Canals part 2

 

June 17

We took a walk into Banbury town center.  Merry found some thrift shops, and we continued to the top of High St to see Banbury Cross and the statue of the white horse.   Strangely, it is not white but a fine lady is riding it.  

Merry talked to a street sweeper who was happy to tell us everything about the town and where best to eat. We walked back the whole length of High Street and into the mall.   

Approaching lunchtime, we headed to the pub our friend recommended: Wetherspoon Pub. This chain of pubs is known for good food, a big menu, and inexpensive prices.  Speaking of prices, the cost of restaurant food has increased by at least 50% from last year, something everyone is complaining about. Not just restaurants but all food has skyrocketed.    

It is election time in the UK, and Election Day is July 4.   The bitter complaints are sky-high prices with little wage increases, deplorable healthcare waiting times, illegal immigration, crime, too high taxes, and on and on.   We will see how this plays out.    

After lunch, we returned to our boat and started our journey. We reached a lift bridge. 

and a lock around the first bend. 

Then, we found a water point, and after a week of travels, the boat tank was thirsty.   

After the slow start, we made good progress and stopped at a pretty country setting for the night.   We picked a spot with the lowest motorway noise from the nearby M40.

June 18

We have been taking our time so far, but I had to set some distance goals to reach Oxford with time to explore for a couple of days and return to the home marina, where Pauline and Steve will be waiting for their turn on the boat. There is a canal map program that helps with trip planning. The weather is finally getting more comfortable, with no rain forecast today.  

We reached a nice canal-side pub and talked with other boaters.    After a little nap, we pressed on traveling through five locks and endless lift bridges; most are just farm crossing and left open, but occasionally, one needs opening and closing after we pass through.  

We found a glorious countryside mooring for the night and were serenaded by very vocal birds and occasional moo.   

June 19

Our goal is to reach Oxford in time for the weekend and we are currently on schedule.   We found a nice pub for lunch.  The problem was boats moored up as far as the eye could see.   It was about a ten-minute walk back to the bridge to the pub.  No problem. We needed the exercise, and it was a warm, sunny day.   

Merry wanted to wait for the washer to finish its cycle, nearly three hours.  Another charming village pub for lunch.

We traveled another hour and two locks in the afternoon to find a nice, quiet, wooded mooring.  Having visited 22 countries this year during this marathon vacation, we can say nothing equals the beauty of the English countryside from the canals.  

June 20

Leaving our lovely morning was hard, but we needed to press on to get to Oxford for the weekend.   Our journey had the canal merge with the River Cherwell for about a mile.   Signs were given of the condition of the river.  The light indicated to proceed with caution.   We would not have known we had joined the river without the signs.   

Just three locks and a couple of hours to our lunchtime pub, except we found we had to pass through one lift bridge at the 90-degree turn.   

This lift bridge, which is much heavier and has frequent car traffic, is controlled by push-button controls.   

Making sure no cars were approaching, Merry inserted our special key, and with one finger, a traffic light went to red, a barrier came down, and the bridge went up.  I drove through, and with a press of a second button, down went the bridge; the barrier went up, and the light went green for the cars.  Job done.  

We found the pub and had a relaxing lunch. We sat on a bench facing the canal for a while before setting off again, finding a quiet place for the night, ready to enter the city of Oxford tomorrow.  

We stopped in time to watch the English football (soccer) play the second game of the Euro tournament.  Merry headed to the local grocery store and missed the first half.  1-1 draw, but they are in good shape to proceed in the tournament.   

June 21

We are just 5 miles from Oxford city center, and the canal winds through the leafy suburbs.   We passed the turn to get on to the famous River Thames but kept going straight to Oxford, which I learned is the setting for Inspector Morse and its spinoff Inspector Lewis and Endeavour, which happens to be the name of our boat.   

We passed a water point and stopped to quench Endeavour’s thirst. Several lift bridges in the closed position slowed us down, as usual. We arrived at the end of the Oxford Canal, very close to the city center, and headed out to explore. We quickly found a place for lunch and then continued exploring the city. Merry found an inexpensive used suitcase in a charity shop, which we needed because we had more things to take home than suitcase space.

They say there is evidence of teaching in Oxford as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world. The University of Oxford comprises 39 colleges [which are just the Halls of Residences], with 27,000 students, and the city's population is 142,000, not including the students.  BMW is the largest employer in the city making mini's.

We walked in the evening and found a nice church for Merry tomorrow. A small pub with a French menu was also nearby, and we made a reservation for Sunday Brunch.

June 22

We decided to take the Hop-On bus, but when we got up, the weather was drizzling.  I checked the forecast, and it said "rain, stopping in 14 minutes", which it did and stayed dry the rest of the day.

We hopped on the bus and went all around the loop.

We continued until we got to the pub we liked and did a little shopping. Then, we got back on the bus a few stops and got off to do the included guided walking tour for an hour. Finally, we hopped on the bus back to our canal boat.

After a little rest, the fuel dock nearby became vacant, so we crossed the canal with the boat, filled with diesel, and pumped out the black water tank.  While we were out, we went down the cut [canal] half a mile to the end and a 52-foot turnaround, which was tight for our 45-foot ship but no problem for me.  We then returned to our mooring spot, facing the correct way for an easy getaway tomorrow after brunch.

June 23

Here's a little background on the canals:  There are over 2,000 miles of interconnected hand-dug canals in England. 

Most were created in the late seventeenth century to move goods around the country as the Industrial Revolution ramped up. The canals were created to pass through all the towns and cities.  Horses pulled the barges from what is still called the "Tow Path".

Locks were created to allow the canals to move up and down the gentle hillsides. 

When trains and roadways took over, the canals became in disrepair, but residents built and converted the barges into living spaces, and the canals were recovered as a leisure industry.

Boats are owned as recreational vehicles or as permanent residences.  Other boats are available for hire/rental by the week.  The canals are typically 25 to 30 feet wide but only three to four feet deep.  The speed limit is four mph to protect the banks from erosion.  This creates a magical way to fully enjoy the wonderful English countryside that cannot be appreciated any other way.  'The fastest way to slow down'.

After lunch, we headed back north on the Oxford Canal.  Merry asked if we could get back to Cropredy by next Sunday so she could attend church again.  I calculated the route using the canal program and set the goals we needed to achieve each day to arrive by Saturday afternoon without rushing.  The program considers the extra time it takes to go through locks and swing bridges.

We found a nice mooring spot just past the first milestone and watched the Scotland European championship soccer game.  Unfortunately, they lost and are out of the competition.

 

June 24

We set off with a lunch break in mind.  A bridge that had a market, water point, and pub.  Grocery shops are needed every few days because of the small galley.  Some grocery shops are very close to the canal, while others can be up to a mile away, so we always look out for close ones.  

After lunch, we set out but soon came across a lock that was closed by a waterway official with two boats ahead of us for the lock.  It is where we enter the river Caldwell for a mile, and the water level was too low.  The officials had a way to open sluices to add more water, and soon, we were on our way.

It was a warm day, 77 degrees Fahrenheit, but there was very high humidity and no wind. We found a mooring at our daily goal and collapsed from the heat.

This concludes this episode of our adventures. Please save this page and refresh it about once a week to see what happens next.