September Cruise: Day 12

It’s been a very long and quite slow day!  We set off about 8.30 in more bright sunshine, immediately passing the huge caravan site just along from where we moored.

It’s much prettier when you’ve gone by all that lot.

At Pinkhill Lock a lock keeper came on duty while we were there.  At Eynsham Lock, a boat was coming out just as we arrived.  Then it was down to the junction with Duke’s Cut.  We were a couple of minutes too late, because a hire boat from the K&A had come out of King’s Lock and was making the turn into Duke’s Cut.

They proceeded at snails pace the whole way to Duke’s Cut Lock.  The top paddle on the lock isn’t working, so to fill the lock you just wait for leakage — it takes 10 or 15 mins.  It’s just a matter of waiting, not diverting as the sign there suggests (which would be pretty impossible to do at this stage anyway).

The hire boat turned right for Oxford.  We turned left, back onto the Oxford Canal heading north.  We followed boats up through the first couple of locks, and passed through Thrupp, where Adrian did the honours with the bridge.  When we got to Shipton Weir Lock, there was a queue ahead.

We were fourth in line.  The pound through Thrupp had felt rather low, and CRT had been running water through the lock to top it up from the River Cherwell.  Consequently, no-one had been through for an hour or so.  Everything seemed to take ages, because although it’s only a shallow lock, it’s wide so takes a fair amount of water.  We were probably there an hour, but at least the sun was shining.  We’d also heard reports of low water between Baker’s Lock and Pigeon Lock, and the pound was well down.  It meant those couple of miles took ages.  Then, as we knew from last week, Pigeon Lock takes at least 10 mins to fill because only one top paddle is working.  The pound above was also a bit down, and we’d been advised to go up another lock before mooring.  In the event, we ended up doing two more, because we didn’t see anywhere we liked the look of.  Eventually, up Dashwoods Lock and through the next bridge, a spot presented itself.  We have the trains for company, but that’s true all along here.

We had been on the move for ten hours, as it was almost 6.30 when we moored.  But because of all the delays.

17 miles, 11 locks.  (147 miles, 88 locks)