Sunday 18th
August 2019
We had kippers and poached eggs for breakfast. Love kippers but not when
you taste them all day. We were also treated to a dazzling light display in the
boat. It is lovely when this happens. With the sun in the right direction, and
at the correct angle, the light off the water shimmers across the ceiling and
the reflections from the crystal ware and glass mosaic oil burner sparkle over
the walls and ceiling.
We had a very short run into Cropredy, less than 2 miles and through
the one lock. We have not been doing too well at keeping our Sunday’s and so
were stopping here and visiting the pub prior to our dinner.
Cropredy is one of the must-visit places on the canal system. Well
known for its annual Folk Festival which was held over last weekend. We had
heard stories of boats being moved to Cropredy in May, on 48 hour moorings, and
left there as accommodation over the weekend of the festival. So selfish.
We had a walk around the village. The River Cherwell parts company
with the canal here and a plaque on the river bridge tells of the Civil War
Battle of Cropredy Bridge in June 1644. The battle ended in stalemate, but was
regarded as a Royalist victory that demoralised the Parliamentarian Army which
led to a lot of desertion and ultimately, the formation of Cromwell’s New Model
Army.
The old centre of Cropredy is a lovely timeless place with a lot of
thatched cottages, but the village has a lot of plain, social-type housing on
its edges. The canal-front is attractive with its pretty lock, as is the
thatched terrace in which sits the Red Lion pub. This pub, said to date from the
12th century, used for various reasons down the ages with at least
two ghosts, was a cosy, friendly place full of character with its low beams and
inglenook fireplace.
After walking through the churchyard we presently came to the second
pub in the village. A definite contrast to the Red Lion, it was a cold and
anonymous place.
A depressing view of dereliction from
the front cratch
It was on the news tonight, the three cooling towers at Didcot Power
Station that we could see from one of our Thames moorings, were demolished by
explosives. Would have loved to have witnessed that. And now the same mooring
will seem all the more isolated.
Weather: a nice enough day, but a lot cooler than of late.
Day Total: 1 locks; 2 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges;
0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 1.1
Overall Total: 687 locks; 1205 miles; 49 tunnels; 57 Swing Bridges; 11
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 761.6hrs
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