Banbury

Today's Canal : Oxford

There was a bright, almost cloudless sky for the start of today and, unlike yesterday, no wind. Almost opposite our overnight mooring was the Pig Farm, once a popular stop either for supplies or the tea room. Now there seem to be no pigs and despite a sign inviting boaters to stop by, the only items for sale were logs and kindling.

It was very pleasant just cruising along - the southern Oxford has long been rather slow paced, especially if one wants yo avoid a breaking wave which can easily erode the banks. Some of the trees now have leaves but others are yet to block out the sunshine, making for a pretty dappled scene.

A lifeless tree still makes a rather spectacular shape against the bright sky.

We were the second of three boats that arrived at the first lock, Kings Sutton, all at the same time. The one at the front was noticeably slower than the two behind, so we had bunched up between Nell  Bridge and here. However, this gave us a lucky break as the crew from the boat behind offered to let Mike hop aboard and they worked the top paddles to bring the boat up.

As we neared Banbury we could see a sudden large cloud of black smoke. The air was so still that it hovered in the same place, just slowly dispersing. We later discovered online that it was the result of a shed fire at a house opposite the hospital which the local fire brigade were able to tackle very quickly. We could also see that, as it was on the main road into town, traffic delays built up all too soon.

We arrived at Grants Lock as the first boat was just entering at the bottom. No boat was coming down so this meant Mike had to turn the lock. The third boat arrived just as he was starting the fill. Both this and the previous lock have bridges across the tail of the lock which makes single handing much easier. Bring the boat from the lock landing into the bridge hole and as it drifts underneath jump off and then be ready to close the bottom gate. The trick is to judge the speed of the boat so that it has enough momentum, just, to reach the far end of the lock but not too much to run hard into the bumper bar. In any case, Christine was able to use the throttle if it needed slowing down. We did not even need to take a rope off to help, nor did we need a rope after leaving the lock as the crew from the following boat offered to close the gate for us!

After a very pleasant half hour cruise we reached Samuelson Bridge where we found almost the last space for our length was free, very close to Morrisons for a top-up shop. As it was the bank holiday week end and we had seen quite a few moving boats we thought that it was a bit risky to rely on find a space where we moored on the way down, above the next lock and in the main centre of town.

The forecast indicated about 50-50 chance of rain this afternoon but although cloud cover arrived it remained dry - except for about six drops as Mike returned from shopping at Morrisons. This time he was successful at finding the lemon curd, even our favourite brand.

5.4 Miles - 2 Locks