From Lower Heyford to Oxford...almost

A nice early start for Dave's and I this morning...out in the middle of nowhere but oh so many trains...all night. Augusta had other ideas. She was cold and didn't want to start. We created a new goddess for us to pray to...Thumper the goddess of the engine. She's a large and bonny girl, with smoky eyes and holds a drum...engine oil is her preferred libation. We exaggerate of course...Augusta started after only 10 minutes or so. But we had a grand time imagining our new goddess.

We cruised gently through open farmland and a few scattered locks. Hardly any other boats in sight until we got to Enslow. Oh so many boats moored between Enslow and Thrupp. Passing moored boats requires that we go very very slowly so as not to disturb the boats and bash them onto the banks of the canal. Felt like we crept along for ages.

Then a bit of excitement....between Baker's Lock and Shipton Weir Lock the canal is the river Cherwell! Flooded and full with a strong current...it felt like we flew...maybe we were going 4 miles an hour. If we hadn't been headed in the same direction as the flow...we would have struggled to make headway.
The stretch of canal around Thrupp (snigger), is very very pretty...little canal villages with pubs on the towpath, pots of spring flowers and benches in the sunshine. All a bit idyllic really. I enjoyed it while I could as we were coming into Kidlington...burbs and industrial parks.

Saw some grand boat names today...Clancy of the overflow being my favorite...driven by a bearded man in a drizabone...fab! Many Greek and Roman names today, Hector, Lysander, Persephone, Helene of Troy, Posideon (l have my doubts about that name), Marc Antony. Oh and we saw 4 Serenity (Joss Whedon obviously had an impact he he he), 3 reflections, and 2 Drift Aways.

The closer we got to Oxford the more holiday boats we saw...cockwomble, was the mildest of Dave's epithets. He taught a family how to use a lock after watching them pfaff about for an age. Oh and I felt much less useless handling the tiller in and out of locks.

I dithered about whether or not to take Duke's Cut, which bypasses Oxford proper, but we decided that going through the City tomorrow would be lovely and we did want to see Isis lock, which is a bit famous, before we move onto the Sheepwash Channel and onto the Thames..

A good day.
The sun came out to play
Moored up near Aristotle Bridge just above Oxford proper
Dave is beer hunting
Listening to children play