Winding Waterways and Pongy Pipes

 

Well I’m happy to report that the sun kept his hat on and where we were the weather didn’t break and we seemed to miss the fantastic storms that others elsewhere experienced.  I do like a nice storm mind, just not the rain that often accompanies it.  The strangest weather phenomenon we saw were thermals on the fields, only visible as they were picking up the hay recently chopped by the farmers.  We’d never seen them before, I guess they are usually invisible, and of course, Mrs Calm panicked, thinking she was seeing a tornado and envisaging the boat and all souls within being lifted and dumped later in the day in the Land of Oz.  Well, it wasn’t a tornado and there were no munchkins or flying monkeys but the thermals weren’t our only ‘first’ in the last week.

 

Whilst we weren't lifted and tossed away by the thermal, it did drop lots of grass on the boat!

On Tuesday 19^th, I was awakened by a call of nature, not to mention the dawn chorus, and took the opportunity to peek out at this thing I have heard spoken of but never seen – ‘sunrise’.  It was rather impressive too, for the first time ever, I was up and awake enough at 5.30am to get out on deck and take some photos of it.

I toyed with staying up and enjoying the peace of early morning, but my eyes were still heavy and the bed still warm, so I returned, waking for real around 9am.  The mist had lifted completely and it was a beautiful, sunny morning again.  We set off with the kayak strapped to the roof (“nothing on the roof” rules waved for the holidays!) heading for Kelmscott where we had arranged to meet Sheila and Nigel who were joining us for the night.  We soon reached our first lock of the day and could see a boat was already in and going up.  Well, fat-bottomed girls may make the rockin' world go round but fat-bottomed boats (widebeams) mean you can’t share locks and have to wait to follow them up!  We were behind WB Kristal, but given the bends in the river in the next stretch, I was glad we were behind her and not meeting her head on!  All the locks seemed to be on self-service even though our first was not during the lockies’ lunch hour, 1-2pm so we helped Kristal up and on her way and then put ourselves through.

 

Pretty Tadpole Bridge

Waiting at the lock for the fat-bottomed one to rise!

Coos lining up to get their photo taken.

Just above Radcot Lock, Kristal moored up and we continued up through Grafton Lock, with NB Grace, which was manned by a lovely volunteer lock-keeper who gave us lots of info on the pub at Kelmscott and Kelmscott Manor which we hoped to visit in the morning.  We wound our way to Kelmscott and moored on the meadow near the manor, the pub moorings being taken up by two mouldy-looking cruisers spaced along enough to not allow anyone else on and which had obviously been there for some time.  The day had been roasting and we were dying to get in for a swim, so as soon as Sheila and Nigel arrived it was cossies on and in.  Everything went swimmingly until Sheila tried to get back out again…… It’s a high boat to climb back onto and whilst three of us managed to use our ladder, Sheila has problems with her fingers locking and she couldn’t grasp the ropes.  Also, she’s a bit shorter than us, so didn’t have the height to reach up to the handrail and pull herself out.  We explored various other options and between us all, me back in the water helping from behind, we got her out.  As we dried off we enjoyed a bottle of bubbly they’d brought – sometimes life on the water is terribly civilised, until you have another bottle, then it gets a bit less so……….  We had booked a table at the Plough Inn for dinner, so got ready and headed there, more wine, for 7.30-8pm.  It was a hot night and we’d got the last table when we booked earlier in the day, so the service was slow but we weren’t in a rush.  The food was very good, but it was incredibly slow in coming and they forgot my side order of fries, so definitely worth a visit, but don’t be in a rush or on a timescale.  We staggered back down the dark lane to the boat where Nigel suggested cracking open a bottle of wine, which we did but I think he was the only one who drank any!!  We were a little rough round the edges next morning, but probably not as bad as we should have been.  One cooked breakfast later and we headed up to the Manor at 11am as it opened.  It was already very busy but they do timed tours into the house so there are never too many people at the one time, which is great.  The house is AMAZING.  I loved it.  It was the country retreat of William Morris and his family for 25 years and whilst the structure and some of the furniture is original, some furniture having belonged to the Turners, from whom Morris bought the property, the rooms  have been given the Morris touch with his wallpaper and textiles.  It is really fantastic, and well worth a visit, though note, it is only open on Wednesday and Saturday.  We were glad we had arrived on Tuesday as there was only NB Grace and us moored, but by 11am on the Wednesday, there were another three boats with us and more turning up to moor further down the meadow.

I WANT these tiles.......

I love this.  This is William Morris's bed and embroidered around the pelmet is the poem he wrote for it, cos he loved it!!  I think I might write a poem to my bed......

Neil; This is the outdoor lavvy, which can accommodate three at a time!!!

Kelmscott Manor - wonderful!

Back on the boat, we moved off, with Sheila and Nigel joining us for a cruise up to Buscot Lock where we parted ways; them back to the car and us on to Lechlade for the night.   

Til next time Sheila and Nigel - take care xxxx

 After more tight bends, another lock, many warnings about the boat-eating cows we arrived at Lechlade and headed into the town for a look and the biggest ‘small’ ice cream I’ve ever had!!  It was from the wee Italian deli on the main street and I had the licorice flavour, which was amazing!  We had an early dinner and in the evening an old colleague of Mike’s from his time at Cranfield popped over to say hello and join us for a cuppa.  The next morning, we paid our dues to the farmer for the pleasure of fighting off the boat-eating cows and headed off up to the furthest point you can navigate the Thames, where we grounded, winded and then began our journey back again.

The Ha'penny Bridge at Lechlade - used to be a toll.

Beware the coos!!  As you see, I had coiled our centreline ropes neatly on the roof, below the profile of the handrails, but in the morning, the rope was dangling in the water - thankfully intact, but someone had made an attempt on them!!

The Round House, as far up the source of the Thames as is navigable.

We did quite a longish day on Thursday as we needed to get to Newbridge a) because we had arranged for an Ocado delivery to the pub there and b) we were meeting Laura, another ex-colleague from Cranfield.  When we got there there were already two boats moored on the pub mooring we’d hoped to get, but NB Zodiak kindly offered us to come alongside with them, “…although it’s a bit smelly…” Mr Zodiak added.  No, not their toilet tank, but a pipe near the mooring that something smelling suspiciously like sewage was trickling out of.  It was really bad, so bad, that we went to the pub for tea because we couldn’t bear to cook or eat in that stench.  Mr Zodiak mentioned it to the pub staff as it looked like it might be an overflow from their septic tank, or something, but they weren’t interested.  Just as Mike was halfway through his burger, Ocado arrived, so he dealt with the shopping while I finished my scampi and guarded the remains of his ‘til he got back.  Back onboard, we’d just put the shopping away when Laura arrived, holding her nose, so we were quick to point out the pipe ie. it’s not us!  We went to the other pub across the bridge for the evening which was very pleasant.  In the morning the smell was there, just as strong as ever, so I reported it to the Environment Agency, who manage the Thames.  I was thanked and given an incident number, but I’ve not heard anything else to date, and don’t know if I will or not.  Anyway, we were away from our mooring uncharacteristically early, as we didn’t fancy our morning tea and breakfast inhaling others’ waste, so we moved off just after 8am and pootled along to Northmoor Lock, which has a long lock landing, so we sat and had our breakfast there.  We were then just an hour away from the Meadow at Eynsham where we’d moored at the start of our Upper Thames adventure last week and where we’d spend the night.  

Radcot Bridge - dating back to the 13th century it's considered the oldest bridge on the Thames

Lots of different vessels cruise the Thames

As soon as we got there we were in for a swim, having missed out the last couple of days, and then got the kayak out for a paddle.  It was another lovely evening in a great setting and we were starting to get that feeling you get as you sit at the airport to come home from your holiday; watching all the new arrivals, full of excitement as you wait to board to return to humdrum days……  We really didn’t want to leave the Upper Thames, so we didn’t.  We stayed another night – yippppeeee!!!  Which meant a really lazy day on Saturday, swimming, kayaking, reading….enjoying the weather and surroundings.  We decided to kayak down through the bridge to the lock at Eynsham, where we chatted to the lockie and Mike went to suss out parking for our friend David (ex-boater of Pas Meche, fondly known as The Perche cos Mike can’t pronounce Pas Meche…), who was coming to visit on Saturday night.  By the time he’d done that and I’d sat around chatting, a boat was coming up the lock, so we hitched a lift with ‘Hair of the Dog’ back upstream to Quaintrelle.  It was great fun!!!  Soooo much faster and almost worth kayaking a bit of distance to get a lift back!

 

Practicing man-overboard manouevres with the life ring...

That darn owl again....I mean Barn........

David duly arrived and joined us for a swim, leaping gazelle-like up onto the roof to bomb in and we (eventually) had a bar-b-que for tea all making for a very pleasant evening indeed.

On Sunday we headed onwards down the Thames and past the Duke’s Cut where we had joined it from the Oxford canal the previous Sunday, so new waters again for an hour or two, but still with that ‘end of holiday’ weight on our shoulders. 

Leaving Toby and Sue on Baleine at Eynsham :(

 

Heads say left, but hearts would prefer right :(

Remains of a 12th century nunnery at Godstow - said to be haunted, we didn't wait around to see if it was.

We reached the junction with the bottom of the canal and turned left and went up Isis lock so we could spend a couple of days in Oxford.  We’ve been before in 2014 when we spent a couple of weeks here whilst Mike recovered from his hernia op, so it was quite nice to be somewhere familiar again, and we like Oxford.  However, we’ve done quite a bit of the touristy stuff so this time planned to do the History of Science Museum and then spend a day at Blenheim Palace.  So on Monday, after a visit to Specsavers for Mike and a leg wax for me, we headed into town, only to discover on our way in that the museum is closed on a Monday.  It was too late to start heading out to Blenheim, so we went into the Eagle and Child for a pint while we decided what to do.  We then did some shopping, picked up Mike’s new reading glasses, went to the castle, got lost then came back to the boat.  

 

I must have misbehaved at the Castle, the next thing I knew....

.....I was in the stocks!!!!!

 On Tuesday we got the bus to Blenheim Palace, £22 each for the bus and palace entry when you buy your palace ticket from the bus driver, compared to £24.50 palace entry alone if you don’t – bargain!!  The palace is interesting and there’s a good Churchill Exhibition but it was the grounds that made it for me, they are fantastic.  We didn’t do any of the additional tours as they were £5 each on top of what you’ve already paid, so it can be quite an expensive day really.  But I suppose it enables the upkeep of the estate and keeps the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough in clean clothes so………  Once back at the boat, I went for a run, having had a holiday from it last week as it was too hot and the path on the upper Thames involves a lot of fields which aren’t the best surface.  I then walked up to Jericho, which is such a great area, and got some bits and pieces from the Coop there.

 

Blenheim Palace - very nice.

The Cascades at Blenheim, designed by Capabiity Brown.  Just one of the many beautiful features of the grounds.

Horse sculpture.

This morning, we had to move as we’d had our two free days mooring, so rather than an extended journey up to Duke’s Cut to wind (turn round), we just backed down to the lock and went through it backwards, which felt a bit strange but it saved a bit of time.  We moored on the lock pontoon to get water, then as there was no one around, washed the boat while we were there.  She was absolutely filthy having got dusty from the farmers cutting the fields on the Thames and being under a tree dropping sticky sap and birds dropping big plops on her for the last couple of days!!

We then headed onto the Thames and moored up just below Osney bridge on the 24 hr visitor moorings allowing us an extra day in Oxford to do the History of Science museum.

 

Einstein's blackboard!  There was a smaller board explaining what all this gobbledegook was, but I didn't understand it either!!

Lawrence of Arabia's Camera - fantastic!  This is a great wee museum, lots of beautiful, interesting stuff and it's free!!

Back at the boat I have taken a bit more time to write the blog than the last couple as I’ve felt I’ve been rushing them and missing a bit of detail out – I mean, you really did need to know about Mike’s eye test and my leg wax didn’t you………….  Tomorrow we start on our way to London, slowly of course hoping that the weather stays good for another wee while.