Aynho

Today's Canal : Oxford

Today was very different rom yesterday. When we initially awoke there was still much of the cloud still around by this quickly disappeared and by the time Mike went for a short explore around 8.45 sunshine and blue skies were the order for the rest of the day. 

Alongside our overnight mooring is Spiceball Park - just a large open area.

A hedge borders the towpath at this point and immediately beyond it is another public footpath, at this point pleasantly wandering though woodlands.

We set off just before 10 and soon passed under the Tom Rolt road bridge, named after one of the founders of the IWA which stimulated much of the canal restoration work of the last half century or more.

nb Hardy was the last wooden narrowboat bult by the famous Nursers of Braunston in 1940. Initially it was used extensively to carry coal but this trad dwindled until 1962 and since that time was used for leisure purposes. 

For some time it lay in Braunston submerged but in 2018 it was bought by Tooleys Boatyard in Banbury who brought it here and are in the long process of restoration. For a few years they kept it underwater to preserve the timbers but now it is at least afloat - much more work still to be done!

The first real challenge of the day was the lift bridge above Banbury Lock with Christine exploring whether her arm was sufficiently strong to steer the boat through lift bridges and into and out of locks from the lock landings. (Last trip she could only move the boat the short distance into and out of the locks and we had to enlist help at this bridge!)

At Banbury Lock, Christine spotted gentleman sitting on the bench beside it who obviously was keen to help. Mike lent him a windlass and he enthusiastically let the boat out of he lock, It tuned out that he cruised much of the network over 20 years but only last year had to give it up and was getting withdrawal symptoms!

We paused below the lock to use the services. Whilst the water tank was filling Mike took a look at a piece of public art similar to that at Cropredy Lock. The last one has an enigmatic inscription "The Greek who said you can never step into the same river twice" which is attributed to the 6th century BCE Heraclitus who asserted that everything is in a state of change and nothing ever remains permanent.

From Banbury southwards there are numerous lift bridges - all in the same style. Many of them seem to have little use with the rack on at least once side now missing.

A lot of the original bridges have long disappeared, presumably when their repair was no longer viable. The date stone on this one indicates that it was last rebuilt in 1943.

We moored for lunch on a good mooring just a little before Kings Sutton Lock. When we set off again, just after 2, it was not long before we reached the lock where a single hander was coming up - slowly. He even left one of the top paddles open and blithely offered it to us to close as a present!

The seasonal wild flowers have changed quite significantly from a month ago. We spotted the first yellow wild irises today.

This field hedge caught our attention as it is strangely well manicured - did it have some special significance? Actually the other side is not so maintained and looks just like all the other hedges. Nothing on old maps gives any clue.

The main rail line from Oxford to Banbury runs very close to the canal at this point and this former railway bridge once carried the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway that ran via Chipping Norton and Bourton-on-the-water. It was built after the three main north south lines that it interconnects and was intended to give the sparsely populated Cotswold area better access in a time when roads were still very inadequate, notably in the countryside. The ,line was constructed by a number of small companies which gradually amalgamated and eventually ended up as part of the Great Western Railway. As well as serving the local communities it also carried substantial iron ore from Northamptonshire to South Wales. By the early 1960s, parts gradually closed for lack of demand and the line was finally abandoned at the end of that decade. Determined enthusiasts can trace much of the route on foot, with the parts in towns now largely given over to housing.

We turned around above Nell Bridge Lock last trip but this time we continued on a little further, aiming to wind at Aynho Wharf. The locks below Banbury have single bottom gates, rather than the more usual pair. The gate here is rather hard to close as road widening has taken away the original part of the lock structure where boaters can gain some purchase to get the gate moving.

The next lock, Aynho Weir, comes just after the River Cherwell crosses the canal and is principally to protect the next pound from adverse rises in the river level. As a result its fall is only about 300 mm. It was built with an enlarged chamber in a diamond shape so that more water passes with each boat. This helps to ensure that the pound below does not run dry with another deep lock to follow.

For most of the years when we moored at Lower Heyford, Belchers Lift Bridge lay in pieces in the adjacent field - clearly there was little demand or it. More recently it has been repaired - perhaps it was listed and English Heritage stepped in to ensure that these iconic bridges did not further reduce in number, even if they no longer have much purpose!

Just after the bridge is a popular mooring spot - it has good Armco to tie to - and we were beginning to wonder where we might moor tonight. We spotted almost at the end of the line a suitably sized gap and we opted to pull straight in and not risk going on the short distance to the winding hole at Aynho Wharf. That manoeuvre can wait to the morning!

It is good to note that Christine's arm survived remarkably well today with the exception of when we grounded just below Nell Bridge. Getting off the bottom with the engine and tiller is quite strenuous on the arm so we know for the moment where the limits lie.

6.8 Miles - 5 Locks