It was windy and occasionally drizzling on Wednesday (5th) when we left our mooring above Clifton Lock and set off for Oxford, but it soon brightened up.
Leaving the first lock of the day at Culham ...
... and taking the sharp right turn at Culham Reach ...
... onto the much wider water leading to ...
... Abingdon
We moored up for an hour or so here ...
... and walked into town over Abingdon Bridge where the building on the right of the picture was built in 1735!
That's RnR at the far end of the line of moored boats.
Very interesting (especially the eel traps) click to enlarge
The Goal in the middle above built in 1805-11 is now a leisure centre
Avery pretty street - let's walk down a bit ...
... through this passage between the cottages into the area which housed the ...
... domestic building of the Abbey which was founded in AD695 but of which very little remains ...
... the chimney and the long gallery is 13th C ...
... and the gallery is now used as an Elizabethan-style theatre.
We continued our walk into the park and over the wall there are very stylish copper-topped street lights
An archway preserved ...
... in the park you can see the outlines of the abbey walls
From these balustrades you would have perhaps seen ...
... an abbey similar to the one at Wells ...
quite romantic
little snips of times long past ...
... just as they may have fallen over a millennium ago.
The Abbey Gate ...
... with St Nicholas's Church on the left ...
... and what was once upon a time a school on the right.
The wonderful smell emanating from here was not resistible, so I took a seat whilst George bought fish and chips for our lunch ...
... the seat was by the cenotaph and I couldn't help but notice how many surnames appeared on the role of deaths during World War I more than once - brothers maybe or father and son(s) - always incredibly poignant - a reminder of heroes of our own time
The Blue Boar pub dates back to 1606
Giving Molly a final run before boarding Rock n Roll ...
... and setting off once again ... under Abingdon Bridge ...
... towards Abingdon Lock ...
... which was currently un-manned but a boat is coming down so we didn't wait long.
We couldn't work out what this was in mid-chanel ...
... and as we cruised past saw that it was a tree which has been blown over from the bank into the river keeping the roots and soil attached and continuing to grow!
We passed Nuneham House built in 1756 is grade II listed and owned by Oxford University ...
... and is currently used as a global retreat by the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
There's plenty of river activity above Abingdon ...
... including free water swimming ...
... this lady stopped for a few words and then continued on her way ...
... whilst we waited for this '8' to cross our bow!
A marching monster!
Approaching Sandford Lock with large mill buildings on the right ...
... it is the deepest lock on the Thames above Teddington ...
... and has beautifully kept gardens - the roses smelled lovely
Navigation is always to keep the red table lamp on your left!
Best laid plans again - Isis Bridge but no decent mooring to be had!
So we continue on to Iffley Lock ...
... and take an Environment Agency Mooring just above ...
... the very pretty stone lock house and balustraded bridge...
... where we met Ray who after reading our finding regarding the pros and cons of our Axion Propellor had one fitted to his own narrowboat Stronghold although he's not sure if he's got it right or not - it apparently doesn't quite come up to his expectations (uses too much fuel) but not quite enough to want his money back.
Greetings,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the message on my blog! I spotted you yesterday but for one thing and another I never quite made it over; I am sorry to miss you. I left a note for you in your cratch this morning.
B
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