27th July '15

The rain came down, the wind blew, and we had to get on the way and continue up-river towards Oxford.

We were lucky insofar as either the locks had staff or else someone else had got in before us so we (by that I mean John) didn't have to operate them, so both of us were able to hold ropes. I got instruction from one of the lock-keepers on how to throw a rope to get it around the bollard, but I haven't had a chance to  practice as yet.

It's amazing how different the river looks going in the opposite direction. Quite hard to see the way at times, mind you having the pram cover up to protect us from the rain didn't help, each shower made the front of it impossible to see through.

Whenever I set out along the gunwales he said 'don't fall in you'll go straight to the bottom wearing that'. meaning my boat coat. At one point when I finished the sentence for him, he added the proviso that he may have to stand on my head to ensure it. Delightful!

After another long day we arrived at Osney Lock, which is the last one before going up the cut to go through Isis Lock to get onto the canal, we met Simon and Ally (sorry for spelling it wrong before) and we breasted up to them as there were no moorings available, plus officially our permit ran out at midnight and technically we were still on the Thames.

We went out and found a brilliant Pizza place plus we visited a pub that they'd discovered. Excellent evening with lovely company.

This morning we said our goodbyes again and set off for our 20min voyage onto the Oxford Canal. Oh joy! single locks again. It's the little things in life. We have a good mooring and are opposite the Italianate Bell Tower, which tinkles out a pretty tune. It's also not QUITE as far to walk into town from here.

We went back today at lunchtime to the pub of last night but they were shut. The Blenheim, worth a visit if you're in Oxford and like a good pint.

We did the tourist thing today which we haven't really done here before and visited the Castle.

A view of Oxford from the top of the motte. There were some people making a film from up here and there was some poor chap in the road below that was having to run down the pavement, trip, fall, get up and continue running. I don't know how many times he had to do it but I'm sure it constituted abuse!

Right up at the summit there was still a well chamber, to ensure that if they were stranded in the bailey for any time, they'd at least have a water supply.

The castle would have been huge when it was complete and we had an excellent guide who really bought it alive for us. It was also used as a prison up until 1996 and conditions were grim, but to be honest they were at least a bit of a deterrent!

Just up the road from the pub we saw this, also shut unfortunately but it appears to be a story room. Anyone who's read Lord of the Rings will appreciate these lanterns, I just couldn't resist.

We also had a walk around to Christ Church and were going to go in but the ticket was for the Hall as well as the Cathedral and we didn't have time to do it justice with the castle as well. I wasn't too bothered but John has just informed me that the hall was used for filming for Harry Potter, as the refectory, so I'm a bit more enthusiastic now. We're probably staying tomorrow as we have 48 hour moorings here so we shall see.

25th July '15

We had a good explore around Reading on Thursday afternoon and discovered the station and bought my tickets for tomorrow.

 

The old Abbey gatehouse, just a few minutes behind the moorings at the gaol.

 

A lovely little carving that has stayed in remarkable condition at the side of the gateway.

 

 



St Lawrence Church that was part of the Abbey complex, originally built by Henry I. Before that apparently Vikings used this corner of the Thames / Kennet at a base for raids on the surrounding country.

ON Friday I caught the train as planned and visited my mum. It was lovely to have such a short journey and it made the day a lot quicker than normal. I like travelling by train though, and missed the buzz of being on the London underground system and charging from one platform to another. I'm a true country girl, but still love London and cities for visits. Unfortunately it poured with rain all day, I'd worked out that I'd been doing these rail journeys to mum's for over a year and this one in July had the worst weather I'd yet encountered! Great British summer.

We were going to stay in Reading until Sunday but the weather forecast was pretty awful so we decided to get moving on Saturday instead. It meant that we had to miss the Mikron Theatre who were going to be performing on Sat, evening in the gardens just behind the moorings, but we thought it was best to move on a good day. As it was. it started pretty miserable but brightened up as we travelled although there was a cool breeze for most of the day. Actually to be honest we had a gale blowing in our faces for the first section, that and going against the flow made for a long day.

Leaving the last lock on the Kennet this morning. It was suddenly busy with two of us in the lock, one waiting to go up and 2 more waiting to go down. We were the only ones going Oxford way though. However we still found it pretty busy in most of the locks, but it was joyful having them operated for us.

A new suspension bridge being constructed across the Thames, beautiful lines.



It's not always clear which way you have to go on the river, but this sign at least is obvious. Some are so obscured by undergrowth that you can't see them and some seem to have disappeared altogether.

Lots of plastic pigs all moored up. At one point the one we'd been following for ages moored up and there were hundreds of them all having a BBQ. At least if they're moored they're not in the locks! It's always a bit worrying because if one of our proper boats hit one of the plastic ones it would be carnage! Try telling the insurance about that!

We've got a superb mooring on Benson Lock for tonight, with permission from the lovely lady lockkeeper! I'd been chatting to her and then said as we were leaving that we were just going to stop outside the lock for Paddy to have a pee break! Poor lad had been hanging on for hours.... and she said if we went over the other side we could stay as long as we liked, so we asked if that meant we could moor there for the night and she said that would be fine. We are really having so much better luck with moorings since we bought the shears.

We'd covered 20 miles and 7 locks and by the time we'd moored up we were both pooped, because it took about 7 hours. so we went out and found a pub (Three Horseshoes) recommended by the lockkeeper and had a lovely meal. We went out last night for an Indian as well so my diet needs to be got back under control asap

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Traction engine sat outside the pub. It been a busy day today, as we came past Goring they were having their Regatta, thousands of people, hundreds of boats and at least the sun was shining. Not as posh as Henley one feels but everyone looked as if they were enjoying themselves.

Tomorrow we have to get to Oxford as we only got a 2 day pass for the Thames, it was either that or a week and we want to get back onto the narrow canals again, and explore the Oxford one more. Rain is forecast, so we have our fingers crossed that they are wrong!

23rd July '15

Well yesterday evening brightened up considerably, in fact the rain only lasted as long as it took me to type the last couple of sentences yesterday!

So the four of us decided to have our BBQ after all.

 

Here's John busy doing 'man' things with our lovely Cobb that doesn't get half the use it ought to, but now we've discovered the foil inner thingys that catch all the fat, I suspect we might be tempted to use it more often.

At the risk of losing two very new but already dear friends.... here's Simon's BBQ bucket....

To be fair it IS a Waitrose bucket, and it cooked their steaks beautifully. It also stayed hot for a long time....come on Simon, what else can I say about it?

Ali and I did our bit in the background, preparing salads, side-dishes and potatoes, and a feast was had by all!

The ladies with a drink or two!

Ali still with a drink or two.....just saying....

A visitor - not sure why it's so hazy, I think the sun was going down and it was rather dappled on the water. She's a Mandarin and we saw her with a chick when we came up a month or so ago, but no sign of chick now and neither times have we seen hubby. Poor girl, hope she hasn't lost both of them.
We stayed up chatting until almost 11! quite something for us and I probably drank more than I've done all the trip, but it was lovely. When we realised it was dark we packed up and fell into bed. There was a minor incident with the lid of the Cobb falling in the river, but I got it out, with Ali's help and so far John doesn't know! Oooops!

We left our moorings fairly soon after 9 this morning, and although it was somewhat overcast, it was dry. We negotiated just over 6 miles with 7 locks and one electric bridge today in a bit over 2.5 hours. we really got into a rhythm and this included quite a few right-angled bends in the river, most with overhanging branches!

They're pretty sizeable locks around here, apparently they were build to accommodate 'Newbury barges' which were 19' wide and 109' long, able to carry loads of up to 100tons. They must have been a joy to navigate around afore mentioned bends, it was bad enough with 20tons and 62'!

This one's for Ali, she was very excited about seeing a traffic light on the canal. It's at County Lock leading into Reading and is necessary because there is a rather low. narrow bridge to navigate and you can't have boats going in opposite directions trying to get through at the same time.

We said our goodbyes here as Simon and Ali were heading off to the Thames for a week or so and we were going around to moor by the gaol again. Have a good time on the Thames both of you.

 

 

 

Shots of Reading coming through the Oracle shopping centre.

The others heading off to the Thames just before we turn left to find a mooring. And there were plenty to be had. We managed to get into the 'nice' end for the first time, next to the gardens rather than by the overflowing rubbish bins!

We're off to find the station as I want to go and visit my mum tomorrow on the train. Apparently it's not too long a walk so we shall see. I put some washing out when we arrived and we've had the obligatory 2 minutes of rain and now it seems OK, so we shall go exploring.

22nd July '15

We went over to the pub last night, as it was there and I had the worst beer I've encountered on the trip. It was called Same Again, and I can only say not for me thank you very much! I tried John's and his wasn't too good either. Shame but there you go.

Just to prove to myself that I really did see their boat!

This is Woolhampton Bridge that has to be raised (after traffic has stopped, not as much fun but safer) after you get through the lock. Doesn't look so scary now somehow.

We were getting ready to leave this morning, when a boat went past and asked if we wanted to share the lock. We did and continued to share with Simon and Ali through all the locks. We did 6 miles, 6 locks and 6 bridges (various) today in 4 hours so it was a good partnership!

 

The river becomes very bendy, green and narrow around here. Hard to believe that it's a wide beam navigation. The branches practically meet overhead in places and I had to hang onto the aerial that we keep on the top of the boat at times.

Some of the locks were quite busy, although the waterway has been remarkably quiet all day. The sun was out right up until the moment we moored, so my lovely white cotton bedding is having to dry under the pram cover at the back rather than blowing in the breeze, typical!

I was very taken with their Buckby can. I've been supposed to be painting one for us for a couple of years - I actually bought it on the Buckby locks 2 years ago, but somehow it seems to be taking forever. Then I see one as beautiful as this and I get a bit despondent. I think mine will be, let us say, more rustic! I certainly couldn't emulate the beautiful kingfishers on this one.

Here they are following us around the corner just before Sheffield Lock, where, miraculously, there were moorings for us and to spare! This means that tomorrow we can have a relatively easy ride down to Reading and then I shall go by train to visit my Mum on Friday. Excellent.
We had a chat with Simon and Ali when we moored and have agreed that our methods of dealing with the locks are very similar and so we shall travel together tomorrow as they are going onto the Thames, when we head into Reading. Lovely.

Shame about the weather or we might have had a BBQ. we have all the kit and the path is wide enough here to mean we're not obstructing anyone....but it's not to be.

21st July '15

We didn't move yesterday as all three of us had poorly tummies. Plus the weather was miserable, so we decided to stay put and John was able to watch the golf all afternoon and into the evening. It was the Open final so he's allowed!
I spent the day nursing my poorly eye. after yesterdays problem with a contact lens I tried putting them in today but my right eye was still sore, so I gave it a days rest. I went out and bought an eye patch so that I could still wear my other one without getting a headache, but it wasn't a great success.
All of this after getting up at 7.30am.... early starts are obviously not good for us!

This morning the sun was shining, we all felt better and so we were off at 9!

Goodbye to Newbury! leaving our mooring.

We had a brilliant day, 6 miles, 8 locks and 4 swing bridges in just over 4 hours! We had all but one lock in our favour and of course we are now going with the current. There was also quite a stiff breeze that was behind us most of the time so all in all a good time.

This is Tesco's from the canal...don't you think that they could do something with CRT and make a few moorings for shoppers? We'd have bought a lot more in there if we hadn't had to lug it so far back to the mooring.

Not altogether sure why I took this one,  probably because there were two boats coming up and so I was able to go straight in.

Monkey Marsh lock - one of the turf locks. I know I've put pictures of this up before but I am half fascinated and half appalled by them and since this is the second to last one I'll ever be in I've added it!

As we came out of the lock I saw this little sign, that I'd never noticed before. Thought it was rather nice and very overlooked.

We are moored at the top of Woolhampton Lock, all ready for the worst bit on the canal tomorrow. Its such a nice day that it's a shame not to cruise for longer, but the next mooring is at Sheffield lock and getting there as late in the day as we would, we  wouldn't get a spot. Here we're not actually on the moorings but at least we can get off the front easily.

John won't be amused that I'm sharing this but for 2 of the locks there was a gate open and so he took us in. This is normally my job but if he's on the boat he does it. Both times he made a right pigs ear of it. I felt so smug. When I make an error he stands there with a pained expression making me feel 10  times worse, so I quite enjoyed my brief moment of superiority!! especially since at the second lock it happened, there were crowds of volunteers painting it all.

I've just taken Paddy out for a walk past the lock and bridge and spotted a boat coming this way through the bridge. This confused me because there was a boat in the lock going down and instructions are very specific to work the two together. I called out to the lady steering the boat that she'd have to stop there as there was a boat in the lock. She looked bemused but I carried on. Coming back a few minutes later (Paddy doesn't hang about on walks, he does what's necessary then turns for home) the chap was pulling her in against the current. I said that it was best to get the lock ready before the bridge and her comment was "Yes that's what it said in the book" NO hope for some is there? They survived as we saw them come past a bit later.

I also spotted the Mikron boat outside the pub but strangely they aren't performing here, they were a week ago but are in Oxford tonight? Very confused.

19th July '15

Yes! I have a computer and YES I can now add pictures to the blog! it's the little things that make one happy!
This was our mooring in Bath and the evening sun was shining on the building opposite and what with the reflection as well I couldn't resist it!

This was the hen party in Bath who we befriended through the locks so that they could turn! Lovely ladies.

 

This is my perspective of the deep lock in Bath - it's 19'6" which makes it the second deepest on the system I understand!

waterlilies in the Caen Locks! they weren't quite in flower at the time as the sum was just coming out. They were the yellow ones which aren't as nice as the white ones in my opinion but it was an impressive covering.

 

Goats spotted in the last few days by the side of the canal at the end of someone's garden!

The unexpected moorings we found a few days ago with pilings! such luxury!!! but no signal of any sort, you can't have everything.

Rather beautiful pink water lily spotted,

A few moments to graze while the humans poled the boat into a lock. Everyone on board was eating cream teas.....

Paddy enjoying himself on a walk!

now I know I can add photos, I'll try and ensure that I get some for each post. We are in Newbury. Rachel and Paul visited us yesterday but Rachel was still recovering from a bout of flu as wasn't feeling too great so they went home today.
We rang Tom as it's his birthday today. We've also moved the boat through the town lock so that we were closer to the Tesco's and we stocked up ready for the next few days heading back to Reading.
hoping for a fairly early start tomorrow as it's going to be a long day.
I'm suffering a bit as I had a contact lens swivel around my eye and it caused me a lot of grief, I shalln't be sad to get to bed tonight.

16th July '15

Couldn't write anything yesterday, since there was no signal where we were moored!
We left Crofton early and as we were getting underway, a CRT chap comes along and says that their sign is in the wrong place! I suggest they move it then! But it was nice having a good mooring.
Most of the locks seemed to be against us, as they have to be left empty. Those that didn't have a sign saying leave empty, leaked so much that they'd emptied themselves. It was very quiet, hardly any boats moving at all, although we were lucky enough to meet a opulent coming out of locks, which was nice.
Out plan had been to get to Hungerford, but we saw some vacant pilings  (yes....pillings!)
Today, We left our nice mooring and were joined by Steve who was moving their boat while his wife was at work ( with her knowledge...not just to upset her!).
He completely restored our faith in single handed boaters. He took turns at opening and shutting locks, and was lovely to have around. He was only going a few locks so we left him at Hungerford Marsh Lock, which is the quirky one with a swing bridge in the middle of it!
It became busy at this point with two wide beams and one narrow all coming our way, so we had help  which was nice.
Because we now didn't need to moor at Hungerford, there were moorings in all parts! Before the lock, on the wharf and opposite. We'd decided however that if we moored at Kintbury it would be a short run into Newbury. So we stopped and filled up with water at the wharf and managed to join Eezyduzit. Neil and Dawn had only bought her less than a week before and were taking her up to Hertfordshire, where they live.
We went down through several locks together and then they went on at Kintbury while we hoped to moor. No such luck...a few attempts but we just couldn't get close enough so we went on through and found them still above the lock at a water point! Result!
We continued on our way, passing the Horse drawn boat on the way. They were all eating scones with jam and cream, on board ...and I'm on a fast day. Just not fair.
I'd marked on our map, that there were some short moorings at the end of a straight and sure enough we could see a boat moored on them, now we felt that Newbury was our only hope, but....lo and behold, there was room for us to get in ,although it meant that we had to get off at the back, that was a small price to pay for a decent mooring. Hooray.
Neil and Dawn were heading into Newbury as they were low on supplies and wanted a pub meal. Just hope they were lucky.