Two days to Thrupp

Wednesday 24th.

The sun is shining as we set off from Aynho. The only problem with the South Oxford Canal is that, in places, you have to pass lines of moored boats and you have to pass at tickover. And that is very slow. 

Oh well, the sun is shining and there are bits of blue sky.

A hasty picture of a heron. At least this one didn't fly off, which they usually do, instead he set off along the towpath at a good pace.

At Somerton Deep Lock, the canal side cottage is up for sale. Basically two up, two down, and all for £350k. But, no road access, no mains drainage, off grid. The sale price does include a 32' narrowboat to help with picking up supplies and taking the bins to the local marina. Oh, and there's unlimited water supply from the canal (filtered but not for drinking). 

And here's the lock and it's worthy of it's name, it's deep.

A signboard to inform rail passengers that this is the Oxford Canal. Luckily we knew that already. 

It's quite amazing that a few years ago we were fortunate if we saw Buzzard or Red Kite. But so far, we've seen half a dozen Kite and 2 or 3 buzzard. I've tried several times to get a snap of the Kite but it's not easy when steering. 

Heyford Common Lock and the captain has charge of the gates.

Today, with our GPS and phones, we know exactly where the locks are but before all that distance markers were placed 100yds before the lock to give advanced warning. I imagine that if you were using a horse to tow your barge you may need a bit of time to bring everything to a stop. 

Some of the lock gates have been overhauled but others could do with a bit of attention. 

Stopped to take on water at Lower Heyford and took the opportunity to have a bite of lunch.

We then stopped near Dashwood Lock for the night in the middle of nowhere.

The downside of being in the middle of nowhere is that the mobile signal isn't always that great. C'est la vie. 

Thursday 25th.

Sun first thing (not forecast) followed by rain (forecast). Decidedly cool and the fire is working overtime. It's the first of our non-winter holidays when we haven't let the fire go out.

Now, this is the interesting bit, we're going onto the River Cherwell for a bit. This board tells you the different conditions of the river and whether or not it's safe to proceed. But fear not, no need for guessing, there's an electronic display board as well. Only it wasn't working our end. It was only when we got to the far end that we discovered that the river level was in the yellow sector - proceed with caution! Too late by then I'd had the throttle fully open and we'd had a great time. 

The lovely thing about this river section is that it's deep water and the boat swims along very nicely. There are also several twists and turns which makes it even more exciting. 

And that's looking back along the river.

The last lock of the day before arriving at Thrupp. 

We could have gone on further but we decided to make use of the boaters facilities, swing the boat round and pick up a mooring ready to start heading back in the morning.