Remember the I-SPY books?

Wednesday 3^rd June; home

Apart from grabbing the odd dry spell to load the car, and road-works around Stratford causing delays on the way home, there is little to report boatwise.  So instead here’s something I spotted on CanalPlan during our trip.  I don’t know which book it came from, but I wouldn’t have got any I-Spy points when I was a child – no boats in our part of Essex!

Narrow Boat-Motor Powered
Canal barges about 7 ft. wide are called Narrow Boats.  They usually travel in pairs, the motor boat towing the butty boat.  In the motor boat I-SPY the steel tiller, often with an extension making a long steering handle.  (20 points)
Butty Boat
I-SPY the wooden rudder - called the Ram's Head, the tiller - turned up at moorings, and the bright colourings.  Roses and castles are traditional features of the decorations.  (20 points)
Painted Can
Look out for it on the deck.  And often you will see the dipper too.  Both have the gay roses in pink, red, and yellow.  (20 points)
Ram's Head
The entwined rope is the Turk's Head, and the upright piece is the Swan's Neck (20 points)
Ornamental Chimney
I-SPY the cabin chimney decorated with horse brasses.  Show your REDSKIN badge, and you may be invited to see the brasses inside the cabin too.  (20 points) 

Stop press on Claydon bottom lock; yesterday (Tuesday 16^th June) a navigation closure alert came through for the Claydon flight.  It only said ‘due to damage to offside bottom gate at Claydon lock 21’.  I suspect that the leak had got so bad that the levels wouldn’t equalise to fill the lock any more – if it’s boat impact or balance beam failure they usually say.  Anyway, it’s been inspected, remains closed and the next review isn’t till Friday.  We are lucky we went when we did!

It was too early for the meadowsweet to be flowering – this photo is from July 2019

Trip stats

1 mile 3¾ furlongs broad canals, 6 broad locks

85 miles 2¼ furlongs narrow canals, 68 narrow locks

9 lift bridges; Banbury, Chisnell, Mill, Shipton (twice each), and Haynes (once).

Thunder over Calcutt

Tuesday 2^nd June; Spurfoot bridge to Calcutt marina

It rained all last night and didn’t really stop till towards 9 when we were about to leave.  It was cooler this morning, with occasional glimpses of the sun as we cruised the hour or so to Marston Doles to begin the descent to Napton.  There was a stream of boats coming up, but with a couple going down ahead of us it was slow going.

Marston Doles lock 15

There was a bit of a wait at Napton Adkins lock.  A work-boat was coming up and it took ages.  The piling works below the lock were in full swing and there were two banksmen hanging around at the lock.  They closed the top gate for us but the rest of the time just hung around.

Bored banksmen

The works made it impossible to get back on the boat once we had descended, so Jess and I opted to walk to the next lock.  The piling works occupied the whole distance from the lock to the bridge a couple of hundred yards along.  Three boats were waiting beyond the bridge - no lock moorings any closer!

Very noisy, we didn’t hang about

It rained now and then as we continued down the flight, still following those two boats.  There was space to moor in the pound between the bottom two locks so we pulled in as it was nearly lunchtime.  I went up to the shop for a few bits and pieces and finally got my hands on a pack of buffalo burgers – in the past they have always sold out!  (They went into the freezer for eating after we got home – delicious).  We had lunch and checked the weather forecast for today and tomorrow to decide when to go into the marina.  Tomorrow looked wetter, so we made ready and set off again in lovely sunshine.

This little boat has been here for years

The black clouds were massing as we cruised away from the locks but we stayed ahead of them.

More towpath works, this time near Napton Narrowboats

We were caught in a light shower as we descended the three Calcutt locks but the rain stopped before we got to the bottom.  The marina visitor moorings were crowded but we were able to slot in quite easily.  We went to register at the office and I took Jess for a walk in the meadows, but the clouds were very threatening and when the thunder began we went back to the boat.  Dave had been sitting on the back watching the lightning.   

Threatening

It rained heavily for a while but the thunder didn’t get any closer.  We drove to the Folly for a beer and a nice meal.

12 locks, 6½ miles

The Claydon flight and the summit

Monday 1^st June; Claydon bottom lock to Spurfoot bridge no 124

It was cool and cloudy as we prepared to leave, just before 9, to grab the already-empty bottom lock.  We knew one of the top paddles was out so were prepared to wait for it to fill.

Nearly full

We could see a lockie bringing a boat down, and as their lock emptied he came down to help us.  We hadn’t really noticed on our way down, as the crew waiting to come up had given me a hand, but it seems that the leaking bottom gate together with only one top paddle working has begun to make the top gate a two-person job for most crews.  In fact the day after we came down, a CRT notice to that effect was issued, specifically warning single-handers.   They have vollies on as much as they can, and I suspect the days when the hire-boats pass through are rather busy for them!

The middle lock is where the vollies have their hut, loo and kettle!

At the top lock we met another boat and helped each other out.  The offside top paddle is still out of action.

Slightly annotated

Barry, the lockie who helped us at the bottom lock, re-appeared to ‘fetch something from the shed at the top’ – and asked the boater coming down if he would transport it to the bottom!

Barry had been assisting up to 30 boats a day at the bottom lock, so he thought a chair would be a good thing to have!  The three lockies on duty here are also the reservoir team responsible for checking the feeder reservoirs.  He said that Boddington reservoir, 2 and a half miles to the east according to Nicholsons and which feeds the canal at Feeder Bridge about a mile along the summit pound, was only about 300 mm from full – that’s just under a foot, so they weren’t too worried yet.  We were up within the hour and making our way across the long and winding summit pound.

The uncultivated strips along the field edges are in glorious flower; ox-eye daisies are the ones that are obvious.

We pulled in at Fenny Compton wharf for a pump-out, some fuel and rubbish disposal before stopping for lunch at Wedding bridge and then moving on again.  We took inordinate care to sound the horn multiple times on the approach to Griffin's bridge number 131, the awkward bridge where we had an exchange of words with an oncoming boat on our way towards Oxford.  As you can tell from the angle, our bow is already well over towards the towpath side as we lined up for the bridge.  Our bow was already through the bridge hole when the bow of the boat that hit us was emerging from the vegetation on the right, and that’s when we heard their (rather feeble) horn, and they claimed they hadn’t heard ours at all.  A learning occasion for all concerned.

The wind had picked up this morning and was becoming stronger, but in spite of the cloud it stayed dry.

The flag iris is nearly over, the pale version too

We wanted to get within reach of Marston Doles and the Napton flight, as the forecast is showing rain from later today.  We moored at Spurfoot bridge, 124.

There were guinea-fowl on the towpath but they ran away

The rain started at about 5, fortunately after Dave and Jess had returned from their walk.

5 locks, 9 miles

Cooling down just a little

Sunday 31^st May; Spiceball Park to below the Claydon flight

It was pleasantly cool as I walked off to get a paper and a few bits and pieces.  Being Sunday, Waitrose didn’t open till 11 but we wanted to be away by then, so I walked down the hill to Tesco which opened earlier.  It was very busy – everyone had gone early to fill their trolleys and be ready to pay at 10 when the tills open. We were away before 11, and were delighted to see Dink sitting in her conservatory with her little dog and we all waved merrily.  The canal wasn’t really busy and the few boats we met were at locks.

Helpful walkers closing the top gate at Hardwick lock

Bourton lock cottage had a door open and a light on again, maybe someone is living there now?

The bottom gate needs work as much as the cottage

We were a little concerned that the pound between Slat Mill lock and Cropredy lock might be a bit low.  There was an advice email yesterday, warning that there were very low water levels (again) and they were trying to recover them during the day.  When we arrived at Slat Mill lock it was nearly full, which surprised us as we didn’t think there was anyone ahead of us - the others had been empty.  The bottom gates leak, not that unusual.  But I was so concerned about the state of the top gate, or cill I suppose it could be, that I sent the photo to CRT. 

I hadn’t opened the paddles yet.

We stopped for a couple of hours for lunch, as there was plenty of water in the pound, and waved to a hire boat we chatted to the other day.  We caught up with them at Cropredy lock.  We wouldn’t be behind them for the other locks though, as they were stopping at Cropredy marina for a couple of nights to attend a wedding in the village.  They had arranged their week's boating around the date.  How lovely! 

The first lines of the poem at Cropredy lock. 

There are three other sculptures, which read as follows - 

‘of its bricklined arch/ like a dancer’s sturdy instep/ on the unbroken surface/ where the quilled stumps/ of pollarded willows/ shiver like the steel bristles/ on a flea’s armour/ or rest, head-down like sable/ brushes in a jar of turps.

I like the image of the quilled stumps of pollarded willows, and even the ‘steel’ bristles on a flea, but my Dad would have been horrified if I had left my sable paintbrushes head down in turps!

We came up the three remaining locks on our own and pulled in on the long stretch of armco below Claydon bottom lock.

5½ miles, 7 locks

 

 

A trundle through Banbury

Saturday 30^th May; Nadkey Bridge to Spiceball Park  

We didn’t plan on going far today so didn’t rush to set off.  Between our mooring and Banbury are two lift bridges, which like many on the Oxford are ‘normally left open’ – we have never, as far as we can remember, had to operate any of them.  But today was different.

Shouldn’t Haynes’ lift bridge be open?

You can just see the bright blue of the rope which had been used to keep it closed – I couldn’t work out how, and neither could I shift it to open the bridge.  I tried pulling the rope on the offside but I wasn't heavy enough.  Luckily this is a popular dog walk from the housing estates and two people soon arrived to help. 

This lovely chap helped, the other walker encouraged us!

They confirmed it was normally open.  When we came past last week we had seen a cyclist trying to operate them from the offside, so we wondered if it was someone local.  Between us we got it closed again but I couldn’t work out how to ‘latch’ it.

The deck is badly warped.

I called the CRT emergency line as it looked so dodgy and soon had a call back.  The chap I spoke to said it was probably the farmer who had closed it – it’s his access to the fields that are otherwise cut off by the motorway – and as the fields are so large that is probably why we hadn’t spotted him.  He was pleased I had called, as that will enable them to bring the planned engineering check a bit closer.  The other lift bridge, Foxes, is due to be automated (presumably for windlass operation) later this year.  I’m sure that will delight the locals who otherwise have to go right down to Nadkey to get to the towpath.  On the way to moor at Tramway we passed the remains of the tree which had closed the navigation for 8 hours over a week ago.

8 hours is a whole day’s cruise for hirers, no wonder they were all rushing to catch up!

I popped over to Morrison’s for some shopping and the paper.  It was too early for lunch so we moved on – or tried to!  Forward gear had failed, but at least I managed to get back onto the bank with a rope and moor us up again.  It’s done this before, so Dave knew how to fix it - he unscrewed the panel, freed the red clutch button which had jammed and refitted the control handle over the cog.  It had come loose and needed re-tightening with an Allen key.  It didn’t take long and we were soon on the move again.  A boat was on the water point below the lock, so we went up the lock and used the water point above it.  The Milly M was closed up so we didn’t see Maffi or  Susan.  There was space to moor just past Tooley’s boatyard, just past the venerable Hardy which has been moored (or sunk) here for some years.

While Dave went to Lidl for the rest of the shopping I talked to one of the three men who were pumping some of the water out of Hardy. 

The last round of fundraising raised enough to buy some planking to replace the rotten patches, and soon they hope to take her into the dry dock to fit them – but more fundraising will, of course, be needed.  We noted that the donations box at the Thrupp book exchange was for the Tooley’s charity. 

Dave returned with the nice bread for lunch and we debated whether to stay where we were.  There is little footfall here – pedestrians have to cross the footbridge to get further along the canal – but with the fast-food places and other entertainment venues the potential for noise on a Saturday evening is considerable, so we moved up to Spiceball park.  The mooring wasn’t quite as good as last time, being a bit closer to the Fine Lady bread factory, but still good, and shady too – the sun was out and it was hot again.  Dave went up to B&Q and found a suitable bolt to replace the broken one on the side hatch, and a new fitting for the hose reel which leaks all over the well deck when in use.  It didn’t fit of course, but Dave used the washer to replace the original which had perished.

2½ miles, 2 lift bridges, 1 lock.

Tough locks as we approach Banbury

Friday 29th May; Somerton Meadows to Nadkey Bridge

This morning was quiet and cool, with high cloud which remained until the afternoon.  It was still warm enough for shorts and t-shirts when we set off, around 9.  Somerton Deep Lock was less than a mile along the cut.  This lock has a reputation for being difficult; the gates are heavy but I can deal with them on my own, and the top paddles are extremely stiff to operate.  But I can still do them too, I am pleased to report!

Twelve feet deep

Chisnell Lift Bridge was next.  This carries a footpath and is used by the farm as well.  Last time we came this way it was still raised by hand, using the BW key to release the catch that holds it closed, and pulling it back into place with a chain before re-latching it.  Now it is windlass-operated, very straightforward and easy.

Replaced in 2025

No need for the key now

The canal was still very quiet as we came through the long-term moorings at Aynho, past the wharf and under the permanently-raised Belcher’s lift bridge.

The deck is beginning to twist

We had to wait on the lock moorings at the diamond-shaped Aynho lock, where the Cherwell crosses the cut above it.  A boat was hovering in the slow-flowing stream above the lock as the crew struggled with the top gate, and she was glad of some help.  A Kiwi couple, they were on their way to the Thames and were booked to go up the Basingstoke canal later this year!  I wished them luck – the Basingstoke is notoriously short of water in the summer.  They were soon through and it was our turn.  The problem with the top gate is not its weight or stiffness so much as the slippery bricks on the opening arc, and the distance between the rows of bricks to brace your feet against – it’s fine if you have long legs but for shorties like me … well, I had to get Dave to creep up to rest the bow fender on the gate.  Not to push it you understand, but to stop it swinging shut again while I adjusted my feet!  At Nell Bridge, where the lock takes you back up onto the canal, a boat was on its way down, and with two of us heaving the tricky bottom gate, it was no trouble to open.  Once we were in I would have struggled to close it again but for two lovely chaps returning to the ‘project’ boat of one of them moored a little way along.  We soon passed under the M40 which is now more-or-less present until past Banbury.

Ox-eye daisies at a disused lift bridge

We paused for lunch above King’s Sutton lock but wanted to get closer to Banbury tonight, so didn’t stay long.  Silaging was continuing apace, the second cut of the year.  One farm was collecting it with the sucker-up machine which shoots it into a trailer, to stack it all together at the farm, the plastic covers held down by old tyres.  Another had the whizzy big bale machine like the one we saw yesterday, though this looked like a different design. 

Yesterday’s had an automatic system for cutting the plastic and releasing the bale.  Maybe this one’s was broken as the cheery driver was hacking at it with a small knife.

There have been plenty of kites to be seen on this trip, and today we saw maybe a dozen or more thermalling with buzzards above the boat.  It’s remarkably difficult to get a picture of both together when both boat and birds are moving!

The best I could get

The strong wind was blowing the noise of the motorway away, so we moored at Nadkey bridge, just before the new housing sprawl of Banbury.  Although the boat was now in full sun the heatwave had broken and the temperature was very pleasant.  The wind had dropped and the motorway noise became quite intrusive, but the evening was cool enough to be able to close the doors and the windows on that side of the boat.

Nadkey bridge, nearly sunset.  Pretty, apart from the graffiti.

5 locks, 1 lift bridge, 8½ miles

Watching the workers at Somerton Meadows

Thursday 28^th May; Baker’s Lock to Somerton Meadows

The early coolness was deceptive.  We met our first boat soon after we moved off at 8, someone else trying to avoid the heat, but the rest of the cruise was very quiet.  We were passing the golf course by 8.30, the golfers all out for their game but not needing their umbrellas sunshades just yet.  Dave said they looked like a parade of Norland nannies, with their golf carts for perambulators.  The work was easy apart from the heat, as most of the locks were in our favour or required very little emptying to open the bottom gate. 

Pigeon’s lock was baking

But the Enchanted Tea Gardens looked cool and shady

Northbrook lock was cool, with shade to stand in while the lock filled.

 

  

Dashwood lock was next and was right in the open.  On the top of the top gate on the offside, on the white-painted bit, I found this pellet.  Pellets are regurgitated by birds and consist of the remains of food which the bird can't digest, such as bones and insect wing cases.  On a lower part of the gate was another which had dried.  What could have produced it?  I though owl pellets and so on were found beneath roosts.  I broke the second one up with a stick, but there didn’t appear to be any little bones in it so it probably wasn’t an owl.

The closest I could find was a magpie.  I should have kept it and inspected the contents under a lens.

I had to operate Mill Lift bridge myself but with the key of power it was a doddle.  Only one house uses it for vehicle traffic and there were no walkers about, so it was all quiet.

Raised bed envy

At Heyford Common lock we met a couple of CRT bods checking the condition of the locks, one instructing the other who was learning on the job.  They said there was a crew dealing with a reported obstruction behind the gate at Somerton Deep lock, and they would then be on their way to Dashwood lock where an old boat had nearly got stuck a few days ago.  By now it was gone midday and terribly hot.  We pressed on to Somerton Meadow where there was already enough shade for a lunch stop.  As we would have had to go up Somerton Deep lock if we wanted to go further today, we decided to stay put.  It wasn’t quiet though.  On the offside, the grass behind the trees had been cut, and today was in the process of being baled, so tractors were working all afternoon.

This one was baling.  The grass was collected at the front of the yellow bit and then released at the back once the bale was complete.

Then the other tractor picked the bale up, positioning it carefully …

… for the whizzy machine to wrap it in black plastic.  I guess this was to make silage, maybe to feed the cattle in the meadow next winter.

Nearly 9 miles, 5 locks, Mill lift bridge, 4¾ hours – a long cruise in the heat!

Travelling north again

Wednesday 27^th 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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