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