At the Walls of Jericho.

 It seemed to rain on and off through the night. I remember waking about 05:00 and not hearing rain, but hearing an owl. There was an occasional train, sounded like freight, not passenger. By the time We had finished our breakfast it had stopped raining but was very dank and gloomy.

We didn't see the sun all day, but it didn't rain and we had a good road. There was little wind so it wasn't too bad, so with the occasional cup of tea and a bit of exercise at the locks it wasn't cold at all.

Just before Enslow Mill was this what looks like an old canal warehouse. From the old OS maps it seems to have been built about the 1880's and was attached to an old wharf that was next to the Rock of Gibraltar pub. Coal trade was been undertaken here by Mssrs. Churchill and Baker in 1798!

No need to hunt the board at Baker's Lock as they have the posh auto gauge for you to view. We are in green, and two boats had just come up too so we were all systems got for our River Cherwell Passage.

This is where the canal and river merge. There was very little flow today, but as the canal is very 'bendy' it can cause problems.

When we got to the end of the river section I left Helen in charge of the boat as I was hearing cries from Shipton Weir Lock. The boat we had seen before with a newly wed couple aboard their hire boat were having trouble getting the lower gate open. This is another diamond shaped lock with single paddles at each end, and cranked beams. It was very difficult to get the gate started. The couple kindly stopped and helped us through, and then lets us go on ahead.

When I first saw this I thought that it may be a lime kiln but it turns out to be the bridge of the Woodstock Branch Line. The photo above is taken from almost under the GWR rail bridge. For some reason the Woodstock and Blenheim Branch was opened in 1897 but, despite being operated by the GWR, ran on a separate line from here as they didn't want to make a junction. It closed in 1954.

This seems to be a usual type of canal bridge on the lower South Oxford Canal.

It certainly feels like autumn is in the air today, and it seems that the leaves are just starting to turn. We may get a frost on Sunday and I expect there will be a good leaf fall soon after.

I spotted another stone post that looked like it could bean old milepost, but this one had four holes that looked as though it may have held a plate with the numbers on, rather than being carved into the stone itself. However I couldn't see any sign of a milepost on the maps.

We stopped for water after the lift bridge and before Duke's Lock. As we penned down we could see the Duke's Cut heading off to the right and the Duke's Lock House watching over the locks and junction.

The trip into Oxford from here is lined with Agenda 21 moorings. It seems that these are moorings for people living an ecological lifestyle and are at least in part administered by themselves. Not the most attractive run of moorings that you will come across. Then every now and then there are lengths of no mooring as it is said they are conservation areas. I didn't spot any water voles, but I suspect that is what they areas are for.

We had resigned ourselves to having to pen down Isis Lock to wind and come back along the canal towards Wolvercote, but we found a few free moorings before the end opposite Jericho Wharf. The development there hasn't changed from when we were here in 2016! It is nice to hear the tinkling bells of St. Barnabus Church though. Once tied up we got changed and went for a walk into town. We did a survey of the shops has Helen was getting withdrawal symptoms so had a skeg through some, and spent some money in the much missed (from Hull) M&S, had a beer and then tea at Ask before heading home. I suspect that there will be more shopping now we have the lay of the land. I must check out some good pubs so that I can have a sit whilst she has a browse tomorrow.

Ticking the Locks off.

 Helen had seen an offer on at Waterstone's yesterday so decided to pop back into town to purchase it, and a couple of other things before we left. We had woken up to rain but it had cleared by the time we had finished breakfast.

The canyon that is now Banbury further dwarfs Tooley's boat yard, and makes one think of Birmingham now. We had a quiet night but I wonder what it would be like on a Friday or Saturday. A head popped up as we were working the lock and asked us not to close the gates as they were on the water and ready to come up. We swapped with them for a quick top up.

Several times during the day I have spotted isolated rocks by the side of the tow path. I could not decipher anything written on them but I assume that they are old milestones as they have that size and shape.

Twyford Mill was originally powered by water from the River Cherwell. It is now a big fertilizer factory and visible from afar,nit quite as far as the spire of Kings Sutton Church though

Kings Sutton Lock is attractive with it ironstone faced lock cottage and on the other side of the lock was an old blacksmith's forge and stable block

This is the bottom of Kings Sutton Lock, the landing and access to the left in the photo above is so high I couldn't understand how it would be used by boatmen to leave or board their boats at the lock. And if that wasn't what it was for, what was its purpose?

There were nine lift bridges today and eight of them were open to navigation.

This was the bridge that carried the Banbury and Cheltenham Railway. It was open throughout in 1887 and its main function was to carry iron ore from the East Midlands to South Wales. It was bought by Great Western Railway in 1896, and in the end it was closed in 1969. The arches to the right are over the River Cherwell and show just how close to the canal it often is, but isn't often seen.

Under the M40 bridge on the way to Nell Bridge Lock is this light plaque remembering Paul Hill who died during the construction of the motorway.

It is interesting to see the lifting bridge of a design original to the time the canal was built, with the M40 behind. Different times.

At various places around the system are signs asking you not to do things like run your engine,  light your stove,moor, or fish. These signs de-marked the land of a house on the off side. I wonder why C&RT and their predecessors would do this? Do the property owners have  pay for the privilege to alter the by-laws for individual cases,. I suppose that if you ignored the signs you would be not following a ruling by the C&RT so would be liable to a sanction. It seems strange when it didn't say you couldn't moor there! 

As I was waiting for a boat at Nell Bridge Lock it makes a nice scene with the old warehouse and lift bridge. We were travelling slowly behind a boat that we caught up at every lock and were therefore delayed. At the bottom of the lock is a road bridge and there is no towpath through so you have to cross what is a main road with very fast traffic. In 1904 the road wasn't quite as big but the boatmen were running the boat horse rope over the bridge to start the boat out of the lock. This caused a severe accident when a young man on a motorbike came hurtling down the road and was nearly garroted by the rope. Apparently there was a pulley on the parapet that was supposed to take the rope, but for some reason boatmen didn't want, or like to use it.

Despite the signs saying to watch for the strong flow warnings as the River Cherwell crossed the canal just before Anyo Weir Lock I didn't see them at either end of the river stretch. There was little flow, so all was well. Anyo Weir Lock is diamond shaped to increase the amount of water that will be sent down to Somerton Deep Lock but when the water levels in the river section are low I would say there wasn't full compensation even so.

In 1869 Souldern Wharf was a busy place handling hay, straw, road stone and coal under the auspices of Charles John Clifford. They had coal from Moira, Swadlincote, Shipley, Wyken and Polesworth and could get it from many other places on request. It just goes to show that coal wasn't all the same.

Before Somerton Deep Lock I spotted a kingfisher who was obliging enough to sit on a twig just about long enough for me to take a hurried snap.

If you haven't been 'up North' a 12' lock must seem very deep, but on the Sheffield canal and Aire and Calder and others there are lots that are deep. The canal cottage here has just been for sale and is under offer at the moment for £400,000. 2 bedrooms, no access, cesh pit, no electricity, not water, other than filtered and treated canal water (of which you can have unlimited supply it says, but not for drinking). Heating is from a solid fuel stove and bottled gas. There is no road access but there is a little narrow boat and a 64' mooring thrown in. There was a very noisy generator banging away as we passed, but could be an off grid haven I suppose.

I noticed that after Somerton there were gates on the towpath that reminded me of the old River Trent Towing path that has gates across to delineate fields and prevent stock wandering. I suppose the area has water meadows on the tow path side so stock would be able to wander along the tow path and get lost if there weren't gates.

At Heyford Common Lock we had lost the slow boat ahead of us but out of nowhere came across a slow lady single hander at the lock. There had been little bits of rain after about 2pm but it wasn't until about 3:30 that I had to put a coat on, and then it stopped more or less. We kept going as we hadn't got quite as far as we wanted.The lady kept going to. She said she was stopping at Lower Heyford but didn't. She graciously let us go ahead before Dashwoods Lock so we decided to crack on whilst it wasn't raining. 

The crew were getting quite rebellious by the time we got to Northbrook Lock and she hid the windlasses, saying enough was enough. We found a spot soon after and moored up at 18:15 after around 8 hours underway. We have actually done more than we had planned despite the slow going so another log day tomorrow will have us in Oxford tomorrow night I hope.

Banbury Bound.

 Another good nights sleep in our mooring above the top lock at Claydon. The train track was not too far away but if I heard anything I went back to sleep straight away. When we woke up there was quite a fog.

At home we have a saying that 'fog before 7, clear before 11', but this is due to the sea roke or fret that flows in from the sea which is warmer than the land. The same happened today, but it had gone bu 0930 when we set off.

We got to the first, or top lock of the Claydon flight, but a boat had passed us a while before. There was a lock keepers cottage, a blacksmiths shop and a stable block it seems. It makes a nice grouping of buildings, as well as another building on the tow path side.

The sun was shining brightly as Helen helped us down the first lock. She was standing under a trumpet flower 'tree'. We have one in a hedge and didn't realise that they would grow like this. I will have to think about pruning it differently.

There were more buildings on the towpath side so you can imagine how many people would have been working in this little space, where as there are no canal workers here now.

We started to meet boats coming up the flight, but they never seemed to arrive at the right time, so we were waiting for them a lot of the time.

Clattercote Wharf is just before Elkington Lock, and is the home to an undercover dry dock and some attractive buildings, with the addition of this tepee. I never understand why owners of marinas and winding holes like this put up signs that you aren't allowed to use them. What difference does it make to them?

Helen normally does the helming when we are going down hill as I can step across the double gates that are normally at the foot of a narrow lock. The autumn sun gives a special light as Helen brings 'Holderness' into Elkington Lock.

The sun continued to shine and we continued to meet folk coming up, but still not helping us along.

We stopped for water at Cropredy as there was nobody there. This place is always busy with moored boats. There is a ley or dragon line that runs from the Rollright Stones, a stone circle to Arbury Camp, an Iron Age camp at Chipping Warden so this may well be something to do with it as it passes right throught Cropredy Bridge, where there was a Battle between the Parliamentary and Royalist Forces during the Civil War in 1644.

Slats Mill was previously called Slates Mill after a corn mill that was driven by a water wheel from a mill race from the River Cherwell just to the west of the canal. There was a mill recorded here in 1482, and by the mill the Cherwell could be forded. For this reason it featured as part of the Battle of Cropredy in 1644.

You often see this along the canal. It seems obvious that a boat has gone past and caught an old jacket around their prop. Pulling over they huff and puff to clear their prop. Once achieved they secure their weed hatch lid and off they go, but not before chucking what they have taken off the prop onto the tow path? What is the point of this? Not only does this constitute littering and making the place unsightly, it will inevitably end up back in the canal and catch somebody else! What is the difficulty in chucking it on the bow, or somewhere else, and disposing of it when you get rid of your own rubbish!!!?

Bourton Lock Cottage seems to be boarded up with no work being done on it for a while. It was sold by auction in 2015 I think, but has no water, electricity etc, as well as no road access. It also has no road access. I hope that it can be saved in the long run as it is a lovely house and a Listed building.

There is a little arm that was originally the route of the canal that led past Grimsbury Wharf. There was a boat builder and beer seller called Cotterel working there in the 1840's. In 1985 the Department of Transport were building new roads in the area and need to have a run up for the approach of a bridge over the canal. They filled in the old canal after rerouting it further to the east. The other thing that you notice in this part of the canal is the smell of instant coffee. The factory is now owned by Mondelez International and makes around 90 million jars of coffee, mainly Kenco coffee. They also make around 700 million Tassimo coffee capsules too. No wonder there is a smell of coffee. I think that the factory is one of the largest in the world taking about 36,000 tonnes of coffee beans a year!

We found a section of armco just before the Tom Rolt bridge about 14:30 and then decided to have a look around the town before having our tea out. Helen managed to find a few Christmas presents and enjoyed a troll through the charity shops etc. before we headed to The Exchange for a Weatherspoons tea. We had a pint in the Coach and Horses too. St. Mary's Church above was built in 1790's, designed by the Cotterell Bothers. In the 1860's it was reordered as an Anglo Catholic Church with the interior changed, and stained glass added. Not too long ago it also became joint home with the United Reform Church. It is a Grade I Listed building but we couldn't get in to check it out.

Whilst we are in Banbury I thought I would try to find out what a 'cock horse' from the nursery rhyme was! It seems it started in the 15th Century and meant a lively, or spirited horse, or one that had not been castrated. By the mid 16th Century it came to mean a pretend horse, like a hobby horse, or even an adult's knee. So now you know.

Summit Up.

 We had a very quiet night but we were waiting for the noise to start as we were moored right next to a builders yard. We were up when it started, but actually is wasn't at all bad anyway! A few boats passed in either direction but we resisted until about 0945, and of course just as we were letting got a boat came from our direction of travel.

As we got round the corner we had a clear view of the windmill and of course Helen got a much better photo of it. It was built in 1835 and had three sets of stones. It finished as a wind driven mill in 1900 and had steam power installed until 1909 when it closed. It seems that it was left derelict for many years. Concern for the building was raised in 1936 but nothing was done. It was listed Grade II in 1952. There were fears that it would be demolished if it didn't fall down, in 1968 but by 1970 the local brickyard owner had bought it and he had it converted into a home, but with the sails installed as a landmark and was completed in 1972

As we approached the bottom of the Napton flight of locks there was a boat on the water point, but as there were two taps we decided to stop as we didn't think we needed much anyway. It was a very slow tap, and as we finished so did the other boat that was going up the locks too. We let them go first, but they weren't the fastest up the locks. It turns out they have two boats so they were moving the first up to the top of the locks, walking back to pick a car up and move that to the top for the night. Then they would go down in the car and bring the second boat up, needing a second walk down to get the car again! That seems a lot of work for marginal gain to me.

Up the locks we slowly progressed until coming to this Type 26 pill box from WWII. They are commonly known as Stents as they were designed and constructed in prefabricated form by the Stent Pre-Cast Concrete Co. of Westminster. The concrete uprights were installed and two precast slot in panels were added, along with precast loop holes. Then the gap was filled with concrete. They were roughly 10' square and walls of 18" thick. They usually have loopholes in two wall and a door in another.

The water buffalo were taking full advantage of the sun and heat. The Chapel Green farm used to milk Friesian cows but in 1999 decided to get 20 milking water buffalo. Bu 2007 they got rid of the rest of the Friesian cows and increased the buffalo to 80 milkers. They now have 140 milkers and around 100 young and a total herd of around 300. You would have thought that mozzarella would have been produced but it is mainly meat products and ice cream. You can get both these at the Napton Post Office.

This is the Engine House Arm that is 7 locks up from the bottom. It was allowed for in the original Act of Parliament as it accessed a stream to feed the canal. It was made navigable when a steam engine was constructed at the end to pump water back up to the top via a series of channels and ditches and coal was needed to fire the boiler. It remained navigable until 1948 despite it only being used very intermittently once Boddington Reservoir was built in 1811. It used as mooring for part of its route now.

At the top lock at Marston Doles was a canal wharf. The large building was the Lock keepers cottage and the low building to the right was a stable block for 12 boat horses. They were built in 1859.

The DIS marker is about 100 yards from the top lock. I'm not sure what DIS stands for, but I understand that it marks the point where, once passed the approaching boat has right of way at the lock. In this case, as it was a flight, it meant that a boat coming up couldn't turn the lock. In the old days the steerer would crack his whip, or sound his horn as he passed. With single locks the same would be true but if the two posts were in sight of each other it would mean hte one who passed first had the lock.

As proof of the weather in future years here we are on 9th October in shorts in a 26C and blue sky.

As we approached Bridge 128 we went under a construction bridge for the HS2 that was being used by the big tipper lorries moving earth from one place to another. They haven't started the main rail bridge yet but you get a good view of the route to the distance. I reckon when it is built it will be very impressive to see the trains zip past at up to 225 mph. The scar will be gone in a short order too. Look at the mess made by making or widening motorways, plus all the pollution that they create.

We decided to continue on when we got to Fenny Compton, which was just as well as there was only one space on the visitor moorings and somebody had bagged. We were soon at the 'tunnel'. Somebody had decided to moor near the cast iron turnover bridge so we waited for a boat to pass. The boat in the distance was really crawling along so we continued on and slowed where the bushes narrowed the canal a little too much. The tunnel was built with the canal between 1775 and 1777 as a single bore. It proved a bottleneck and in 1840 the canal company bought the land above the tunnel and dug down to make a passing place roughly halfway along the length of the canal. It was still holding up traffic so in 1868 the southern tunnel was dug out and in 1870 the northern section, leaving this narrow cutting to negotiate.

The first of the many lift bridges to come on the Oxford Canal. This one seems to be left open, Hooray!!

The feeder from Boddington, the reservoir, not the brewery, looked lovely in the evening light. The reservoir was opened in 1805 to try to help solve the lack of water at the summit pound. Now a days the 65 acre site is better known for its fishing. In six hours a record total of 630lbs of fish have been taken and a 40lb pike too.

We found a place where we could put our bow on some armco and pin the stern as there was another boat there too. We were all finished by 17:00 and had a beer to celebrate a wonderful day.

Not Done Yet For This Year.

 It was two and a half hours from home to the marina. I still haven't decided which is the quickest way once leaving the motorway yet, but it only the first time we have done the trip after all. The boat looked great and was lovely and dry inside and out. The weather was sunny and warm here in the Midlands, dull but not cold, or as warm as at the marina when we left home.

We soon had the 'stuff' loaded, all the checks done, everything switched on etc. and then we decided that as it was just a little after 3pm we would leave and head out to get a few miles in, and the Calcutt Locks.

The first lock was empty and as there was nobody down the straight leading to the locks behind us we started on the way up. There was a boat just coming down No.2 so that was nice and easy then there was a bit of waiting as a Calcutt hire boat had just come down the top lock to futtle about getting stern to for the hirers to get their gear off. Why they closed the gate I'm not sure, but as we had to wait for them to clear the approach to the lock nothing lost. When we hired I was always cross when the 'professionals' at the marina insisted on doing the maneuvering around the marina/basin. It was the best bit of the whole week and I was denied it!

We approached Napton Junction as a boat sped past. When we got there it was clear. Which way did we turn?

Our new horn was utilised as we went under the bridge. Not very boaty but nice and loud and was only £5. Does the job well. Well which way are we going to turn?

I think the sign post tells you now.

We moored up soon after the turn after meeting more boats than we expected at this time of a Sunday evening. Maybe this photo will confirm our direction? If you look closely, that is.

This should confirm it as we have a view of Napton Windmill up on the hill.

The autumn light is so lovely and couldn't resist the bridge reflection just down from our mooring.

Yep we are on the way to Oxford. Helen has checked at it seems that it was 2016 that we last did the south Oxford Canal, so we will see what I remember.