Wednesday 27th May; Thrupp to Baker’s lock
What an excellent mooring spot in this heat!
When Jess and I strolled out at 7.30 it was already t-shirt weather.
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| Holy Cross church is close to the canal |
One of the nearby liveaboards was off to work, pleased to be spending the day in air-conditioned comfort! After breakfast I caught the bus into Kidlington for some shopping. Shipton Bridge Turn is the closest stop to this end of Thrupp and saves the long walk to Thrupp Turn which is near the Boat Inn. On my return we set off down to the winding hole in Thrupp Wide, just before the lift bridge. Luckily the facilities mooring was empty and we pulled in to top up the water tank and dispose of rubbish. I can’t remember the name of this boat on the permanent mooring, but the owners have named themselves on the bow flashes using the flag alphabet.
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| Vik and Dick |
We retraced our steps to Shipton Bridge and through the windlass-operated lift bridge to Shipton Weir lock. A boat had recently left it so I could open the gate for us straight away. While I was waiting for the lock to fill so we could join the river I wandered about and was shocked to discover a large dead animal in what looked like a trap. I took a photo, which I will not show here, of what was probably an otter. I wasn’t sure who to contact so when we stopped a little later I emailed the Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, who forwarded it straight to the Environment Agency - what I should have done. Dan from the EA got in touch, but by the time he got to the spot the trap had gone. It was apparently an illegal crayfish trap – the Cherwell has a large population of the invasive species the Signal Crayfish, which is good eating. He said if you are not sure who to call regarding issues like this the EA will point you in the right direction even if it is not their responsibility.
A boat was just visible coming down the river as we left the lock, so we left it ready for them. I looked back and took a snap of the upstream approach to the lock. A boat has a permanent mooring on the river, which is wide at this point, and it is easy to see why the hire boat we met the other day went the wrong way.
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| You can just see the stern of the boat on its way to the lock |
We enjoyed the cruise back up the Cherwell. We wanted to stop for lunch below Baker’s Lock, where there is space for two boats, but unfortunately a boat was plonked right in the middle of it.
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| The canal and the Cherwell join just below Baker’s lock - the lock is to the right |
We stopped for lunch on the end of the Armco above Baker’s lock. It’s a little bit close to the lock mooring but as we had only seen two boats on the move today we nabbed it.
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| The Satellite Earth station north of Enslow Bridge, easily visible from Baker's lock |
It was so unspeakably hot in the sun that we didn’t want to move on. In the past we have been caught in a queue here so we weren’t sure we should stay. We decided to get on with jobs and be prepared to move if the canal suddenly got busy. I finished cleaning the glass and channels of the hopper windows and got cracking on the portholes.
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| The portholes have been out all the time except on the offside while cruising. The channels were full of tree debris |
There were only two other boats on the move all afternoon so we stayed where we were, in the cool. It is difficult to recall today how deeply unpleasant the temperatures got in that heatwave – back at home in June, as I write, we had to light the fire the other night!
Less than 2 miles, 2 locks, 1 lift bridge
