miles: 14.7, Locks:7
Total Miles: 116.9, Total Locks:76

South with the Wests

(posted by Cath)

Sharing the oddly shaped Aynho Weir Lock

We seem to be finding it harder to get started early in the day, and finally got going at after 9:00 am, by which time several boats had passed  us.

We got to Somerton Deep lock to find a couple of boats ahead of us going down.  The people immediately in front of use were an elderly couple, by the time that we walked down to the lock they were using two windlasses at 180 degrees to each other, to try to start  moving the extremely stiff paddle gear.  

Chalice waits while Timothy West and Prunella Scales work through.

Alan crossed the lock, and raised the paddle on the other side, then walked back to me and said, "Don't make it obvious, but I think you might recognise these people". 

I looked, thinking Alan meant that I might have met them at a banter, but as the man raised his head from turning the paddles it became clear that I had seen him on television, as it was the actor, and canal campaigner, Timothy West.  His even more recognisable wife, Prunella Scales, was by now on the other side of the lock.  They turned out to be a charming couple, just people out boating, and enjoying the spring sunshine.  We followed them down through several locks, chatting as we went.  The reaction they provoked in people coming the other way was interesting, cameras came out, and nothing beyond the usual canal talk was said to them, but the passing boaters took the chance to say to me, that it was good to see people who publicly support the canals, actually using them.  I was surprised by Prunella Scales' very posh accent, as I'm used to seeing her playing a role, but even more surprised when she told me a somewhat saucy story!

Another attempt not to look like a paparazzi photographer!

The West's moored up, and we carried on South.  At one lock there was a BW flat coming up.  While I helped to work the flat through the lock, one of the workmen began to express his concerns about what would happen to the BW jobs when it becomes a charity. 

And sharing the other diamond lock at Shipton

In the few minutes that the boat was passing through the lock, I had virtually his whole life story, including how many year's he'd been working for BW - since he left school - and his concerns for what he would do if he lost his job, as he can neither read, write, or drive.  An interesting point, physical work, such as traditional BW jobs, probably didn't need those skills, where would those jobs be now?  And would they be legal?

Essential water filling and toilet emptying at Thrupp

It was a long day, with the locks fairly widely spaced apart, but we finally got to Thrupp wharf, and tied up at the services.  I went to empty the cassette, and the next person up was Maffi, from the Canal World Forum.  He said that there were quite a few forum people passing through.

We ate, then leaving David in the boat, we went to meet Maffi in "The Boat".  A very interesting evening, with Charlie somewhat wary of Maffi's dog, Molly, who was very happy to be given one of Charlie's hide chews.  When we got back to Chalice, it was in darkness, and David had gone to bed (not a common occurrence, he's often up until 5:00 am at home), we crept in, somewhat chastened.

King's Sutton to Thrupp
Miles: 17.1, Locks:11
Total Miles: 102.2, Total Locks:69

Fenny Compton to King's Sutton

(posted by Cath)

We were moored near to the Wharf pub, next to a field of rapeseed plants, just coming into bloom.  As we set off I volunteered to walk Charlie through "the Fenny Compton Tunnel", which is nothing of the kind.

Outside the marina, after a couple of hundred metres, I came across a nesting swan, blocking a large part of the towpath.  Charlie seemed very excited, and I was a bit worried that he might be daft enough to start an argument, but it turned out that he had spotted a duck on the towpath too.  We got past the swan with just slightly raised wings, and a bit of a hiss.  The duck jumped into the canal, and Charlie lost interest.

"Turnover Bridge" in "Tunnel" where tow-path changes sides/

Walking briskly along, keeping up with the boat, I was struck, once again, just how extra- ordinarily lucky I am to live in a beautiful country, and to have enough time, and money, to be able to indulge myself in the hobby of boating.

 

Second part of Fenny Compton "Tunnel"

Spring is bursting into life all around us, hedges are covered in white flowers, plants are blooming along the edge of the canal, in the fields are baby sheep and cattle.  Nature seems to have suddenly woken up in the last week - all except a few species of tree, ash included, which still hold bare branches towards the sky.

Charlie can always be persuaded to go searching up (or down) steep banks, you just have to suggest that he might be able to find Jumbones growing there (Jumbones are a favourite treat, he hasn't yet worked out that they don't grow wild). He never seems to find them, but is always happy to look, he hasn't yet realised that it is a ploy on our part to burn some of the excess energy our of our bouncy young dog.

What was this ramp and winch originally used for  ?

Today, while looking he found this interesting abandoned winch gear in the 'Tunnel.  It's only a short distance up the side, next to the towpath , but I have no idea what it might have been for.

We seemed to be going in the right direction, there were few boats going south, but at every lock there was a boat coming up, sometimes two or three in the same short pound, many of them hire boats - I suppose that we had got to the day that they all needed to turn back to the hire base.  The weather was changeable, but held off from raining, at least until the very end of the day.

Many of the fields we passed show the long low humps of medieval strip farming.  The canals are old, but the fields show signs of being so much older. It was the ploughing that caused these long humps over hundreds of years.  The ploughs were difficult to turn, hence the long fields.  By working in one direction, then the other, the soil steadily got turned towards the middle of the field, and into the long hump.  Long after the enclosures of the fields the canal came along, and cut straight across these fields.  Nowadays most of these fields are filled with sheep and lambs, with occasional groups of bullocks.  Those that are used for arable crops have had the hillocks ploughed flat long ago.

I didn't realise that Alan was watching for people that we 'know' from the Internet, that he was expecting to be passing us.  At some point he said that we should be looking out for "Harnser".  No, I said, I saw that a couple of miles back, going in the other direction. Oops!

Waiting for the lock in the centre of Banbury

We made good progress, and I went shopping at Morrisons in Banbury.  Being used to Waitrose prices this super- market always surprises me, and I staggered back to the boat carrying far too much.

We tied up near to the M40, and a railway line, hoping that the noise would die down a bit before we turned in for the night.  After a short shower of rain, David and I took Charlie for another walk, and discovered that some of the lift bridges cannot be lowered, with the balance beams held down permanently by metal structures.

A quiet meal at the boat, reading, or working on the computer, then bed.

Fenny Compton to King's Sutton
Miles: 14.2, Locks:14
Total Miles: 85.1, Total Locks:58

Braunston Puddle Banks to Fenny Compton

(posted by Alan)

Despite having set ourselves a moderately demanding schedule, we haven't exactly excelled at early starts.  I am generally up quite early, but somehow things then get very relaxed, and I would struggle to explain how the time gets used up until the engine gets fired up.

We tend to have a broad plan for the day, and our scheduling (such as it is!) is helped by having done a similar trip two years ago.

Lots of boats were moving before us, and it was very busy on the stretch from Braunston to "Wigrams", where the Grand Union Birmingham main line branches away from the Oxford.  Sadly this stretch usually features a few badly stricken wooden ex-working boats, and this time was no different.  I unfortunately am not familiar enough with them to know for certain which boat each is, as they seldom carry an identifiable name.

We had a agreed to deliver some boat paint, surplus to our requirements, to a friend, and this meant a short detour by turning right onto the Birmingham line, towards Calcutt locks.  That done, we turned above Calcutt, but also seized the opportunity to buy some engine spares at the boatyard there.

Starting the ascent of the Napton Flight

 We were soon back on the Oxford, headed towards the picturesque Napton locks, where Cath cycled off to shop at the village store, while I attended to filling water tanks and emtying toilet tanks.  We were soon on our way again, but found this stretch nothing like as busy as our only other previous passage through it.  Oxford locks are some of the easiest around, and we made light work of working up the 9 here to the summit level.

After that it was really just a case of progressing a reasonable distance along the summit, but as Cath didn't fancy cooking, and the pub at Fenny Compton was good on our last visit, we decided to head there.

Not a usual place to see a narrow boat on this stretch.

We made good progress, until we caught  a former "Challenger" "share" boat who's steerer seemed to think he would save time by sticking to the inside of each of the more major bends, (of which there are plenty on this stretch).  Of course each time he ended up in shallow water, and near static with the propeller thrashing as he failed to be able to follow his chosen path.  Cath normally just tucks in patiently in such cases, so I was somewhat relieved when she got permission to pass, and quickly left them floundering behind.

Charlie takes the air!

We then had a very enjoyable run through to Fenny Compton, where, unlike our previous trip, plenty of good visitor moorings were available close to the pub. 

Charlie contemplates am alternate name for "his" boat.

Better still "The Wharf" not only had good vegetarian choices to suit both us and David, but also welcomed dogs in the bar area.  A done deal, then, and we enjoyed an excellent meal.  I particularly liked the "Hooky Gold" - a very acceptable beer they had on tap.

Braunston Puddle Banks to Fenny Compton
Miles: 17.5, Locks:9
Total Miles: 70.9, Total Locks:44

Some Good News! - Then On To Braunston, And Back To Plan

Bugbrooke to Braunston Puddle Banks

(posted by Alan)

Last night we had a most unwanted discovery - large amounts of engine oil deposited in the bilge.  We were lucky to have checked before levels in the engine dropped to the point where oil pressure was lost.

Old BMC engines tend to leak small amounts of oil, (and often fuel and coolant too!) but this was quite different.  The quantities involved pointed to sudden failure of something, rather than a "routine" small leak.  We knew roughly the part of the engine it must be coming from, but none of the obvious "joints" seemed to be likely causes.  Much had dripped from the starter motor, (not a part that normally contains the oil!), and our forum friends had suggested that failure of the front oil seal on the crankshaft would probably throw oil around the flywheel housing, and hence into the starter - this didn't look good.

I decided to remove the starter to peer into the flywheel housing - I couldn't possibly see the oil seal, of course, or anywhere near it, but it should show how much oil had been thrown from the crankshaft and flywheel.  Good news! - the answer was "very little", so the failure we feared no longer seemed anything like as likely.  I decided to put oil back in the engine, and run it, to try and see a source.

I actually ran it for a quite a while, and could see or feel nothing, and went off to post progress on the forum.  Cath said "before you send that, check one more time!", which I did, and found oil dripping from the starter motor.

Eventually we got to that "eureka" moment - oil was forming on the casing of the sensor used for the oil pressure gauge, and dropping from there on to the starter, (all hard to see, as there are lots of other bits obscuring a clear view).  Chalice's 1970s engine had wrongly taken the blame again - the failed part was a brand new addition only a couple of years old.

A bit more investigation revealed the sensor as "quite broken and not fixable", but it was possible to take it out of the equation completely, as a non-essential part.  So jubilant, and about 3 hours later than we might have been, we were set to head off again.

(posted by Cath)

The most seriously burnt out boat we have yet seen - frightening!

We stopped at Stowe Hill Wharf for fuel, where we met Dominic, from the Canal World Forum - his price a bit cheaper than others at the moment.  Nice to put a face to a person that we've both corresponded with.

Ascending Whilton & Buckby Locks

On northwards until we got to Whilton, then we worked up the flight, following a pair of boats, a Wyvern hire boat and a private boat.  The flight wasn't busy, but we met a couple of single boats coming down.  I walked Charlie up the flight, but he was very excitable, and impatient to get moving when we stopped at each lock.

In The Buckby Lock Flight

Efficient hire boat crew help make Braunston flight

Alan steered us through Braunston tunnel, meeting only one boat coming the other way.  By the time we got to the Braunston flight, we had lost one of the boats ahead of us, so we went down the locks with the hire boaters, who were experienced and efficient.

In Braunston we went to moor after the turn, on the Puddle Banks.  The side of the canal here slopes considerably, and it is difficult to get close to the bank.  Just as we pulled in the wind whipped up straight across the plain to the right, and pushing the boat out.  It took all three of us, pulling with all our might, to haul Chalice in and moor her.

After mooring Alan and I took Charlie for a walk, and met with John, Cotswoldsman, from the Canal Forum, arranging to meet for a drink later in The Boathouse.

We ate a good and reasonably priced meal - several vegetarian options too - at The Boathouse, and shared a drink and a chat with John.

Back at the boat we slept well.

Bugbrooke to Braunston Puddle Banks
Miles: 13.4, Locks:13
Total Miles: 53.4, Total Locks:35

Quiet Day, But With Entertainment And A Nasty Surprise At The End

Little Woolstone (Milton Keynes) to Bugbrooke

(posted by Cath) 

Alan was up and about early this morning, and couldn’t understand why I was still lying in bed snoring, when I’m usually in the bath by 6 am.  The truth is that I push myself for 6 or 7 weeks during term time, then I collapse when we get to a holiday.  I finally got up at about 8:20, while Alan was walking Charlie.  I made coffee, and porridge, and we finally got going around 9, and had our breakfast on the back of the boat as we headed off.

I took a long stint steering around Milton Keynes, following a slow Wyvern hire boat, which pulled over at Wolverton to go shopping.

At Cosgrove I jumped off with Charlie, saying that I was taking him for a walk, and that I’d see them when they caught up with me – Oh, and by the way, the cassette needs emptying.

I walked, and walked in the spring sunshine. I started to get hot, so stopped to take off a layer of clothing, which I tied around my waist.  Then I walked until I got hot again, so I stopped to take off another layer of clothing – it had been cold standing on the back of the boat earlier.   Charlie started panting, and thinking that he wanted to drink canal water – which I discouraged.

Eventually, I started to wonder if the boat had broken down, but reminded myself that if that had happened, then David would come to find me on one of the bicycles, so I kept walking, thinking that Charlie needed the exercise.  Finally, at Yardley marina Charlie started to look hopefully at another boat moored up, to see if it was ‘his’ boat – so I stopped.

Charlie and I sat by the bridge for some time, until David hove into view on a bicycle.  No, they hadn’t broken down, they just were behind me, and starting to panic that somehow I might be behind them.  David rang Alan, who appeared quite a long time later, and I, and a grateful Charlie, jumped back on board.  Next time I go for a short walk with the dog, I’ll take my phone.

David speeds us through Stoke Locks

Working up Stoke Bruerne With An Efficient Hire Boater

At the Stoke flight we went up with a Gayton Marina Alvechurch hire boat, Pied Billed Grebe, the boat that Charlie had previously thought he’d cadge a lift on at Yardley Wharf.  The man, said that he’d last done any canal boating when he was 10, but he certainly seemed to know what he was doing.  We got talking to them, as one does, they had a nice dog, and a pleasant young daughter, who helped at all the locks.  Some of the paddles are very stiff up this flight, so I chose to use the long throw aluminium windlass, which I don’t usually use.

When we got to the top, they decided to pull over to go for an ice cream.  Alan decided that he wanted a beer, so we pulled onto the water point to refill while I went to get some drinks.  At this point disaster struck.  I was focused on jumping back onto the boat, and getting my wallet, I undid my belt, not thinking that the expensive aluminium windlass was tucked into the back.  There was only a small gap between the boat and the side, but the windlass fell into the canal, just outside The Boat restaurant.  I watched as it sank – far slower than I thought it would, but not slowly enough that I could grab it.

Being aluminium there was no chance that we’d get it back with a magnet.  Alan has often said that I’d lose it, and is always warning me to be careful.  David thought that as it had sunk slowly it might still be where it had fallen in, and he went to get the boat hook.

After a bit of poking around with the boat hook we thought that we might possibly have identified the windlass, but it was far too far down to drag it out.  David is tall, with long limbs, so volunteered to strip to the waist and lean in from the side to try to get it out.  I held his belt, and the man from Pied Billed Grebe held his feet, but although he stuck his head and shoulders under it wasn’t enough.  “You don’t want to strip to your underwear and try to find it with your feet?” I said to David.

Hero  resscuing Cath's Windlass

“I’ll do it,” said the man from Pied Billed Grebe.  “No, no, we can’t ask you to do that,” we said.  “You’re not asking, I’m volunteering. I work at a yacht club, it’s nothing new for me,” and before we knew it he had stripped down to his underpants on the back of the hire boat, in full view of the crowds in Stoke Bruerne on a busy spring afternoon, and had slipped into the canal to feel for our windlass with his feet.

Although it was a hot day, the canal must have been very cold, but he spent some time up to his shoulders in the water dedicatedly trying to find our windlass.  He ducked completely under a couple of times, without finding anything.

He was hidden from the crowds outside the museum by our boat, which we had moored on slack lines, and were holding away from the side.  But the drinkers and the queue of people buying ice cream at The Boat were all watching with unbridled curiosity.  That’s the point that we realised that a crowd of the diners in the Restaurant were watching from above through the panoramic windows, cheering and waving.

He walked up and down in the gap between our boat and the side, but couldn’t find anything.  We tried a number of times to persuade him to get out, but he was determined, and suddenly he ducked in again, and surfaced, triumphant, with my long throw windlass.

He jumped out of the canal, took a dripping bow for the crowds and disappeared into his boat for a shower.

Once again, I am staggered by the self-less generosity of people.

After that just about everything seemed tame.  We had a pint, and headed off through the tunnel.  It was still early, so Alan continued on for a few miles beyond Blisworth, finally mooring at Bugbrooke.

(added  by Alan) 

Or we thought everything seemed tame........

After Cath made the above pronouncement, I decided to lock the bikes up in the engine room.  Knowing I could not easily access the engine in the morning, I decided to do engine checks before I blocked access to it.  I was horrifed to find large amounts of engine oil disgorged into the bilge, and a check on the dip-stick confirmed a large loss of oil during the day - but mercifully not severe enough to result in any damage.

By then it was too late to do any real diagnosis, but none of the obvious places it might be leaking seemed to be candidates, and the starter motor was dripping oil underneath.  My immediate fear was failure of the rear crankshaft oil seal - a part buried deep behind the gearbox and flywheel, and not a repair job I could carry out canal-side, I think.  I decided to ask for likely causes on the Canal World Discussion Forums, and not unsurprisingly several people thought a similar cause was likely.  BMC engines are known to have this oil seal fail.......

Too late to attempt to isolate the problem, I went to bed, rather dejected that, at the very least, outr much needed break was about to be terminated.

Little Woolstone (Milton Keynes) to Bugbrooke
Miles: 21.9, Locks:8
Total Miles: 40, Total Locks:22

Start of the Extended Thames Ring, (Hopefully!)

(posted by Alan)

Globe Inn, Leighton Buzzard to Cook's Wharf to Little Woolstone (Milton Keynes)

Well, things are in chaos at home. Alan is increasingly hobbling around as a result of smashing his pelvis rather more than a year ago, (it doesn't look like it's going to settle down now, unfortunately), and still in a lot of discomfort following cataract surgery.  Cath is very over-tired, following having never really caught up her work backlog caused by Alan's mum's illness and passing.  So what would any sensible set of people do at this point ?  Why, start a big boating trip, (of course!).

Anyway the plan is to do the Thames Ring, (anti-clockwise), which we have done before, but to try and "borrow" enough extra time to tackle the upper reaches of the navigable Thames to Lechlade, (which we have  not).

This means that while we will not do manic days, we do need to put in a decent mileage and lock count most days.

We managed to be on board Friday night, (albeit very late), and should have got away promptly on Saturday, (and might have done, had the boat clock not still been on winter time!).

A glorious day, with steady progress, and no unexpected happenings.

We caught one of our local day boats at the first lock, and worked with them until the Grove pub, a mile or two before Leighton Buzzard.

The owner's name on this boat always appeals to my childish sense of humour.

Bottom lock at "Three Locks"

Stoke Hammond

A standard "grocery stop" at the Leighton Buzzard super -market, and then forwards, with a fair knowledge that there would be Wyvern Shipping hire boats ahead at Three Locks, (there were!).

We chatted briefly with our friends Allan and Debbie at Stoke Hammond, and then introduced ourselves to Canal World Forum member Chris and his wife Pat at Fenny Stratford.

The very shallow Fenny Lock

On to Little Woolstone, where although still plenty of daylight left, we decided we were knackered, and tied up.




Cook's Wharf to Little Woolstone (Milton Keynes)
Miles: 18.1, Locks:14
Total Miles: 18.1, Total Locks:14