18 Locks and 11 miles later I feel exhausted.
I’ve got to go to bed.
Going to leave you with these photos.
Day 44 – Newbury to Great Bedwyn
Month: October 2016
Day 43 – Theale to Newbury
Getting really bored of writing this blog now.
Can’t wait till it’s over and I can have a rest.
Leaving Theale
Today leaving Theale after my flooding incident at Garston locks.
The boat is more or less dried out.
Here’s a picture of a locks similar to Garston.
As you can see, the spouts of water project from under the gate, and in my case straight into the bow area.
On my case, it came up to the windows on the door, and started flowing in the frame.
Pulling the boat to the front of the locks is not a good idea with locks of this design.
Had it got worse, it would have come in through the wall vents.
Still, it’s fixed now.
I need to pick up a relay switch, because the horn no longer works. Continue reading “Day 43 – Theale to Newbury”
Day 42 – Goring to Theale
Starting to feel a bit tired now.
8 days without a break.
Came through Goring and Reading OK. No trouble with the river police over my invalid licence.
Stopped off at Tesco Extra in Reading, which was backing onto the river. Continue reading “Day 42 – Goring to Theale”
Day 41 – Oxford to Goring
Started at the ISIS lock, the entry to the river Thames. This kind of winds it’s way out of Oxford, then broadens out a bit after the Osney lock.
Wrong date
The lock keeper at the Osney lock issues me a licence with the wrong date on it.
I paid for 2 days, as you can see, but she’s yesterdays date on it, the 13th.
Also, I paid by cash. She’s put that I paid by card.
This is going to have the net effect of having me pulled up and making a claim that I haven’t paid, when really I have.
The blog is a testament to my movements. Also the photos I took on the 13th pretty clearly show that I wasn’t on the Thames.
Some fun for tomorrow.
Cruising down the Thames
Is much faster. The locks are all hydrolic. Continue reading “Day 41 – Oxford to Goring”
Day 40 – Aynho to Oxford
Another full day of boating through the unspoilt Oxfordshire countryside. This time, on the River Cherwell to Thrupp, where I was going to visit the deserted village; Hampton Gay.
After looking on Googlemaps satellite, it became clear, it was only 3 empty farmhouses and a dis-used church and really wasn’t worth getting the bike out for. I stopped in Thrupp for lunch, then moved on.
The canal is virtually deserted. During the course of a 10 hour day, I encounter possibly 5 boats.
It would have been impossible to make it from Claydon to Oxford in one day, even two is pushing it.
At Thrupp, the canal joins the River Cherwell. The draft and width of the canal becomes such for easy navigation, and it’s an hour of relative speed and relaxation.
Some times it’s raining. It’s fairly cold. I’ve caught a cold. Continue reading “Day 40 – Aynho to Oxford”