MoonlightHolly

January 1
Continued our break in Hassocks which included brief visits with Sue Hewer and Jenn Jeffery catching up on news.

January 2
After a short walk on the Downs and lunch with Angela’s mother we returned to Cropredy and found the boat as we had left it except that the interior was extremely cold. However this was righted by turning on the central heating and lighting the solid fuel stove.

January 3
Returned the hire car in the morning and prepared the boat for an early start the next day.

January 4
A good run from Cropredy to King’s Sutton where we moored up just before the rains, which had been threatening all day, finally fell. Unfortunately today approximately two miles south of Cropredy somebody had spilt a lot of lubricating oil in the water. This is one of the worst types of pollution on the canals but luckily this only happens infrequently. This is the first bad case that we have seen. As darkness fell the clouds cleared and we had a beautiful view of the illuminated spire of King’s Sutton church.

January 5
Another early start under a grey sky. The drops of water on the roof of the boat were beginning to turn to ice. The canal continued along the Cherwell River valley which is well punctuated by characteristic wooden lift bridges (most of these are left open nowadays) and extremely narrow stone bridges. With the M40 motorway one side and the railway the other there is a continuous drone of noise. However, the open scenery surpasses any ill effect from this.
Ayno Weir lock is special in that it can take two boats one alongside the other (unusual for a narrow canal). The reason for this is that the lock only has a one foot drop and if it were only wide enough for one boat there would not be enough water going down the canal to fill the next lock which is deeper.
A pleasant surprise was when we met up with Nb Hare, previously encountered in May outside Trevor on the Llangollen Canal. We traveled several hours in their company.
We moored just outside Lower Heyford.

January 6
Another cold, cloudy but dry day though a few flakes of snow did fall during the afternoon. The canal continued alongside the Cherwell and adopted the meandering characteristics of a contour canal. Much of the route was tree lined while its shallow banks and close relationship with the villages made it seem very river like. At Shipton Weir Lock the river and canal merge and share a common course for the next mile. This stretch can be hazardous if the river is in flood consequently for the two days prior to our arriving at this lock the First Mate was apprehensive. In the event, her fears were unfounded as the river level, though high, was still classified, on the marker boards, as normal.
At the end of this stretch we came across Nb POUYRI (Push Off Unless You R Invited) crewed by Stewart Heather and his wife who directed us to a good mooring in Thrupp, outside The Boat Inn where we enjoyed an excellent meal and a good chat with him later that evening.

January 7
It was gently raining when we left Thrupp on the last leg of our journey to Oxford. This section of the canal was not very pretty lined as it was with older, long term and residential boats. This was rather a let down after cruising through so many miles of beautiful countryside. It may present a better aspect in the summer. We did however manage to find a good 24 hour mooring spot and after making the boat safe, set off on foot for a short recce of the town centre.

January 8
We planned to spend at least a couple of days in Oxford before venturing on to the River Thames. One important thing was to check the route through Isis Lock to Godstow Lock. Our information sheet showed this latter lock to have restricted access during January, so rather than take the boat, we hiked across the fields, only to discover that the lock was well and truly closed. That determined our route from the Oxford Canal to the River Thames will be through Duke’s Cut.

January 9
Visited Oxford Public Library to update website and found that their computers would not access the "piczo" site. Completed the update in a local cyber cafe.

January 10
Finally left Oxford heading north then west along the Duke's Cut. This is a short stretch of water that joins the Oxford Canal with the River Thames. Had to clean plastic bags, twigs and reeds from the prop after going through the Duke's Cut Lock.
It was very windy as we proceeded upstream on the Thames, which at this point was about 75 meters wide. The river banks are only a couple of feet above the water so there is no protection from the wind as it blows across the flat, open countryside. Most of the time we were "crabbing" along.
Luxury, the locks are manned by Environmant Agency Lock Keepers, providing you arrive during their normal working hours. We passed through Eynsham Lock, Pinkhill and Northmoor where we were advised that we were only the third boat to pass this month! We moored just upstream of Northmoor.

January 11
A beautiful cloudless day, heavy frost in the morning but this soon cleared away. We continued up the river, through three more locks to end the day just above the Radcot Lock. What a twisty river this is, many 90 degree and even 180 degree bends, and as the river is narrowing the current is increasing - fun, fun, fun!!

January 12
The clear skies had disappeared and we were back motoring under the usual grey and wintery sky. The high winds were still with us. Even more sharp bends and at one point, a 180 degree curve, the spit of land between the river, upstream and downstream of the bend, was no more than 20 meters across. It was not too bad going upstream but it will be fun negotiating these bends on the way down.
St. John's Lock, the highest lock on the River Thames was reached by mid-afternoon. The gardens in front of the lock keeper's house contain an array of interesting miniature houses and the old stone carving of Old Father Thames, carved originally for the great exhibition at Crystal Palace.
The town of Lechlade lies just above the lock and this is the end of our journey on the Thames and also the limit of the "Usual Navigation for Powered Craft". Above Lechlade the river becomes too shallow for vessels with a deep draft though smaller craft can proceed.
We moored against the river bank just below Ha’penny Bridge. The bridge was so named as originally it was a toll bridge and the cost of the toll was one ha’penny.

January 13
We hiked along the southern bank of the river as far as the “Usual Limit of Navigation for Powered Craft”. This turned out to be the confluence of the presently unnavigable Thames and Severn Canal and the Rivers Thames and Colne. The guide book indicated that there would be sufficient water for a narrowboat to turn around at this point. I am glad we walked it first as there did not appear to be much depth of water, even the two fishermen dangling their maggots from the end of long poles agreed with us.

January 14
Heavy rain during the night persisted until mid afternoon. I don’t like rain when we are on a river (the lock keepers had warned us that the Thames rises very quickly after rain) so decided that it would be better to start the return trip down stream!
The river was wide enough where we had moored for us to turn around by anchoring the stern to the bank and letting the current swing the bows around. A couple of hikers stopped to watch the action and congratulated us on the performance.
One of the Environmental Agency inspection boats was at the St. John’s Lock when we arrived so we locked down together. A great bunch of guys and we were to see them several more times during the next two days. The EA control the operations along the Thames and even in winter make regular inspection trips along its length.
We took it easy for the first couple of miles, feeling the boat around the bends, as the boat handles quite differently going with the current versus against it. However she handled very well and there were no “near misses”!
All of the locks were manned, except Grafton, and had been prepared for our arrival thanks to the ever friendly lock keepers. We moored for the night just above the Northmoor Lock after covering a same distance in one day that took two days going upstream.
The rain clouds had cleared away and we watched a fantastic sunset whilst listening to gunshots from hordes of hunters crouching behind hedges shooting at pheasants aroused by their drivers.

January 15
A lovely cruise in weather that was not too cold nor windy, on a river that was widening with each mile that we passed. A wide river means that the bends are much less tight! We passed through the Pinkhill and Eynsham Locks, both of which had again been prepared in advance by the lock keepers. I think that they were glad of a bit of action as there were so few boats on this section of the Thames during winter. Mind you, the lock keepers are always busy as during the “off-season” they have a lot of maintenance to do, which includes painting and the upkeep of those beautiful gardens that surround each lock.
By mid-day we had passed through Duke’s Cut and were back on the Oxford Canal.
In six days on the River Thames we only saw two other boats, the EA inspection boat and Nb Edna May who was turning round above Eynsham Lock and followed us onto the Oxford Canal.
We reached Thrupp by early afternoon and moored for the night.

January 16
It rained on and off all day but that did not spoil the beauty of cruising the canal alongside the River Cherwell as it winds its way through wooded undulating scenery. There are many lift bridges, several of them are very heavy to open needing two people to operate them. (Or is it that the First Mate is getting old??)
We moored at Lower Heywood alongside that noisy railway line.

January 17
A beautiful sunny day and perfect for a winter’s cruise. We only saw one other narrowboat all day. Another golden sunset shining through dark clouds, as we moored just south of Aynho.

January 18
Today was a short cruise as we were now only three or four cruising days from our final destination (providing we were not stopped by the canal icing over). We moored just above the King’s Sutton Lock and walked into the village of King’s Sutton. An attractive village with narrow streets that wander in every direction. The centre is around the green, at the top of a hill, where rows of thatched cottages, two pubs and a church stand in quiet harmony. The church is superb with a tall slender spire that is illuminated at night and could be seen from our mooring spot. The Saxon font, which was found buried in the churchyard in 1923 has been linked to the baptism in AD662 of St Rumbold.

January 19
We remained at King’s Sutton enjoying short walks and carrying out minor maintenance.

January 20
Heavy rains during the night had dissipated and it remained clear all day. Most of the lift bridges were open so it did not take long to reach Banbury where we stopped for a couple of hours to buy groceries. Up three more locks and we were back in Cropredy where we were lucky to find a mooring in exactly the same place as before Christmas.

January 21 – 22
The weather was stable so we remained in Cropredy for these two days and went on long walks around the village and countryside.

January 23
The boat was covered in a heavy frost which had cleared by the time we departed for Fenny Compton. We said goodbye to John and Liz Haywood, and their dog Tara aboard Nb “Bide Your Time” as we passed them at their winter mooring site just north of Cropredy. Several boats were moving south which was good for us as it left most of the locks in our favour. A British Waterways crew were busy trimming and cutting overhanging trees along the way. The summit of this canal is reached at the Claydon Top Lock so it was nice to have more than 10 miles of lock free canal in front of us. This section is also the most exposed as far as the weather is concerned so we covered the majority of it before mooring up below the village of Wormleighton. The spot we picked was on the north side of Wormleighton Hill where the canal is three-quarters of the way up the hillside with views of the hills 20 to 30 miles away. At night we could see, reflected on the clouds, the lights of Warwick, Leamington Spa, Coventry, Rugby and Daventry.

January 24 – 27
We enjoyed the scenery and walks in this area for an additional 4 days. The village of Wormleighton located a mile from the canal was of special interest. An old manorial village that was founded in the 15th Century, abandoned during the Black Death but refounded in the 19th Century. The village church was built in the 12th Century and contains stained glass windows dedicated by the Spencer family and a stone plaque to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales. It was this last item that caused us to inquire more into the history of the village and we learned that Wormleighton was, from 1508 until 1640, the chief seat of the Spencer family. During that period they also owned an estate at Althorp and moved to this location when much of the Wormleighton Manor house was destroyed by the Royalists during the English Civil War.
A very picturesque and interesting place.

January 28
It was another cold night and a ¼” of ice covered the canal in the morning. The top of the boat was also covered in ice and the rear sliding hatch was frozen shut. We left our mooring and proceeded slowly towards Napton-on-the-Hill taking care that the ice did not cause any damage to the paint at the waterline. Within a few minutes of leaving we were overtaken by another narrowboat which must have been in a hurry and were able to follow in his tracks. A mile further on we met a boat coming towards us so the path through the ice was even wider.
We came to the end of the summit level and started the drop down to Napton negotiating the 9 locks before mooring in the 14 day area by The Folly pub, famous for its home made pies.

January 29
We remained in Napton and hiked to the top of Napton Hill and explored the windmill, now converted to a private residence, and the old church. In the evening we were visited by Phil and Conny Somerville who live aboard their boat “Tiger of Penrose” which is moored on the River Soar. A very pleasant evening was spent “catching up with the times” over a meal in nearby Staverton.

January 30 - 31
Our journey sadly came to an end as we moored up across the canal from the Calcutt Boats Marina. On January 31 we motored the final 100 metres and moored up on their wharf. We spent that last night on board packing up and preparing to leave Moonlight Holly next day.

Piczo