Clifton Hampden to Iffley Lock

Clifton Hampden to Iffley Lock : 15 miles, 4 locks
To date : 514 miles, 285 locks

Today we visited Abingdon.  What a gorgeous little town it is.  There's an Abbey with lovely gardens and amazing old buildings.  We thoroughly enjoyed our walk around the town and the gardens.  Even better.... although no benefit to us.... was that the moorings before and after the bridge allowed a stay of 5 consecutive days free of charge.  Now we really wish we'd taken a month license for the Thames instead of 14 days!  We haven't seen anywhere so far that you can stay so long for free.

As we walked into Abingdon I noticed a sign saying "twinned with Colmar, France".  I've been there in 2003 and it was a very nice place to visit.  I dug up some old pic.

Barry and Carol were happy to stumble across a little folding table just the right size for between the two lockers in their semi trad stern.  There's been much discussion of late about what to use for a table with Carol coming up with some creative ideas using their existing tall stool.  This was a much easier solution.

The lock keeper at Abingdon Lock was a chatty old fellow... full of "are you right there, m'darling".  We pulled the dinette apart today to swap duvet's to the summer weight one so took the opportunity of the water point at Abingdon Lock to wash the bed linen.  Not only are we not allowed to let our batteries get much below about 85%, but it Mick and Barry are now fretting about water levels!  Honestly!  We can go a week on a tank of water if we're careful and we've barely had to go 2 days on the Thames but at least it gives them something to worry about.  Mick received a little sign for his birthday and it was so appropriate.... given to him by someone who knows.  Check out the bottom line!!

On our way again after Abingdon and we were hoping to moor up before Iffley Lock.  I'm in need of a new camera.  The old one works most of the time but "most of the time" isn't good enough on an adventure of a lifetime.  Sometimes I've had to try 2 or 3 times to turn it on or off and I'm worried it'll just die on me just as a perfect photo opportunity arises.  So, tomorrow I'll go to Curry's in Oxford and hope they have my chosen model in stock.  I've had a Panasonic Lumix for years and it's been fantastic camera so I've chosen another similar.   I tried ringing today to check if Curry's in Oxford had one but gave up in disgust with all the button pressing necessary and then being on hold and finally the call dropping out.  I noticed Paul on nb Caxton just bought the same one I want and he seems very happy with it.  Now I just have to find one.

The locks on the Thames are all different sizes.  One today was barely long enough for two narrowboats one behind the other.  There was a third boat to fit in so they pulled us right to the front of the lock and as I stood at the bow with rope in hand I hoped madly that when they opened the sluices I wouldn't get soaked.  There was a steel flap hanging in front of each opening and this is what prevented the water shooting straight forward.  So I didn't get wet but there was a bit of spray.  The next lock was enormous.  The lock keeper said they could fit 12 narrowboats in that lock.  With only four boats in there... and one of those being a small cruiser... we felt dwarfed by the size of the lock.

After the last lock we planned for the day we had a couple of false attempts to moor.... first beside a pub but Mick and I decided we didn't want to sleep in the throes of a beer garden... and then where we couldn't get anywhere near close enough to get off the boat to even tie a rope.... we persevered just before Iffley Lock.  In fact we have a nice view of the lock entrance and weir.  It's the first time we've had a real garden at a mooring as we're against a jumbled stretch of wildflowers.  We have a plank to get off the boat for the first time but that's ok.  We're nice and close for an easy trip into Oxford tomorrow.

Goring to Clifton Hampden

Goring to Clifton Hampden : 14 miles, 4 locks
To date : 499 miles, 281 locks

We had arranged last night with the crew of nb Winton's Folly that we would meet them at Wallingford.  They had been there by bus yesterday and said there were some fab antique stores.  They figured if they gave us and hour or so head start we could have a look at the antique stores before they got there and we'd all move on again after lunch.

At 8.30am we were almost ready to go and looked out to see Barry and Carol outside their boat.  They were going to leave with us!  Two days running and they've been off early.  We were at the Goring Lock before the lock keeper started duty so had to work it ourselves.  Oh, my goodness!  It wasn't the lock mechanism that was a problem.... the instructions were easy to read.  But... all four of us stood on the lock sides trying to work out how to hold the ropes of the boat while someone went to work the lock.  We had no idea if it was a lock with side sluices or what sort of force there would be.  Mick was doing his little "hot shoe shuffle" and getting agitated about it all.  Barry.... seeing Mick was doing the flapping today.... decided to stay calm.  It's only ever one or the other of them... never both together... thank goodness.  Eventually we got sorted out and Carol went to operate the lock.  The lock keeper had arrived and shut himself in his little hut but I'm sure he was peeking out having a laugh.

Soon after came Cleeve Lock where we did a water top up.  Then we were on our way. 

Next stop was Wallingford.  I wish now we'd taken some pics when we arrived but I thought I'd do it later and then it was raining. Never mind.  There are plenty of moorings on both sides of the river after the bridge.  We moored on the left but the wharf is really high..... obviously designed for much larger boats than us.  We did manage to get the last spot where it is slightly lower but we had to climb on our taff seats to get off the boat.  nb Winton's Folly came in behind us and had their bow on the lower section at least.  It's a lovely spot with a single lane main street that has traffic lights either end.  So quaint.  We thoroughly enjoyed browsing the antique stores and then a grocery top up in the biggest Waitrose I've seen so far.  It's right in the centre of town.  It was raining when we came out of the supermarket so we hurried back in the rain with our grocery bags.  We had a quick lunch, I did a bit of work, and Mick went off in search of the paint store.  The Thames hasn't been a good place for painting the gunwale on the other side of the boat - we're always way too low below the bank.  With Oxford in sight he's hoping for a better opportunity.

The rain eased and we took off again, intending to moor up at Little Wittenham.  We passed the now familiar sights of grand riverside properties and boat houses.  There were also several WW2 pill boxes along the way.  When we reached Little Wittenham we decided to push on a bit further. We had moorings marked in our book at Clifton Hampden on both sides after the bridge.  When we arrived we both had an attempt at mooring up on the right.  We ended up with Mick on the bank with the centre rope.... me on the boat.... and we couldn't get the boat in anywhere near close enough.  In fact, we could barely get Mick back on the boat!  We thought we'd go back behind the tree and breast up with nb Winton's Folly but it looked like Barry and Carol were having the same problem so we all gave up.

For the first time since being on the Thames we turned the boat and headed back the way we came.  Just the other side of the bridge we'd seen a single mooring so we headed for that.  Another "turn around" to be facing the right way again and we got into the spot.  Our stern was out from the bank a little but that wasn't a problem.  nb Winton's Folly were struggling with the wind so Mick yelled out for them to come in beside us.  Only problem was he couldn't get a pin in the ground.  He kept hitting a rock.  By then Carol was peering across from their bow with rope in hand.  She threw it to Mick but it fell well short.  Another attempt and same result.  Barry was trying to quickly tie up to our stern and their bow was being blown further and further out.  It was rather comical from the bank but Carol was flustered and Barry was grumpy so it was no time to laugh.  When I saw Barry doing his "arm flinging" I yelled out to him to go around again and make another approach.  That would give us time to resolve the pin problem.  The second time was far more civilized. I was on the bow waiting to take Carol's rope and all was well.

It was immediately decided that today's boaters meeting should be at the pub.  We sorted ourselves out and walked across the bridge (another very pretty one way affair with traffic lights) to the Barley Mow.  Lovely pub it is!  My book says it was built in the 1300's.  We collapsed onto their nice saggy sofa and unwound.  Bad luck boys... you get the seats opposite.

 

 

Blog roll

I finally got around to sorting out my "blog roll".  I ended up deleting them all and starting again.  If anybody I was previously following notices they've disappeared, do let me know and I'll put you back.

Monday morning Mick went to take the rubbish down to the bins and imagine his surprise at 9am to see nb Winton's Folly coming around the bend.  We thought they must have wet the bed! We had left them behind Saturday afternoon and arranged to meet up in Goring but we hadn't expected they'd arrive until at least lunchtime.

We had a quiet day and I caught up on work.  The week before had been a bit difficult with work as we've been doing several hours of cruising every day.  It's been a lovely couple of days and just what we needed.

We sat to watch tv in the evening and had a very annoying fisherman disturbing us.  He was throwing his line over the boat down from us and then walking along the boats, holding his rod across the roof of each boat.  At Goring the bank is quite high and the walking path is up on the high bank.  There are a couple of sections of narrow, lower edging so shorter boats can moor there and still get off their boats.  It meant that people strolling by weren't right in front of our windows and we liked that.  You can see in the pic below one of the low sections at the front and we're on another low section at the back.  There's a whole river out there for him to fish so having someone down there walking up and down, up and down, up and down, right in front of our window was a bit annoying.

Lower Basildon to Goring

Lower Basildon to Goring : 2 miles, 0 locks
To date : 485 miles, 277 locks

What a peaceful night we had moored in a meadow.  Looking out the window in the morning didn't reveal a lot.  I did see a very colourful dragonfly.

We wanted to reach Goring mid-morning in the hope of finding a mooring on a sunny Sunday.  We knew it would be busy. 

After the short cruise we rounded the corner and there was the perfect spot waiting.  We were all settled in at 10.30am.  After our belated morning coffee we had a wander around the village which is small but very nice.

For lunch we went to The Catherine Wheel.... strange name for a pub.  They had a large beer garden with a couple of nice shade trees at the rear.  When we arrived there were two other tables occupied but while Mick was inside ordering our lunch an enormous crowd of cyclist poured in through the gate.  Thank goodness we got in before them.  Mick had a chicken and tarragon pie which he enjoyed and my pick was a lobster linguine... delicious.... so much so that Mick polished the last of it off.

It was a lovely lazy afternoon and we both felt it was just what we needed.  A bit of a wander to watch the activity down at the lock... reading a book.... chatting to passersby (someone's got to do it when Carol's not here to do her job).

This evening we got chatting to the folk on the cruiser behind us.  We ended up looking at each others boats.  What a difference there is inside those things... they're enormous!  Poor Tim mustn't have enjoyed looking at our boat so much.  At 6ft 8in he had to walk with his head tilted to the side.  When we reached the living area we offered him a chair and a beer.  Nice folk and we enjoyed the chat.

In all we had a very relaxed day.  Mick says I'm to point out that he enjoyed doing nothing.  England is everything we imagined on a day with such glorious weather.

When we first saw a cygnet doing this with their leg we thought it had a dislocated leg!  It appears to be a resting pose.