Month: October 2021

Bonnie in London – Tackley to Kings Lock on the Thames

Starting at 10.10, it was quite a full day, didn’t manage to stop for a lunch break until 2pm.

The rain had abated pretty much, for most of the journey. Wind was up though and the draft, (canal depth beneath the boat), was shallow making it laborious travel in parts.

I managed to stop to get water. 17 miles seems like a lot in a day.

Last time I came down this way, I made it all the way from Aynho to here in one day!

Shocking. I’ve no idea how I did that.

That’s a lot of boating in one day.

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Bonnie in London – Journey down, Tackley

Not far from London. Closer than Aynho at any rate…

So here I am after my first days cruising close to the village above named.

My clothes are damp, my dinner is cooking, the fire is lit, the whiskey it out.

I managed to make it just over 10 miles before the sun went down.

Rain

It rained pretty much all day.

Never that heavy, but just persistent low cloud rain. It added it’s slippery touch to the lock paving stones and brickage, making it a fertile ground for breaking one’s neck…

I wondered as I made my way down the locks, how solo female boaters do it in the rain. These big heavy lock gates were barely moveable by me. At I’m a big strong man.

If it is even possible, why do they bother? In the rain, it just seems dangerous.

Probably explains why I met not more than 4 boats on that 10-11 mile journey.

It’s better not to bother.

Still…. I did bother and here I am…..

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Bonnie in London

Soon to be….

A move down to ‘the smoke’. Such a casual thing….

Just 4 days sailing and £40 worth diesel. Approximately, in both cases. If the weather changes, (drastically), that may change the temperament of the old Thames.

Boards

On the canal and river system, they have these things called, warning boards.

Red boards - River water flow warning system
River flow warning system

When the boards are on red, you’re not meant to travel.

People do, but the ‘powers that be’ don’t sanction movement on red boards, it’s kind of frowned upon as unnecessarily dangerous.

After periods of particularly heavy rain, you might see the boards turn to red. The majority of the time, they remain on amber or green.

This trip down the Thames will depend the boards remaining off RED.

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The End….

For this owl.

I’ve never seen a Tawny Owl up this close….

I doubt that in another 46 years, I will see one this close again…

Dead Brown or Tawny Owl
Hello silence my old friend……

It was on the convergence of two lines of communication.

The railway, and the road.

The Pig Place

Last tiem I stayed here, there was a dead Badger in exactly the same spot.

I guess they like throwing themselves to their death right about now.

Pig Place - Oxfordshire
Pig Place – Oxfordshire

Everyone has seen a Badger. Roadkill. They are a bit stupid maybe.

Owls…. Supposed to be CLEVER. Aren’t they…..?

This one found itself a little… dead.

Moving on……

Continue reading “The End….”