We waved goodbye to Abingdon to meander downstream through the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside.
Heading towards Days lock with the Wittenham Clumps iron age fort on the hill
Past some very desirable boat houses
And the house that came with it wasn’t too shabby either
And the best decorated pill box that we had ever seen
We didnt even realise it was a pill box at first
We’d heard from friends that Wallingford was a lovely place to visit, although as it features prominently in Midsomer Murders we weren’t entirely sure how safe we would be. But sure enough although we didn’t stumble over any famous dead bodies we did see a film crew.
Could this be the site of the next Midsomer Murder…..
There’s plenty of mooring on both sides of the river looking towards the medieval stone bridge
Looking towards Wallingford Bridge
although the banks are quite high, so a bit of an undignified climb out of the boat for me. But the nice edge made it very easy for us to attach the jubilee bunting that I had made, and cause we were able to simply turn the boat around to do the other side.
The best dressed boat, ready to celebrate the jubilee
But lovely as Wallingford was to wander around,
That unusal spire belongs to St Peter’s church, not the Town Arms pub
the powers that be have decided that they will charge £12 per night to moor. The lady comes around between 8 and 9 each morning, so of course the boats that know had all disappeared by then, we however paid our fee and left later. Its an odd concept, the council surely can’t make much money, but it meant that we only stayed one night.
Looking from the bridge
Still, its a fascinating little town, old and quirky and we will look forward to a return visit.
We had found ourselves moored below Medley bridge for almost a week, thoroughly enjoying being tucked away peacefully, yet close enough to enjoy the best of Oxford’s lively atmosphere. We had even been lucky enough to realise that a pair of kingfishers had a nest right opposite us.
A kingfisher treat
We suspect the young had hatched, but they stay in the nest for 3 to 4 weeks, it would have been pushing our luck to stay on the off chance of seeing the brood emerge. We were also running low on water so needed to move on. It was only as we were pulling away that we saw the nice post we had tied to actually had a notice on it…. 2 days only
A very well camouflaged sign
Ah well, we will show them the photo to prove our ignorance if anyone pursues us for a mooring fee. We actually feel quite strongly about respecting mooring restrictions, otherwise it would be hypocritical for us to complain about the continual moorers who belligerently believe it’s their right to moor wherever they want for as long as they want. Being continual cruisers we haven’t set out to do any of the recognised cruising rings promoted by the hire companies, however we set off to do the Oxford ring.
Where the Rewley Road swing bridge is being restored as a scheduled ancient monument. I’m very glad it will remain open, as it takes 2 men to operate it, allowing passage into Oxford,
Rewley road swing bridge
Through Isis lock
Isis Lock
which is effectively the end of navigation on the canal for most boats as the short branch that continues only has a 35 foot winding hole.
Looking down past the residential moorings towards the terminus of the Oxford canal
So we cruised north up the Oxford canal
Past some houses with lovely gardens
And returned to the river via Dukes Cut
Entering Dukes Cut
before continuing our journey downstream past Medley bridge and onward.
Its approximately 8 miles and a 4 hour journey, but the environment agency that looks after the river has some frustrating rules about the water points, only using a rigid 7m hose with no fittings, in theory to prevent contamination and back flow, however as we have a 20m flexible hose with brass fittings we are going to have to make some compromises. And so this time we opted to return to the canal to fill our tank. But it wasn’t just a maintenance cruise, we did also see some lovely canal, and some very nice homes.
We made the mistake of cruising past all the rowing clubs on Saturday morning.
It was very busy, although if the bridge grafiti is to be believed not everyone is taking the strain.
“Perfectly Legal” -someones got a sense of humour,
We’ve enjoyed Oxford far more than we expected. Its been fun to explore and theres still plenty left for the next time.
As usual when faced with an overflowing abundance of choice, I never know where to start. Oxford is an affluent city centre that attracts the curious, both academic and tourist, and a curious mix of both. Oxford is where Charles Dodgson, aka CS Lewis studied and taught so a lot of the curious tales of Alice in Wonderland were set in and around Oxford and particularly Christ Church college.
Christ Church
So we resorted to simply exploring on foot, searching out independent retailers, and avoiding anything that herded us like sheep. Whilst we were wandering around we discovered the Covered market which first opened in 1774, now it is home to some fabulous little independant retailers and celebrates Alice’s adventures with a collection of paper lantern sculptures hung from the rafters
We also had a very tasty, and affordable Thai meal from Sasi’s and the best icecream from the Wicked Chocolate store.
Not everything in the market was edible, or should I say desirable because the notice claims it is edible, Fellers butcher’s proudly displays the worlds oldest Ham
The world’s oldest ham
Following on from our market musings, it was time to take in some museums, and again so many to choose from that we had to prioritise. We chose the History of Science museum which celebrated over 1000 years of beautiful and intricate instruments, some collected by the eminent scholars of Oxford and some celebrating the work of more recent times, in particular the Oxford Astazenica covid vacine
And having done the science, I chose the botanical gardens, the rose garden planted in honour of the researchers who discovered the clinical importance of penicillin
And the alliums because we cant all go to Chelsea
We barely scratched the surface of all the things we could do and see in Oxford, but we have to save some for next time
I’m sure all those new graduates that we saw on Saturday worked hard for their degrees but I suspect they had also played hard during their time in Oxford. Port Meadow appeared to be a favourite place to let off steam.
Its not just fish swimming in the river
There were swimmers and frolickers in the water most days regardless of the weather. The temptation to join them proved too much although there was no way I was brave play Tarzan and swing off the tree.
The clear river water was too tempting to ignor
Of course some preferred getting up a bit of speed on the river and most mornings we saw the rowers being put through their paces
This team looks like champions
But in the evenings it seemed to be the paddle boarders came out to play
Thought we were under attack with this lot headed straight for us
We were very impressed by how clean the water was, very little litter, save for the occassional champagne cork bobbing along.
No plastic here
We didn’t run to champagne, but just across Medley Bridge was a lovely riverside bar that did woodfired pizza with wild garlic which hit the spot on more than one evening, even when it rained.
Of course I’d like to say I studied here, well no not really, it wouldn’t have been the best or right place for either of us, but oh boy what a lovely place to immerse yourself in academia if you’re so inclined.
One very proud young man
And the day we explored was graduation day so plenty of smiling happy family’s milling around the closed gates Sheldonian.
And without any logical plan of our own we just walked around town enjoying the atmosphere
And soaking up some of the history of the place
The faculty of history building
There was too much reading up to do
The Bodleian library
and taking good photos was proving difficult
The Radcliffe camera
But Christchurch has to be the most magnificent
Christchurch from the meadows
Or perhaps not wanting to be left behind Magdalen College
Magdalen College
Which sits on the banks of the Cherwell and where we could watch the haphazard tourists trying to outdo the students punting. The queue was long so we didn’t have a go
Punting on the cherwell
And we ended our day back at Christchurch for choral evensong
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.
We weren’t quite sure what to expect from the Thames. On the Trent, mooring was more or less restricted to the floating pontoons around the locks, and we had to call ahead on our VHS radio to alert lock keepers we were approaching, but not on the Thames.
Approaching Eynsham lock
The Trent’s frequent electric charging posts were a real bonus, just paying for what we needed on our precharged card. But it felt a bit like a motorway, plenty of boats getting from A to B as quickly as possible. The Upper Thames has a very different feel. Its a lot quieter, and people are simply enjoying the river. And the riverside pubs.
The Old Swan at Radcott
We’ve taken to the challenge of wild mooring. Who needs armco or pins when you can tie to a tree.
And poor Eric got stung by the nettles as well
Ok we do, but its been a novelty that we’ve enjoyed. Perhaps its the time of year, mid May, that everything is fresh and green.
So many trees, hard to see where the river flows
Or even yellow
We found ourselves a bit of steep bank that we could get close enough into to be able to get on and off
And a field full of buttercups
We a footpath into the village of Eynsham
Just outside of Eynsham, so whilst I sat in the field with my little electric spinning wheel
Eric sat on the roof of the boat wiring in the last of our solar panals. Needless to say retro fitting panels that require wiring being threaded up, under and behind every conceivable obstruction is not to be recommended and all I can say is no wonder it took him so long to psyche himself up to tackle the job.
No rest for the wicked
Whilst Eric was engrossed in his project, I thought I’d take myself for a walk up that hill, only to discover that its part of the Wytham Woods estate, owned by one of the Oxford Colleges. It is a research site containing ancient woodland that has remained under strict preservation since the 1940s and the general public are not allowed in without special permission. Perhaps next time we are here, I’ll be better prepared and will get that permission in advance.
Beacon Hill and Wytham woods
In the mean time I’ll just happily watch another sunset
One of the many nice things about cruising on rivers is that the locks are often manned
Always happy to help
with someone keeping an eye open for those brave enough to pass through
and invariably a doddle compared to canal locks even if the lockie isnt on duty
The Upper Thames lockies use a long pole and hook to open and close the far side. Its very impressive.
Is it a pole or a jousting lance
But what’s also impressive is that the lock keepers job comes with a cottage,
Grafton lock cottage
Which is ok until you remember these guys are also only paid for a working week but are on call 24/7 – Unless its lunch time from 1 till 2 every day. However the river seems quiet with not much traffic which is probably why they have enough time to keep their gardens looking good. We think there must be a degree of rivalry over who can have the best topiary Although it looks like the frog wants to eat the tulips.
The Rushey lock frog
Not sure if this is a fancy haircut, or work in progress, either way it made us chuckle
Burscot locks entry
But the winner surely has to be the grafton cat ready to pounce on the swan
I wonder what the swan really thinks
Whilst we were cruising back downstream we became very aware of the air traffic. The escorted jet was bringing Boris back from India, or might have been, because moments before we saw an identical entourage, so one of them must have been a decoy. We think the two flying in parallel might have been in training for mid air refuelling because they really stuck close by each other for the best part of a morning. And the jet on its own, was one of many that we saw, including the Awax reconnaissance planes, checking we had paid for a Thames license. Once we looked at the map and realised how close we were to several RAF bases, the quantity of planes made sense.
They’re definitely on a mission
The swan by the way is sitting on 8 eggs, and the cat is actually hoping for some tuna to swim past.
We didn’t linger in Lechlade, it was cold and despite it being a pretty little place we decided to save our explorations for another time. We meandered back along the twists and turns of the river enjoying the countryside until we found a bank to moor against where I could get of the boat with my dignity intact and Eric could climb onto the roof to do some more solar panel wiring.
Everyone is happy
Although I thought we were in the middle of nowhere, it turns out to have been a favourite place of the Victorian textile designer William Morris. He rented the 16th century manor house at Kelmscott to help him escape the paparazzi of his day.
Kelmscott Manor
I wonder what he would have made of the likes of me wandering around his garden, marvelling in the beauty of the place
I would have loved to go inside the manor, as it has been conserved and is open to the public but only on certain days.
However as the gates were open and it isn’t anyone’s home I had a sneaky walk around outside.
One of Morris’ ideals and concerns was the damage done by architectural restoration. No wonder he loved this village, I felt like I had stepped back in time a few centuries.
I think it would be quite an enjoyable challenge to walk the entire Thames Path
By mid morning our batteries were fully charged, (we don’t charge overnight) After a chat with Matt the lockie, to pay our dues, we were escorted by a swan towards Lechlade. It wouldn’t be a long trip, we could see the spire of St Lawrence church under a mile away.
Leaving St John’s for the final leg into Lechlade
Although we were a bit worried as we approached Lechlade, the swans were getting dangerously large.
Beware, of the wildlife in Lechlade
Lechlade is known to boaters for its offside mooring, which is shared by a herd of cattle. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a steak dinner, but I don’t particularly fancy becoming the steak’s dinner. And there’s many tales of the cows chewing ropes and licking paintwork and occasionally even stepping onto the deck. This herd isn’t aggressive, just inquisitive, but the canny boaters come armed with an electric fence to give a bit of space. However we saw a space at the bottom of The New Inn’s pub garden, and preferring a pint of beer to a pint of milk, we opted to moor as patrons, and enjoy the antics of the cows from a safe distance.
Perhaps its not just the cows we need to watch out for
We were well rewarded with antics when one of the cows got too close to the edge and had fallen in. The combination of the current and the steep bank meant that the cow was struggling to climb out. Some well meaning walkers called the firebrigade who dutifully turned up to assess the situation only to discover that she had climbed out unaided further downstream. They didn’t seem to mind, there wasn’t a lot else going on on a chilly grey bank holiday.
Thats a lot of cows
We left them to it and went to explore the village, stopping at the Fish and Chip shop
The fish and chips were worth stopping for
It had been a goal to reach Lechlade for some years now, as it holds fond childhood memories. I think I was about 7 when I helped my dad build a Canadian canoe. We then drove from our home in Liverpool to Trewsbury Mead, near Cirencester to see the spring which is hailed to be the source of this great River, in those days Old Father Thame’s statue still marked the spot until he was moved to St Johns lock in 1974. Its actually one of several springs in the area, but its unusual to see water flowing from it.
We continued our homage in our VW combi, following the growing river for about 15 miles through pretty Cotswold villages until we reached Lechlade, the first navigable section, where we set off as a family of four, mum, dad me and my younger brother paddling our way down to Windsor, pitching our tent to camp along the way. (We’d actually launched, ie tested it was water tight, the canoe in the Leeds and Liverpool canal at Lydiate.) Such a pity I don’t have any photos of this transformative holiday. However I do have some lovely memories. Eric and I walked up to the Round House which marks the joining point of the Thames and Severn canal with the river, which is probably the spot where we launched our canoe.
The roundhouse (former lock keepers cottage) at Lechlade
Sadly the weather, and being on patrons only mooring didn’t motivate us to stay more than one night in Lechlade, and depending upon how our Thames adventure pans out we might well come back to explore this pretty place.
Looking down from the bridge to us moored at the New Inn
