After our visit to Oxford we spent Friday 7th October quietly, the wind had died down a little and it wasn't quite so cold.
When we left the following day, of course the River Thames was awash with canoeists, ...
... rowers of all sorts ...
... and the occasional narrowboat
As we approached the university boathouses ...
the river became green with duckweed ....
... but it was only for a short stretch and it wasn't deterring the water users at all
As I said ... busy busy ...
It was certainly a bit tricky ...
... as we approached Folly Bridge waiting for rowers to cross our bow ...
... and to manoeuvre around the Salter Brothers trip boats ...
... so that we could go through the middle arch of the bridge to the head of the river.
A gondola far from home!
We turn sharp right through these posts ...
... and the canoeists are out in force there too!
Osney Lock ...
... George is tying us up to the lock landing until the lock is ready for us - I was wondering if that eight was going up the lock ...
... and indeed they were!
The incoming water to the lock was quite fierce as I held RnR in close to the wall - I didn't know where about the rowers were, behind us or to the side ...
... and this is how they managed it - 8 strong young men - mmmmmm...
We stopped for a short time at Osney Bridge by these old warehouse buildings - we were going to see whereabouts we were in Oxford but when we walked over the bridge it looked to be quite some way out of the city so we re-boarded RnR and set off again.
and yes it was very low, it bent the stems of the lavender by about 3"
I asked what this type of rowing was called ...
... Venetian of course!
We cruised past Fiddlers Island ...
... and out into wide, wide water ...
... more rowers ...
... and walkers on Port Meadow - all wrapped up against the cold wind...
... the ladies eights were back and forth across our bows.
The Spires of Oxford in the distance
Horses graze ...
... on the meadow too...
... and there's still a long line of rower approaching us from the rear ...
... the last one - she needs to cross our bows and go to the right of the picture before we can proceed into Godstow Lock ...
... where the water was even more fierce ...
... but the lock side was beautifully kept by the keeper.
Like us, this community boat also has an Axiom Propeller
The ruins of Godstow Abbey ...
... as we approach another low bridge ...
... which also folded the lavender stems!
The river here twists this way and that way - we keep the red table lamp to our left and the green one just round the bend to our right ...
... and keep a careful eye out for boats approaching fast around these twists and turns!
The last lock on the Thames - King's Lock!
And off we go ...
... whoops! we should have turned right there ...
... so we backed up and swung had right ...
... again the bends came and went in quick succession
... left here onto Dukes Cut ...
... where it was suddenly very narrow and full of what looked like seriously continual moorers, most without licences.
Duke's Cut Lock our first narrow lock since sometime in February/March this year!
and the second one - Dukes Lock at the other end of the short cut.
After filling the water tank we come to the first lift bridge on the Oxford Canal, appropriately called Drinkwater Lift Bridge.
I wanted to peel the walls in Roundham Lock.
We eventually came into Thrupp and found a very decent 48-hour mooring outside The Boat Inn.
Will
NarrowBoat Bones be around this weekend we wonder? We went for a quick recce of the area and found Bones' boat but there was no-one around so I put a note on her blog to say that we were here and if possible would love to meet up.
Although we were moored outside The Boat Inn we went for a meal at the Jolly Boatman for the simple reason we could take Molly our Patterdale with us.
The i-phone-4 does not take good pictures indoors, so please excuse the quality of the following photos ..
... Yes mum, that would do me nicely thanks ...
... now where's that waiter?
... click your fingers again dad, I'm hungry!
Funny that you should comment on The Venturer having an Axiom. I had a long chat with the guy in charge at Thrupp and he also had better fuel consumption than with the previous propeller. He also found that steering the tight bends on the Upper Thames was easier than before.
ReplyDeleteAt the speed Maffi is moving, you should catch up with him soon.
Have fun.