Saturday, I moved down to Cropredy.
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| 14th century sandstone church |
Delightful village which comes to life once a year for the annual folk festival. Held since the mid 70's, the main attraction is Fairport Convention. More on Cropredy here and Fairport Convention here
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| The lock at Cropredy |
A bit further on, on Monday and I thought I had found a fairly quiet spot, apart from slight motorway noise (the M40 runs close to the canal for a fair way). I discovered differently in the morning when the earth moving machines started up at 8 am, building a new housing estate!
Apparently the original builders of the canal ran a bit short of money so, on the section from Banbury to Oxford, used the cheaper lift bridges and only one bottom lock gate rather than the more usual (and more expensive) two. The latter is not any problem but means I have to get off the boat to close the gate. The lift bridges are much more of a pain to a single boater. Fortunately nearly all are left open.
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| Never far from the M40 |
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| Strange looking trees after the cutting back |
Always sad to see, it was no doubt someone's pride and joy - the outboard looked pretty new.
A very unusual feature. The canal follows the course of the river Cherwell from Cropredy nearly to Oxford but at Aynho the river crosses the canal, coming in from the right of this photo and exiting on the left. Care needs to be taken if there has been much rainfall and warning boards are in place.
There have been lots of lovely blue dragonflies or damselflies darting about and finally one held still for long enough to get a photo. I think it is a damselfly, rather than a dragonfly, but by no means certain.
On Tuesday I just moved down a bit to get better TV reception. One of James' eyes is weeping a bit and I manage to rinse it out with some Optrex, which seemed to help but on Wednesday morning it is worse and inflamed so a visit to the vet urgently required. What would I do without Google! The next vets is at Kidlington - a long way further on but I make an appointment for 1815, in the hope of getting there in time. It means my nice leisurely cruise down the South Oxford is at an end but needs must.
Somerton Deep Lock At 12 ft it is the deepest lock I have done.
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| The River Cherwell joins the canal again for about a mile |
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| Shipton Weir Lock, where the Cherwell leaves the canal. |
This is the second lock built in an octagonal shape which I have encountered on the South Oxford. I believe they were constructed like this to provide increased water volumes for the next pounds, having an ample supply from the Cherwell.
Swamp Frogs NB at Thrupp, with proud owner Rob looking on. It is a lovely boat, built to his exact specification, but well out of my price range. I know him from livingonanarrowboat.co.uk and, as I had made good time, I stopped for a chat and a nosey at the boat.
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| Approaching Kidlington - a nice spot to live. |
As I do not know how much mooring there is in the town, I stop just before and get to the vets with time to spare. James has scratched his eye, no doubt while diving into the bushes in pursuit of a rabbit or squirrel and much objected to the treatment he received. I am going to have difficulty administering the eye drops he has been prescribed and the vet suggests I buy a muzzle. I will need it! Unfortunately they have none for sale but tell me there is a pet shop at the other end of town so, on Thursday morning I use my bus pass again. Armed with the muzzle I try administering the drops but James violently objects and I am at a loss what to do. Hilary and Marcus, on the boat moored behind me, come to the rescue and even with the three of us holding him down it is a real struggle to get the drops anywhere near his eye. The treatment is supposed to last 7 days, three times a day!!!! On Friday Marcus is working and Hilary comes up with the great idea to use a latex glove and put some cream on my finger and try to get some in his eye - I am not sure if we managed or not but it goes slightly better when Marcus returns and lends a hand for the next attempt.
I made an appointment to see the vet at midday, today and, thank goodness, she declared his eye was better and I could stop the drops (not that he had had many!). It took the vet, the nurse and myself four attempts to get the ultraviolet drops in his eye for examination - he can struggle extremely well! What a relief, especially as Hilary and Marcus moved on this morning. My very grateful thanks to them - a lovely couple.
Saturday
2 miles; 3 locks
Sunday
6 miles; 4 locks; 2 lift bridges
Monday
4 miles; 2 locks
Tuesday
3 miles; 2 locks
Wednesday
13 miles; 8 locks; 2 lift bridges
TOTAL: 351 miles; 206 locks (58 broad; 5 large; 4 lift bridges)
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