A little addition to yesterday evenings blog. Having been moored up for about an hour, a large herd of cattle turned up beside the boat looking at us in a menacing manner. At first we couldn’t work it out until it dawned on us that we had moored up where they access the river for … More End of the Navigatable Thames – 8th August 2022

Before we start on the new adventures on the Thames river north-west of Oxford we will do a quick review of where we have been on the canals. The purple dot is where we left from back at the beginning of June. We headed up to Manchester and then due to water shortages we headed … More New Ground – 7th August 2022

Our last day on the Oxford Canal as well as on the narrow locks. We set off from Thrupp on yet another sunny day with our first task of picking blackberries for the crumble tonight done in five minutes. Next task besides enjoyng the scenery and the beauty that the canals provide, was to fill … More Farewell to the Narrow Canals – 6th August 2022

This will be the shortest blog on record as apart from some boat cleaning chores, a short walk in the nearby woods, very little else happened. Once again Fras managed to get one side of the boat cleaned. There is a hose pipe ban commencing in parts of the UK so practised cleaning it with … More Diddly Squat – 5th August 2022

Our plan for the day was to visit Blenheim Palace. Thrupp, which is the town where we are moored is only about a 10 minute car ride from the Palace, so it was an opportune time to visit it. We were last here in 1991 and it was very early season. We remember it as … More A Day off the Canal –  4th August 2022

Our day started off with a brisk walk of 20 minutes to Rousham House. The house, which has been continuously in the ownership of one family, was built circa 1635. Fairly imposing large pile of bricks but not the reason we visited there. It is not possible to tour through the house as it is … More Into Inspector Morse Territory –  3rd August 2022

We will combine Monday and Tuesday blog as not a great deal to report on. Monday saw us do the usual weekly top up of the pantry prior to leaving Banbury. This time though it was a little different as we needed to work out meals for the next ten days. Our next large shopping opportunity … More Two for the Price of One –  1st and 2nd August 2022

So about three hours of cruising today. Unfortunately, from where we set off until the second lock, the water level was a foot below normal. Once again, we were scraping our bum along the canal floor. Mike had moved their boat Charlie Mo back across the canal from their private mooring as again it was … More Onto Banbury –  31st July 2022

Cropredy village has history of being the site of a very special battle back in 1644. Cropredy Bridge on the River Cherwell was the site of a major battle in 1644 during the English civil war. King Charles engaged the Parliamentarian army led by Sir William Waller. The battle was a stalemate; the Parliamentarian side suffered heavy casualties but ultimately prevented the King’s forces from … More Spontaneity at its Best –  30th July 2022

Beaut morning to head off towards the village of Cropredy today. The village of Cropredy has its roots in Anglo-Saxon times and its name is thought to be derived from the Old English word “croppe” – meaning hill and “ridig” – small stream. The village and its manor were mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) … More The Village of Cropredy –  29th July 2022