A quick look at the River Thames

Saturday, 15 January 2011 21:04

Access to the River Thames from the end of the South Oxford Canal is via Isis Lock and Sheepwash Channel. 

This raises a couple of questions for the narrowboater - is the River Thames on red boards and how high is Sheepwash Channel?

The answer to the first question is yes, at the moment. There are red boards at many of the locks, including Isis Lock as a warning of things to come. Osney Lock, downstream of Sheepwash Channel had red boards up when we wandered down there the other day.

The answer to the second question is - can a narrowboat get under the very low rail bridge that crosses Sheepwash? Possibly - but look at this photo of John!

When we took our walk the river was flowing very fast - Osney Bridge would have been another problem to consider. It is a low bridge and look at the flow!

That said, the river below Osney looked a little more inviting, but the flow was still on.

So despite now having our Gold Licence we decided to depart northwards again after a few days in Oxford. Our next questions were:- How easy would it be to turn below Isis Lock? How fast was the Mill Stream and the flow from Sheepwash Channel? Would the new pontoon there help or hinder us? You will have to wait for the next blog for the answers!