Banbury, hmm….

Friday 26^th August; Cropredy to Aynho (bridge 189)

We were away by 8.30.  I quickly popped over the bridge with the rubbish and glass recycling, and we didn’t need water so there was no hanging about at the facilities block.  It was chilly enough for me to wear gloves as we left, but by the time we reached the first lock (slowly, as there are many moored boats in Cropredy) it had warmed up nicely.  One boat appears to have a very intricate paint job, looking as though someone has painstakingly gone round all the little curves with a small brush.

Bit of camera shake, but you get the idea.

I chatted to the owner yesterday when I was out with Meg.  The effect has not been created as you might think, but shows the boat’s history – he uses an angle grinder to remove layers of paint, and when he likes the effect he stops and moves on.  He then oils it, and applies several coats of sealer.  The towpath side looks better and has a neat straight edge on the roof.  Another boat had a variation on the common theme of skeletons and gargoyles – a triceratops.

Once down Slat Mill lock it was the long sequence of open lift bridges and two more locks down to Banbury.  The cottage at Bourton lock is still unoccupied and sadly has been graffitied.

It still has the uplifting message upstairs though, 'Enjoy the moment', and the phone number of the boater owner if you see anything suspicious.  Too late to take a photo, I spotted a piece of boating graffiti which I’ll try and remember to record when we return.   Under the M40 and down Hardwick lock we went, hoping for a convenient mooring along Spiceball Park.  We were going slowly as we approached the footbridge, so there was no change in engine note to alert Meg, but as we reached the bridge she suddenly woke from her doze, sat up and sniffed the air – she knew where we were.

Hey, I know that smell!

We found a mooring, and I popped up to Waitrose for a few things, hoping to get some zero-alcohol Peroni which isn’t always available – it was on offer too.  Dave took Meg to the park of course.  We had lunch, then carried on through Banbury centre.  The last time we were here the first car park was being demolished and it was all rather dusty and noisy.  Now it is shiny and noisy and seems to be based around an entertainment venue of some kind – we could see arcade machines through the glass, followed by some fast-food outlets, with Premier Inn across the water.  Not for us, even though there is plenty of mooring.

We knew Tooley’s had survived, and were delighted to see the social club opposite still going strong, however incongruous it looks next to the shiny new stuff.  We were quickly through the lift bridge and lock, noting the much greater numbers of boats moored all the way along to the next bridge and beyond – it’s a good thing we didn’t want to go to Morrisons’s, as there was no room.  The new housing development which we had watched starting last time we were here has now expanded to nearly fill the field all the way down to bridge 170.  At Grants Lock the cottage has been burnt out and is now a roofless shell.

Poor Grant's Lock cottage

On we went.  We dropped down Kings Sutton lock and started to look for places to moor, but all the reasonable spots were taken.  Even opposite the Pig Place would have been good, although the motorway is very loud here, but there was no room there either.   We’d had a long cruising day and were pretty tired by now, but there was nothing for it but grit our teeth and cross fingers for Aynho.  There were no boats waiting to come up Nell Bridge lock or Aynho Weir, so it was all rather hard work after a long day.  I almost couldn’t manage the top gate at Aynho, but just did it without asking the young man sitting on the bench with his girlfriend for help.  They then immediately jumped up and offered to help with the other gate, and closed up for us.  Phew.  We grabbed the first mooring space we found, just past Belchers Lift Bridge.

A long, hot, strenuous day.

10½ mostly slow miles, 8 locks, Banbury lift bridge