Sunday 17/5 btw Upper & Lower Heyford to Thrupp

Up early and greeted by this view

L. did engine checks and we were away by 8.00am. First stop was Lower Heyford, for, you guessed it a water fill. Our hose to tap fitting spurts water all over the place and drives Lawrence demented so while I supervised the fill he crossed the canal to the chandlers to try and buy a new washer and came back with some fruit cake. Got away from Lower Heyford at 9.14 - water filling takes a long time.

Passed some dense and luscious looking fields of wheat. This is for you, Duncan and Tom, if you are reading.

At our 1st lock of the day, Dashwoods, I couldn't get the bottom gate fully open and Aqualife was within a bees dick of getting stuck, as it was we took off quite a lot of paint.

Another glimpse of 'this green and pleasant land'.

Lawrence looking chic sporting the latest in Bermagui boating wear, with yet more wheat in the back ground

A lovely wooded section after Northbrook Lock

A familiar name near Flights Mill

Going through Enslow

At Bakers Lock we met a party boat loaded with, one supposes viral, posh speaking, young men coming into the lock left open for them by a boat in front of us. They were draped all over the boat down in the lock looking up at me. I looked down at them, they, smiling engagingly, looked up at me. So I smiled back and said I'm not working the lock for you. By this time another woman had come up from below the lock,windlass in hand. She came and stood beside me and we gazed down at the boys on the boat, looked at each other, smiled and without a word been spoken we turned away and sat on a bench conveniently placed so we could enjoy the sunshine, and a bitch about the boat still at the bottom of the lock (she having had a run in with them before the lock) whilst we waited for the show to begin.

A 'curly wurrly' and a close encounter

We met another party boat swarming with young blokes going full throttle as we were rounding the second bend. Trouble was they were on our side of the canal. Both boats had to be slammed full throttle into reverse, which just means you start going forwards marginally slower for quite some distance. Luckily the other boats nose veered out of our path and we just skimmed passed them as they shot straight across the bend and hit the bank. Sadly the bank was very reedy which gave them a softer stop. If the bank had been harder at least half of them would have been catapulted off the boat, which would have been very satisfying.

Margy getting the hang of lift bridges

We came into Thrupp on tick over through what seemed like a mile of moored boats and no spare spaces. We got to the winding hole and spied the local boat club so we stopped on their mooring and I found a very helpful gentleman who said, as long as we can reverse (reversing is the bête noir of most boat skippers) if we go round the bend at the end of the winding hole and under the lifet bridge we should find a mooring. He kindly worked the lift bridge for us (a hydraulic one requiring a CART key as opposed to the jump and grab the chain and hang/pull kind). 

Once again the gongoozler's gathered to watch the show and once again my hero disappointed them, executing a faultless 3 point turn to get under the bridge. I hope we do as well when it comes time to reverse the 150 or so metres passed the moored boats and back under the lift bridge.

The moorings seemed to be taken as far as they eye could see, but as we were creeping past a couple of boats with people outside them I heard the magic words 'we will see you in', so I called out ans asked if they were leaving. Yes, soon they said. So Lawrence backed up and we hovered and then hung off a moored boat for 10 minutes or so and got our selves a 7 day mooring. Whoopee.

I should say at this juncture, that our original plan to take the boat into Oxford is now somewhat fluid. We have received advice from several different people not to take the boat into Oxford as there are lots of boats and very few visitor moorings and what there are are "grimey and not salubrious" as a woman with a posh Oxford accent put it.

Whereas what we have seen of Thrupp so far is perfectly salubrious. It's not a village , it's a few largish stone houses, a couple of converted stone barns, a row of stone workers cottages and some converted canal buildings plus 2 stone pubs and a stone tearoom AND a water point and rubbish disposal (haven't discovered what else yet),

Once we moored up and settled in we set off, about 2.00pm. About 10 minutes up the tow path we found The Jolly Boatman, the pub recommended by the Italian/Americans. The towpath was very busy as it is Thrupps footpath. We indulged ourselves with the Classic Sunday roast - Yum, tho' I still don't get Yorkshire pudding.

The baptist chapped, now a residence

Part of the row of workers cottages

Our mooring for the next 2-4 nights. Looking down towards the lift bridge and winding hole beyond

And looking up the canal towards the workers cottages and we have sheep in the field across the canal. What more could a couple from Oz want - Guinness of course!

So the plan is to catch the bus into Oxford tomorrow and check out the moorings and then decide whether to take the boat into Oxford or leave it here. We also hope to catch up with L's cousin Diana and her husband Tony tomorrow or Tuesday.

8miles 5 locks, 3 lift bridges, 5 hrs