Moving on to Oxford

We waved goodbye to the lovely Buttercup meadows of Eynsham

Buttercups

Past Dukes Cut junction where we joined the Thames a few weeks ago, and into Kings lock. Which although it didn’t have any fancy topiary that we’d seen upstream but was appropriately guarded for a king. Kings lock was the last pound lock built by the Thames Conservancy in 1928 when George V was on the throne so I assume it was named for him.

The King’s Lock Dragon

The next lock, at Godstow was the first stone built lock built in 1790. Godstow had been home to an Abbey and nunnery but Henry VIII put paid to that during the resolution of the monasteries, I wonder if that’s where some of the lock stones came from.

Godstow abbey ruins

Now Godstow is the first of the electro-hydraulic locks we shall meet on our journey downstream. We shared it with a lovely young couple who showed us which buttons to press.

I still cant convince Eric to let me have a roof garden

We cruised through Port Meadow and caught our first glimpses of Oxford’s dreaming spires, although the skyline was over dominated by cranes taller that the beautiful buildings we strained to see.

Dreaming spires in the distance

Under the Red Bridge or Medley foot bridge to give it s proper name,

Medley bridge


And onto a mooring snuggled into the trees

Where the next day we had a spur of the moment meeting when Amanda stopped off for lunch as she just happened to be driving past.

Always nice to have visitors

Port Meadow is a pleasant 20 minute walk into the centre of Oxford, so as we couldnt see any mooring restrictions, we settled down to enjoy a bit of a holiday.