Karen and I set out for
Calcutt at ten on Sunday which was early for us. We wanted to call in at the boat yard to fill
up with diesel and get a pump out. The
boat yard is in the middle of the three locks on the Calcutt flight and it can
sometimes be problematical getting in or out of the moorings as there are a lot
of boats moored and it can get quite windy.
I usually find that I make a perfect manoeuvre getting in because the wind
can be used to my advantage. Coming out
is often a different matter especially if carrying on up the flight as the wind
wants to take you the wrong way.
As it happened I managed
to get in and out OK and carried on up the flight. There was a queue waiting to come down. Karen and I both remarked, at the same time,
that we only really remember queuing once and that was on the Middlewich branch
of the Shropshire Union. Some people
really complain about queues so I think we have either been fortunate or just
time our cruises at the right times of the day.
After the Calcutt locks we
were at Wigrams turn where we turned right onto the southern section of the
Oxford canal. The Oxford canal has
narrow locks so the canal tends to be narrower and there are no widebeams to
contend with.
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Back on the Oxford canal
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We last came along this
section at the end of December last year and spent a few days over the new year
moored at Napton.
Soon after we left our
mooring in the morning I was going past a line of residential boats and a boat
behind me started tooting and indicating that he wanted to get past. I shouted out that it wasn’t the place to
pass and we ended up having a bit of a slanging match. Some of the residents were out on their boats
too and were thanking me for going slowly and standing up for myself. When we got to a straight section I let him
pass and we could see he was really stressed and in a terrific hurry.
The funny thing was that
we knew the locks were only ½ mile away so we would catch up with them whilst
they were getting the locks ready. We
hung back a bit as we didn’t really want to go up with them but he came back
down the towpath to apologise and said they were waiting for us to go up the
lock with them. We ended up having a
good chat and they also went in to get fuel with us.
I had taken Buddy for a
quick run before we set off and I got a picture of the latest addition to the
restoration of Nelsons wharf. A new lift
bridge has been installed – can’t have been cheap – the restoration is being
financed by a local man who owns the boat helmsman training centre based in the
wharf.
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The new lift bridge – with
all the tubes it is probably going to be hydraulically operated
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We were soon at the bottom
of the Napton flight of nine locks. We
decided to go up the first lock and moor in the pound above so we could rest
our backs and put the washing out for a while – it was nice and windy, good
drying weather.
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Sign at the bottom lock
telling people to keep their fenders up
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I never understand why
people have their fenders down when cruising as it is all too easy to get stuck
in locks or lose them when going through lock gates. Some people make it a mission to only use
fenders that they have fished out of the cut!
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Going up one of the Napton
locks
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One of the locks is next
to a field of water buffalo. The farm
has had a herd for years and is well known for its buffalo burgers which can be
found at many pubs in the area.
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Passing the Napton water
buffalo and Karen doing some gardening
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We were following a boat
up the flight. The couple had just
picked it up and were taking it to Newbury where they were going to use it to
take terminally ill people out on boat trips on a voluntary basis. It had transpired that she has a form of vertigo
and also has a touch of claustrophobia. This meant that she could not drive
into locks but was also very scared operating them. They were very apologetic about how slow they
were but we had a good old chat and said it didn’t matter.
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The twelfth and final lock
of the day, at Marston Doles
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We moored up at Marston
Doles where we knew there was easy access to a road although it was a bit like
mooring on the Kennet & Avon – we needed pins and a gangplank.
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Moored for Sunday evening
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Karen got on with a bit of
work whilst I went back and got the car.
All in all it was a great weekend with lots of variety and stories to
remember.
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