November Cruising - more like July on the South Oxford Canal

Monday, 28 November 2011 12:26

It is so different cruising on the South Oxford Canal. It is more "intimate" than the River Thames. The wide expanse of the river means that walkers and fishermen are much farther away. On the canals it is much more difficult for them to ignore us! It is lovely to be able to say hello to everyone and wave to the children. The number of moored narrowboats on this canal also contributes to the closeness of everyone.

There were more permit moorings above St Edwards Lift Bridge

So how many narrowboats did we see "on the move"?

On the offside above here are some allotments - one owner has a rather scary scarecrow. Now is this to scare the birds or the boaters?

Scarecrow

As we approached Wolvercote Lock (the first with canal above and below!) we saw there was a narrowboat ahead of us - in fact, there were two: one was just leaving above and the next was in the lock. That meant that the locks would be set against us from now on. Not really a problem as we were in no hurry as usual. Three narrowboats "on the move" and counting! The first was at Isis Lock, remember?

Wolvercote Lock, looking down to Godstow Road Bridge and Balls Bridge

Wolvercote (Ulfgarcote, or Wulfgar's Cottage) was two settlements around the C16th and the industrial revolution completed the split. The Oxford Canal was built in 1788 and the railway in 1846. Lower Wolvercote is bounded by the Thames and Port Meadow. Upper Wolvercote is now part of North Oxford. The village has a long history and is recorded in the Doomsday Book. Students from Oxford University would "room" and "carouse" in the village and have been know to cause disturbances. 1662 undergraduates broke all the windows in the village whilst rescuing a fellow student from the stocks - he had stolen a goose from Port Meadow.

Leaving Wolvercote Lock

As we arrived at Perry's Lift Bridge, the narrowboat in front of us pulled out from the sani-station there. John helped the lady crew with the bridge and they went on ahead but, of course, we caught up with them at the next lift bridge. 

A34 bridge with the lift bridge beyond

This bridge (233) is a bit of an awkward one - there is nothing to tie to if waiting for it to be operated and so if a boat hangs around it can go "off course" and need to manoeuvre to get through.

Oops - not into the side (waiting for him to go through- we did the same on the opposite side!)

At least it is now easier to operate since BW worked on it last year - it was a real problem and John hurt himself last time we used it. 

The strange beauty of a concrete bridge

The A40 then passes over head beyond the lift bridge

Duke's Cut enters just below Duke's Lock; this is the northern way onto the River Thames above King's Lock and weir. For some reason we found ourselves in a queue, as we could see a narrowboat on the lock landing. Finally a downstream narrowboat appeared!  That made 4 narrowboats we had seen "on the move". This was more like summer traffic!

Passing narrowboats

Because another (unattended) narrowboat was moored on the corner, narrowboat Phoenix ahead of us had to pull in to the mooring spot below Duke's Cut and we had to hang around mid-canal. He stayed there waiting despite the lock landing now being free!

A pretty sight in the sun

So we waited some more ......