About turn? due to closure of Clitheroe Lock no 99

Our plan this year was to cruise the River Thames for a couple of weeks from Oxford to Brentford and then cruise the Grand Union Canal back North to the River Trent. Unfortunately, due to a damaged Cill at Clitheroe Lock  (just after you leave the Thames at Brentford) it has been closed for emergency repair and the only other way is to downstream on the tidal Thames all the way to Limehouse 😟 - which is not recommended!! We made a phone call to CRT to check for updates re progression of the works, but unfortunately there was no more information available at that time.  So, after much deliberation over a pint or two and a meal at The King & Castle Wetherspoons in Windsor, we decided to turn around the following day. 

The following morning, we began our return journey upstream towards  the Oxford Canal. At least we will see the River Thames from a different perspective.   We headed to Marlow - once again, the moorings are limited but due to kind boaters on narrow boats 'Midnight' and 'Kyle', we managed to squeeze in.

Marlow

Marlow is a lovely market town, the only thing that blights it is the traffic on the main high street, but there are plenty of shops/cafes/restaurants etc and a handy Sainsbury's Local.  The following day we cruised through Henley.  All the rowing lanes, marquees, stalls etc were set up and finishing touches were being made for the regatta next week.

The rowers were out in force practising and it was great to see.👍  Whilst we were cruising through Henley, an update regarding Clitheroe lock appeared in our inbox.  Oh NO! we cried, is the lock going to be open imminently???  have we turned round in error?😟.... er no, just an update to say work is ongoing replacing the entire Cill and a further update is due on 4th July.  Due to our commitments, we cannot hang around, so luckily it looks like we have made the correct decision.  

St Andrew's Church, Sonning

Cruising upstream the following day, we moored at Sonning, where a couple of famous names have homes; Jimmy Page and George and Amal Clooney.  We had a walk around the village and had a look in the church.  What a stunning historic church it is.  There is a plaque naming the vicars of Sonning and it was really interesting to see the first entry was 1222.

  

 

River Thames - Henley-on-Thames to Windsor

Having left Henley at 8.15am, what a pleasure to see numerous rowing crews in training for the forth coming Henley Regatta (1st week in July). 

Just before Hurley Lock you can see the Chalk cliffs on your left before a turn to the right for the Lock.

Chalk cliffs - Hurley

There are bulk water and an elsan facilities just above Hurley lock, however the rubbish collection is out  of action at the moment as they are currently in the process of changing contractors - the next place to empty the refuse for the time being, is above Cookham lock.  We moored  for the evening at the bottom of Temple Lock on the EA moorings, which were a bit overgrown, but offered shade and it was a  perfect spot to watch the many rowing crews working hard while we enjoyed the evening sun and a glass of beer.

The following day we cruised past Bishop Abbey and the National Sports Centre amongst plenty more keen rowers.

All Saints Church - Bisham

We cruised through Marlow followed by Cookham Lock where we met the friendly lock keeper and his lovely dog.  There is bulk water above the lock and an elsan point and rubbish facilities here.

Marlow bridge and All Saints Church

Cruising onwards to Maidenhead, we moored on the visitor moorings.  It is approximately a 20-30 min walk to shops, so after stocking up with provisions, we set off again hoping to moor at the EA moorings before Boveney Lock.  Unfortunately these are limited and they were all full, so we turned around and eventually managed to find a place to moor on the river banking. 

Windsor

The following morning, we cruised through to Windsor and following advice from other boaters blogs/YouTube (thank you Foxes!), we moored in Bath Island inlet.  It is much calmer here rather than on the river as there are lots of trip boats and small day/hourly hire boats which cause a lot of wash. The charge is £10 per night payable to the 'water bailiff' whom patrol regularly in their little powered dingy. 

There is a full size replica of a Hawker Hurricane just next to the mooring which is a great memorial to Windsor resident Sir Sydney Camm CBE FRAeS.

Replica of a Hawker Hurricane - Windsor 

Windsor is great with plenty to see and do and it was delightful to explore this wonderful town with so much royal history. We were fortunate to watch changing of the Guard at Windsor Castle, this takes place at 11am within the Castle grounds, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. For £36 each, why not 'dress to impress' and indulge in afternoon tea at The Ivy overlooking Windsor Castle? 

Changing of the Guard - Windsor Castle

In the evening, we walked over Windsor bridge, along Eton High Street towards the famous Eton College with the wonderful antiquated shops/tailors and buildings.

Eton School Hall and Library

River Thames - Goring to Henley-on-Thames

After leaving the visitor moorings at Goring, we had a short cruise through to Pangbourne.  Luckily there was one space available on the Council moorings, ideal adjacent to a wonderful recreation area and only a 15 minute walk into Pangbourne. Our Patterdale Terrier, Nugget, thought it was great!

We had a look around the village which has, plenty of shops, cafes and quite a few restaurants.  After a tasty lunch in a cafe, we stocked up with food at the large Co-op and with books from the charity shops.

In the evening, we sat out and enjoyed a curry from the takeaway in the village.

The following day, we cruised through to Reading.  On the way, we saw this postbox on the riverside, railway wall. Not too sure who could make use of this!!! 😂

You have to be mindful of other river craft at all times, large or small.

In Reading downstream from Caversham Lock, round the bend and on the right hand side are some moorings for a 24hr Tesco supermarket. Just a 2min walk allows for extra stocks, including heavy bulk items E.G. Beer and Wine.  Moving on we moored on pleasant moorings just above Sonning Lock.  

The following day, we were up early and down the lock - a note for boaters - before Shiplake Lock on your right hand side (not well signposted), there is a mooring for elsan, pump out and bulk water. Descending Shiplake Lock we cruised onwards towards Henley-on-Thames. The properties are truly amazing not to mention the variety of boats too.  After  mooring on the Environment Agency moorings and paying the £15 24hr fee, we explored Henley.  Fantastic 👍 and we enjoyed a tasty lunch in the historic Anchor Inn with a pint of Brackspear Gold 4%!

Setting up for Regatta Week

River Thames - Oxford to Goring

We woke up excited, but also a little nervous as today we were heading onto the River Thames! 😀  

Isis Lock

We exited Isis Lock which takes you from the Oxford Canal onto the River Thames.  The locks from now on are electric.  The first lock on the Thames is Osney Lock and as this was not manned by a lock keeper, we controlled it ourselves.  The instructions are clear and once you have completed one, they are all very similar. 

The next 3 locks were manned by friendly lock keepers and found ourselves sharing one of the locks with 3 rowing crews from Denmark who were on a mission to row to Teddington.

  

 Abingdon Lock has all the boaters facilities here, it is worth filling up with water when you can as there are not a lot of places to do so.  We also purchased the Environmental Agency Licence here for the duration of our time on the Thames.  We were blessed with wonderful weather and thoroughly enjoyed our cruise today mooring  on the  Council moorings at Abingdon.

The moorings are really good, clearly marked and well maintained.  You can stay for up to 24 hours free, up to 3 days can be purchased from the EA. 

What a wonderful historical market town Abingdon is. Plenty of shops, cafes, pubs, etc and a large Waitrose.

Some advice to boaters - bring your binoculars!! you will certainly need them as most of the signs for moorings are small and difficult to read.  Luckily, just before Days Lock, we spotted a sign for a Bishops Court Farm (Thames Path) mooring which you pay for online [this particular one was £7 for the night] .  This was wonderful as it was such a calm evening and a very pleasant, private rural mooring.

Taken from Bishops Court Farm mooring

The following morning, we descended Days Lock and just a little further downstream there is an elsan disposal and bins on a pontoon which is easy to miss. 

We continued the following day, cruising through Culham Cut/Lock and Clifton Cut / Lock and saw some wonderful sights/homes along the way.

Great to see this  WW11 pillbox along the way, which had been painted to commemorate the brave soldiers in the war.

Clifton Hampden Bridge

We had  another wonderful morning cruise through to Goring where we moored at the visitor moorings just after Goring Lock.  Great moorings - free for the first 24 hours and good access to the town.

Visitor moorings Goring 

Banbury to Oxford

Over the last week, we have enjoyed cruising from Banbury to Oxford on this lovely picturesque Canal.

 

It was such a shame on this stretch to see a couple of what would have once been beautiful lock-side cottages, which are now unfortunately derelict.

The first night, we moored not far from Aynho Marina which has a lovely little shop/outdoor snacks and you can purchase diesel here.  The following day, we went through one of the deepest locks on the narrow canal system, Somerton Deep Lock No 34, built in 1787 - 12ft deep.

Somerton Deep Lock

From Banbury onwards, the bottom gates switch from two to one, which can be a little heavier to open.  We then cruised through to a quaint village called Lower Heyford.  It is so pretty, with lovely thatched cottages and no through road, so peaceful.  There are 14 day moorings here complete with a space for us! The railway station here proved very handy as we used it pop home for a couple of days and had a day trip to Oxford which is only 15 mins away.  

View from the top of Carfax Tower

This is the view from the top of Carfax Tower in the centre of Oxford.  We walked up the 99 steps of the tower which is all that remains from the 12th century St Martin's Church.

After leaving Lower Heyford, just after pigeon lock, we saw a very unfortunate sight,  a boat teetering on the edge of the towpath.  We are guessing that at some point the towpath has flooded and the boat has been marooned on the towpath, now patiently waiting until the next flood?

There are some great Elsan/water facilities at Thrupp Canal Cruising Club.  Just after the club, there is a lift bridge (CRT Key to use this) and there are visitor moorings for 48 hours.  We were lucky and managed to moor next to the Boat Inn, where some episodes of Inspector Morse were filmed and where we enjoyed a meal in the evening. 

 

The following day, we cruised through to Oxford.  There are a couple of lift bridges on the way.  We moored up for the day on the visitor moorings (2 days) just after bridge no 240, Aristotle Bridge.  These are really good as there is a recreation park and a 15 minute walk takes you to the suburbs of Jericho.  There are lots of little cafe's, bars and a couple of grocery stores here - it has a real community feel to it.  In the evening, we enjoyed a curry at Jamal's and for breakfast this morning went to TCG's (The Coffee Guild) for a tasty breakfast.

 

Breakfast at TCG's

     We plan to descend Isis lock tomorrow and head out on the mighty River Thames!😀

 

Napton Locks to Banbury - Tooley's Boatyard

Over the next few days, we ascended Napton locks.  This is a flight of 9 locks taking you up to the 11 mile long summit pound. 

There are CRT facilities at the bottom of the locks, so after emptying the elsan and rubbish etc, we started our ascent.

Napton lock 10

At lock 10, there is a pill box from the Second World War.  It is a lovely flight of locks, very picturesque and thankfully only shallow in one pound due to the lack of rainfall over the last few weeks.  Luckily, some boats were making their way down the flight, so we could be savvy with the water.  

A couple of days later after some much welcomed rain, we cruised from Marston Doles to Fenny Compton which is a very wiggly section, with lots of tight bends (thankfully Coventina is only 55 ft long). It takes you through beautiful countryside and past the site of the medieval village of Wormleighton, spotting this wonderful carving on the way.

On this section, we also passed some of the mighty HS2 railway project, currently under construction.    

We moored overnight at the visitor moorings at Fenny Compton. There are mooring rings here.  From the moorings, it takes approximately 30 minutes to walk into the village where there is a handy Co-op.

Fenny Compton

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Wharf Inn in the evening which is next to the visitor moorings.  Fenny Compton Marina, a little bit further along the canal, has diesel, rubbish disposal and you can empty your elsan for £3 which is handy.

The following day, after filling with diesel at the marina, we cruised through the section where the Fenny Compton Tunnel, constructed between 1775 and 1777 and later demolished in the 19th Century, used to be.  We then started our descent down the Claydon flight of 5 locks.  The friendly volunteers were in the process of sending water down the flight as it was shallow further down the canal and they helped us down the locks. 

 

After 3 more locks you reach the lovely village of Cropredy famous for its annual folk festival. What a lovely quaint village this is. 

Cropredy Lock 

We had a look around the church which was really interesting (mainly 14 C).  Once again, the visitor moorings are great, with mooring rings just above Cropredy Lock. 

The following day after using the CRT facilities (just below Cropredy lock on your right), we cruised through to Banbury and moored on the 48hr moorings next to Spiceball Country Park just before bridge 164 (Tom Rolt bridge).

There are plenty of visitor moorings in the Castle Quays development, with restaurants, shops and leisure facilities, you are really in the heart of it.  The new moorings actually in the centre of the development, have electric charging points for up to six boats - eco-moorings. These were installed to improve pollution and air quality, so boats don't have their engines running, generators etc.

   

Tooley's Boatyard

Tooley's boatyard is one of the oldest dry working docks on the Inland Waterways and has been in continuous use since 1778. Here of course was where Tom Rolt and his boat Cressy began their epic journey in 1939 cruising the rapidly declining canal system. It is wonderful to see this piece of history  retained, despite the Castle Quays development that was literally built around it.  

It was really interesting to have a look around the boatyard, the chandlery and museum and learn about the history and see the working forge.