Mike Stevens' UK Inland Waterways Pages

TRIP REPORTS : THE YEARS BETWEEN BOATS

BIRMINGHAM & THE THAMES

August 1988

Part 2 : Somerton to Ingelsham

Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version with a caption

I was up first, Wendy last. The day was sunny & breezier than yesterday. We started at 06:52 with still lovely scenery but very a questionable towpath. Some moorings seemed to be closer to locks than we normally consider polite. We stopped at Thrupp BW yard to use their facilities, then boated on a few yards to the Jolly Boatman for a good pub lunch with generous portions. More pretty canal brought us to Shuttleworth's (or Duke's) lock where we'd hoped there would be a lock-keeper who would be able to sell us a licence, but there wasn't, so we'd have to hope to get one at Eynsham lock. We passed on to the Duke's Cut and followed the mill-stream to join the Thames above King's lock.

The first Thames lock we met was Eynsham lock, which doesn't sell licences, so the lock-keeper gave us a temporary "unregistered craft" pass to get signed at every lock and told us we needed to get a proper licence at Osney. At 19:22 we stopped for the night past Northmoor lock, and moored to a cow pasture, where we seemed to excite great interest among the cattle, as also in two greedy cygnets. This area was obviously a happy hunting ground for owls.

Next day brought a beautiful morning sky and a dawn chorus of frogs and cows. We set off at 07:12 and ate breakfast before Shifford lock while waiting for the lock-keeper to finish cleaning the lock walls. His wife took a birthday card Wendy needed posting. This is a bendy part of the river, and a windy day made it exciting, especially when meeting other craft. But at least there's width and depth. Then we went on to Kelmscott and walked into the village for lunch at The Plough.

There was heavy rain for some of the afternoon. We saw David & Anne Robson (who used to moor next to us at Little Venice when we had Felis Catus and they had Ship of Fools) on their new boat Nile at Ha'penny Bridge and Lord St Davids' boat Silver Sail, known to us from Canalway Cavalcade, moored at Lechlade. We winded at the head of navigation at Inglesham and made our way back to moor for the night at 19:31 past Tadpole bridge, this time without any cows.