In a jam.

We arrived back to the boat yesterday evening but I didn't get round to blogging. The journey down was completed in a little over 3 hours but it was either light or heavy rain all the way. However as we pulled in to the Sovereign Wharf car park the rain stopped which made the unpacking and return of the car much easier. As we had to wait to hand our key in and get our deposit returned we went into town to restock the cupboards. As it happened Ian and Charlotte didn't return until late so we left in the morning.

Whilst waiting for our first lock of the day, Banbury Lock, you can look back at the Castle Quays sopping centre and museum bridge. The angular roofed building is actually the oldest boatyard on the canal system. It is just a shame that they didn't preserve in a more original looking exterior. That lift bridge was the first of eleven lift bridges for the day. Luckily it was the only one that we had to open as all the others appear to left open normally.

These were the next two and the hire boat ahead was going so slowly that I couldn't even keep behind at tick over. They very kindly let us pass by the motorway bridge and just before Grants Lock!

I don't remember Twyford Wharf doing hire boats and day boats the last time we passed. The whole place looks very neat and tidy and a hive of activity.

We had to wait for another hire boat come up the lock and they exited so slowly I didn't realise they were still moving and thought something had gone wrong! As we came out of Kings Sutton Lock there were a couple of boats waiting to come up. As I cleared them I could just see another boat in the offside forest. I thought it was moored, but no it had come through the old bridge hole and ended up in the rough. As they managed to clear the brush and I could start to head for the corner another boat came round the corner and I was then in the trees myself. No harm done, but I'm glad we had just had a repaint!

Once more under the M40 and the thundering traffic noise that had been with us since Grants Lock. I love the fact that the high tech motorway bridge has the little accommodation bridge from a much earlier era.

Adderbury Wharf's little warehouse has been converted into a house and seems to be up for sale at the moment with an offside mooring.

Bridge 187 at Nell Bridge Lock has caused some trouble during wet periods as the section below the lock rises and falls with the level of the River Cherwell which cross the canal at the next lock via a weir. Brdige 187 is very low and if the river is high then there will be very restricted headroom.

The River Cherwell flows across the canal through this aqueduct which in periods of flood must make the approach to Aynho Weir Lock quite interesting. There was very little current today but as you can see the gauge is just in Amber.

Anyo Weir Lock is 'diamond shaped apparently to ensure that sufficient water is sent down to the next lock, Somerton, which at 12' is deep and needs the extra water sending so as not to empty the pound. We stopped at Aynho Wharf for fuel and a gas bottle. 70p domestic and £26-25 for 13kgs.

The old warehouse at Souldern Old Wharf is not converted to housing and can be see still as the simple store it was. It is nice to see that a lot of the old wharves are still in existence. I'm not sure whether other canals have lost many of theirs but there certainly seems to be many on this stretch of the Oxford Canal.

We moored up before Somerton Deep Lock with a good view. I had bought loads of rhubarb from harm with the idea to make jam so once settled I set to.

My first batch is to be Rhubarb and ginger jam. The recipe is to chop everything and mix with the sugar so that the juice is drawn out of the fruit? You have to wait a couple of hours before cooking it off. Whilst this was happening I went to look for the jam jars. Both of us thought we had bought loads of them that we had collected up at home. Where I thought they were I drew a blank. Macy is asleep on the bed and as soft as I am I don't wont to push her off to look under as that is the only place left to look. It may be we will be having a lot of crumble, pies and fools as I don't want to chuck it away now. I think I should be able to cobble together enough receptacles for this batch though.