Buttercup boat wash

We were woken early this morning by the bovine boat washes giving FL's cabin a tongue lashing. I thought I'd better get up and shoo them away, we didn't want the bank giving way and trapping the cow's by the boat. We were at this same spot 30 years ago and a cow actually put two hooves on the side of the 21 foot gpr cruiser we owned at the time, made the boat rock a bit.

As I  asked the herd who were taking turns in licking the dew of the roof to go away, one of the vandals wrapped a tongue around the Manx flag on the stern and walked off with it flagpole still attached. I wasn't having that so I chased her down and a tug of war ensued, I won and walked back triumphantly  to FL,..... still in my Y fronts! 

Buttercup boat wash.

Lechlade.

Slept well last night an eleven hour nod, must have been the faint noise of the weir lolling us into a deep slumber. The day shines bright for us, a liberal spray of  sun screen on exposed skin before we untied FL from the bank. 

From here all the way to Lechlade the river is isolated among meadowland and flat open countryside with a few pockets of humanity, notably at the Swan hotel at Radcot bridge and The Trout at Tadpole bridge. 

FL has been buzzed by an RAF transport aircraft doing training circuits around RAF Fairford, it must have passed overhead at least 15 times.

We have moored on the meadow below Half Penny bridge, we enjoyed an evening meal in The Riverside.

Rushey lock

Tadpole bridge

Tadpole bridge bird box's.

Radcot lock

Water point cock.

Radcot bridge

Boeing C17 Globemaster

Grafton lock.

Buscot lock

St. Johns lock

Propeller fountain St Johns lock

St Johns lock garden.

Pinkhill to Shifford

We said goodbye to Sue & Vic as they head down river and we head up. We will catch up with them again for sure as we are both on the Thames for a while.

Vic & Sue

The weather is as it should be in the middle of flaming June, we sweep by the huge Farmoor reservoir on the south bank and pass the smart caravan mobile home park at Bablock Hythe on the north bank.

At Newbridge the Rose Revived and The Maybush, two pubs on opposite sides of the canal, appear to of undergone improvements since last year.

We ascended the two locks below before mooring up.

Northmoor lock

Shifford lock

Mooring behind Shifford lock, a bit pricey at £8.90, electric hook up too if you need it for an extra £1.50.

Sue managed to photo this Red Kite but missed one that swooped down and collected a rabbit in it's talons.

Sunday roast and Ollie Beak.

We have had a  quiet weekend moored on Pinkhill meadow, the weather could have been kinder, the bank side chairs have stayed in the storage boxes.

We had a lovely Sunday roast and a glass or two of wine/beer courtesy of Sue and Vic who invited us aboard their lovely home, we had a good time with great company, earlier I had taken instruction from Vic in how to handle a chainsaw safely and helped turn a few tree limbs into boaters gold.

The sun did come out for a short while early evening as did the rain shortly after. Watched the second half of the England v Slovenia game which England won 2-3  a brace from Wilshere and one from Rooney sealing victory for the away team.

Monday- The bright yellow disc disorientated us early this morning, it made the inside of the boat feel much later than the 05:55 it was when the kettle was filled, only six more days and the nights start drawing in!!!

The result of rising early was seeing a pair of barn owls flying around the adjacent fields, this time I had the camera out, failing to get the classic head-on shot.

Ollie Beak, where's Fred Barker

06:00 from the side hatch

Eynsham

Saturday was a grey day with occasional drizzle. Sue likes a Saturday newspaper so I walked into Eynsham, it's a 3 mile walk, the way I knew anyway, which was the towpath back to Swinford toll bridge and the B4044 into the village. It was humid and it wasn't long before I was carrying my rain jacket. 

A nice surprise when I got to the village a folk festival in the square. A marquee had been erected, two young local lasses were singing, harmonising perfectly. Inside the Red Lion there were guitars, fiddles, accordion, squeeze boxes, flute, ukulele, banjos and a bodhran having a jamming session in the bar, musicians joining in and dropping out at random- excellent. I had a Timothy Taylors Landlord ale while I listened. Back outside a loan piper was finishing his set then a Sol Samba band struck up , which upped the beat, dancing among the standing audience started, some being pressed into steps by the band's own dance troupe, this was my cue to leave, pick up a paper and wander back. Unfortunately I missed the Morris men.

Towpath walk.

Web picture from last years festival.

Swinford toll bridge - 5p per car.

Eynsham lock.

Pinkhill lock.

John McGuinness

Congratulations to John McGuinness who won the Senior race at the IOM TT on Friday, the blue ribband event is on a public holiday on the island. John also managed to get a new lap record of 132.701 mph. The peoples favourite Guy Martin also joined the 132mph club with a 132.398 mph in the same race but only grabbing fourth place, what a race!

Thrupp via 'John Waynes' Cut to the Thames

Thrupp canal turn.

Thursday- We had bacon banjo's in Annie's tea room before having a circular walk, down to Shipton bridge over the canal through the church graveyard, along the canal offside, through a couple of fields and along a lane that came out at THE Boat pub, a one harassed barman will do establishment (well on this Wednesday lunchtime anyway)

Shipton church.

Just a field adjacent to our walking route.

It was in the pub's beer garden that we finally got to know Sue & Vic over a glass of ale. When boat crews meet a visit to the nearest pub is always high on the agenda. We had met very briefly on the Macclesfield canal last year, we were cruising in opposite directions, a quick 'watcha' and wave was all we managed.

We arranged to meet up on the meadow above Pinkhill lock on the Thames, as it turned out we were getting FL ready for the off when NP came past so we followed on behind, with another boat following FL, Roundham and Kidlington lock gates are shut behind FL for us by their crew. Drinkwater lift bridge is always a challenge with its hold the bridge shut with one hand/foot and try and remove your key with the other hand operation. Soon after we are at Duke's Cut lock the last lock going south on the Oxford canal.


Out of DUKE's cut and we are on the Thames, deep water under the hull ups the knots a little, the humid air seems to have brought out a plague of horsefly's, the Collins Nicholson guide comes in handy to bat them into the water.

The water tank was topped up above Eynsham lock, lock keepers at most of the locks now, Pinkhill lock has it's self service boards out. FL locked through with an experienced Anglo-Welsh hire crew. We moored FL on the meadow with the other Sue's assistance (note: keep out of the firing line when Sue goes into goose poo flicking mode or you may end up with an avian turd in your hood).

King Sutton to Thrupp.

We stayed at Kings Sutton for another day of doing very little in the sunshine. While here we have seen another two boats called Festina Lente cruising past. Tuesday it was back to wearing fleeces against the cool breeze, we untied from the bank early at 08:00, at King Sutton lock Sue helped a single hander through the lock before getting FL through. We passed under Scroobys lift bridge and the M40 before passing The Pig Place which looks to be a thriving business with lots of piglets squealing in the pens. After a two hour cruise we moored  before Chisnell lift bridge with great views, I forgot to take a photo.

It's been 200 engine hours since FL's last service so the engine boards came up, oil and filter changed. The engine fuel filter was changed along with the lift pump filter. The vetus stern tube seal was greased, engine mounts checked, gearbox oil checked and the domestic alternator fan belt tightened. All done for another 200 hours.

First lock of the day on Wednesday was Somerton Deep lock we are in traffic, third in the queue, an experienced hire crew of 6 men in front sped boats through, behind Mike aboard Mister E, who we found out lived a few streets away from us when we lived in Shepperton, shut the lock up after us.

We stopped at Lower Heyford to post a letter, Lower Heyford is my favourite canal side English village. It almost feels that you are walking through a film set through its perfect handsome sandstone thatched cottages and gardens. We had lunch in the 17C building housing The Bell, Freddie Jones the actor was in the bar, it's the second time we have seen him in this pub, he's very much like the character he plays in Emmerdale.

It's been one of those days where it's too cold to cruise without a fleece in the shade of clouds but too hot to keep one on when the sun shows itself.

We moved off after lunch, our preferred mooring at the back of Shipton Weir lock was taken so we carried on into a rammed full Thrupp but we did manage to get FL moored outside the Jolly Boatman by moving unattended boats along a couple of feet.

Traffic at Somerton Deep lock.

Heyford lock.

Caravan lift bridge is missing.

It's been moored in a field after it's collapse last year.

Used the telescopic brush pole to get the aerial higher.

Sunny Sunday

Yesterday evening we had a walk into King's Sutton, although the village is close to the canal it is cut off by the river Cherwell. It's a 2 mile walk from our mooring via Twyford bridge road to a footpath through fields, over railway tracks to the village, negotiating some entertaining stiles on the way. The village is very pretty with fine sand stone dwellings and a quaint village green. We had a seat outside the White Horse and enjoyed a Brakspear ale before making our way back to the boat.

I thought these weight closes unusul

King Sutton parish church.

King Sutton village green and the White Horse.

On the walk back we spotted to deer hiding in the tall grass and a couple of foxes hunting in the newly cut field.

Sunday- what a glorious day, we spent most the day with our bum's on the bankside seats chatting to towpath walkers, reading, watching gliders being towed into the air and 6 nutters daredevils dive out of an aeroplane to parachute down to earth. I did manage to sand down the two rear wooden seats and apply two coats of varnish in between doing very little.

King Sutton.

The new aerial doesn't work in Cropredy so we missed the daily 21:00 installment of the TT on ITV 4. I have noticed around us some boaters have their aerial's hoisted on 20 foot poles, I may have to get one of these.

The sun was out but it was a cool morning as we got rid of the dumpables at the Cropredy services and continued towards Banbury. Plan was to stop in Banbury to visit Debenhams, I required a new pair of strides as the 10 year old threads on my jeans have given way exposing a hairy knobbly knee, in some boutique shops you can pay top dollar for a pair of trousers with the odd gash, but I'm afraid mine have had it, it won't be long before other parts of my anatomy are bursting through the seams, best get a new pair and confine these as dumpable. I found a pair of designer olive coloured examples by John Rocha (is he a top designer) for £20 (perhaps he's not), they should make me look and feel a little greener.....also Sue made a purchase of an outfit to wear at a wedding later in the year.

As you enter Banbury you pass Sovereign Wharf on the offside which used to be a good place to fill the diesel tank with competitively priced fuel. The Wharf has now been sold and the new owners have stopped selling fuel. Some history around the canal here, Tom Rolt bridge and Tooleys boatyard mingle with the new shopping centre.

The watery road today was sometimes hot, sometimes cold, sometimes blustery sometimes all three in as many minutes. We are now moored at Kings Sutton in sight of the church spire, a herd of cows on the offside, farmland running down to the river Cherwell on the towpath side and the sound of traffic on the M40 in the distance!, just goes to show you can't have it all, all of the time.

Kings Sutton