Chris set off before 9.00am to go to see his brother and sister, leaving the three of us to move the boat up the canal from Cropredy to Fenny Compton. It was a bit of a cold and grey day when we did the journey in the other direction! Today could not have been more different. The sun shone and the temperature rose.
Cropredy Bridge over the Cherwell was the site of an important battle in the English Civil War in 1644 when a large force of Parliamentarians failed to capture King Charles who managed to escape to the west. There's nothing much to see there now, but it's interesting to get a sense of how much of the land we have been travelling through was part of significant battles in the Civil War, partly due to the strategic importance of the location of Oxford. It is fairly featureless land without major hills, roads or villages really, but was important for the war effort nevertheless.
I was doing the driving this morning leaving our friends on lock detail. There were 9 altogether of which this is the first. I think it's rather pretty. After this we went into the Marina to get a pump out and some diesel. The pump out was token run and so 'we' had to pump out ourselves. James was a stalwart soul and not only manned the pump out but the boat also got a bit of a wash too. We filled up with diesel and were given a good rate as the weather had been cold, so clearly we had used more fuel for heating than for travelling - that might be a bit true, but not as generously proportioned as he gave me I think.
Three more locks came in quick succession after that, but quick access was not possible. There was a boat with just one man aboard and another that was very precious about their boat, so it took quite a time to get through them, long enough to have had a good conversation with a couple on an ABC boat that we were pulled up alongside.
I was being scored for lock entry management and had a few where 'it didn't touch the sides' was accorded to my performance! It's very satisfying when you get 66 foot of canal boat smoothly into a 7 foot gap! The lock team were on good form throughout. After the first four locks we stopped for lunch which was very satisfactory! We ate inside - it was quite good to be in the shade after the heat of the sun!
The five locks that followed were easy to get through - we didn't have annoying boats in front and we crossed with several boats coming down. At the end of the flight of 5 you are at the top of the Oxford Canal in terms of levels - and at first the canal is a bit wiggly then you follow along the path of the old Fenny Compton Tunnel. Are you all keeping up and remembering the information about this from a couple of weeks ago! It looked rather different today, with sunshine on the water and the trees.
There is a canal wide enough for us to navigate through all the way, though it's hard to see from this picture!
We then came to the small community of Fenny Compton where we have moored opposite a field of spotty piglets - their mother was about earlier, but less in evidence now. They have exceedingly wiggly tails which are flicking about all the time! This one was really enjoying the scratch from the log!
We went out to dinner at the Wharf Pub and sat at a table through the early evening sunshine until it got quite low in the sky.
Chris is set to return in the next 15 minutes or so, so it'll be interesting to hear how his day has been. We've had a really lovely one, out in the fresh air all day, so I expect us boaters will all sleep well tonight!
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