Rediscovery Cruise: Day 8

 Lovely sunshine from the start this morning.  We set off at 8am, moving down to the water point where we filled the tank and got a wash load going.  I also phoned my dad to wish him a happy birthday, and paid the bill for the new batteries.  Then is was down Duke’s Lock and a right turn into Duke’s Cut.

The lock, which goes up to the level of the Thames, is just the other side of the bridge, has a railway line going over it, and has an unusual mechanism for the top paddle.

We negotiated the rather narrow Duke’s Cut, the second half of which is actually the Wolvercote mill stream.  Then we were out onto the river proper, with wide water and big skies.

At Eynsham Lock a couple of boats were just about to come down.

Once in the lock we told the lock keeper we needed a Thames licence, and he suggested we did that first.  The Environment Agency website has all the charges based on boats measured in metres, but the chart the lock keeper had has it all in feet.  Anyway, he rounded us down a bit, putting us into a slightly cheaper category than we’d expected.  At Pinkhill Lock, there were two lock keepers in spite of the sign saying it was on self service.  We shared with a cruiser.

Before Babcock Hythe, we came up behind two narrowboats going rather slowly, so we went past them, as the cruiser had done.  At Northmoor Lock, which was self service, a boat was coming out, and then once we were up another arrived to go down.  The bridge at Newbridge is actually one of the oldest on the river, dating from the 13th Century.

Shifford Lock was on self service as the lock keeper was on his lunch break.  It’s quite a deep one, so Adrian took the paddles, which you wind up using a big wheel, very gently.

At Rushey Lock an inspection launch style boat was coming out.  It has an electric motor.  They had opened both gates, so Adrian deployed the lock keeper’s long hook to pull the far gate closed.

We’ve been round lots and lots of sharp bends today, so steering has been hard work at times.  We’ve also seen canoes, paddle boarders, and boats of all shapes and sizes, from little plastic boats to really wide widebeams.  Just out of Rushey Lock there are a couple of sharp bends; as it was now 3.30 we’d decided to look for a mooring, and almost immediately I spotted one.  We are out in the middle of nowhere and it’s really quiet and peaceful.

19 miles, 7 locks.  (95 miles, 63 locks)