Saturday 17th
August 2019
We had a short cruise into Banbury where we moored at bridge 168 for a
visit to Morrison’s. It so easy when the supermarket is just across the canal
bridge. We made two visits, one for food and groceries, the other for dog food
and alcohol.
We then moved a short distance to the sanitary station for all the
necessaries, washing the bedding at the same time. We had to hold the boat
against the bank for a long time while another boat was doing their business.
It turned out the woman had gone shopping!
As it happened, Brenda visited the nearby Post Office for our mail while
doing the servicing, but protocol would have said to move if another boat
arrived.
Our holiday tickets have arrived.
Banbury Lock followed the sanitary station and a lift bridge
immediately afterwards, the canal here passing right next to Banbury’s Castle
Quays shopping mall. Tooley’s Boatyard is located next to the lift bridge and
in the midst of the shopping mall. This historic boatyard dates from 1780 and
was threatened with demolition before being saved and incorporated into this
Banbury development where, although it is still a working boatyard, it also
serves as a museum. It was at Tooley’s that Tom Rolt had his boat “Cressy”
prepared for his honeymoon cruise in 1939. This cruise was the basis of his book
“Narrowboat”, famous in canal circles, that led to the formation of the Inland Waterways
Association in 1946, an Association that has done so much to preserve and restore
our canal system.
We stopped again at bridge 163, while I visited Halfords and
B&Q’s. Great when they are so close. Bought more paint tray inserts and
brushes and a Karcher window vacuum cleaner for sucking up the oil and water
that gathers under the engine and is so hard to reach.
We then left Banbury behind us, without even riding the Cock Horse. It
is a shame we are having to pass up this canal so quickly, there is so much to
explore. Almost every small village, although mainly keeping their distance
from the canal, has its own wharf. These villages have got to be worth a visit.
There are also many isolated moorings on the southern Oxford, that are very
rural and isolated and would be worth a few days stopping for the peace and
quiet. Never mind, we hopefully, have many years to explore the system and will
be returning.
The state of the lock cottage at Bourton Lock boarded on being
criminal. The place was all boarded up and padlocked. There were signs of some
work being done on the place, some paving stones at the front and work on the
roof, but it all seemed so run down and very neglected and uncared for. And yet
it would be such a home to die for, for the right person. Such a shame.
Bourton Lock Cottage. Such a shame.
Brenda had such a fall at this lock. The paddles were extremely heavy
and, in trying to open them, the windlass slipped and she went tumbling over on
her backside. I was manoeuvring the boat for the lock and so took some time to
get to her. She has strained her shoulder but it could have been so much worse.
Locks can be very dangerous places.
It had seemed like a long day and so we moored just before Slat Mill
Lock outside Cropredy with nothing around us, just the lights from two farms
after dark and the sound of the distant railway. Lovely.
We had a dish for dinner that has become a firm favourite with us,
pasta and cheese sauce with prawns and mussels. We had also had a starter of
King Prawns with a salad including garlic and lemon grass.
Weather: a nice enough day.
Day Total: 3 locks; 4 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 1 Lift
Bridge; 0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 3.6
Overall Total: 686 locks; 1203 miles; 49 tunnels; 57 Swing Bridges; 11
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 760.5hrs
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