As mentioned in the previous blog, we had a big ticket item to tick off from our bucket list. It was meant to have occurred today with us catching the train into London and going to Lords to watch the cricket. It would have been the fourth day of the first test between England and … More Sad Day for Us – 20th August 2022

We are now half way to London. Our cruise down the Thames took just on four hours. We negotiated three locks on the way and then when we turned onto the Kennet and Avon Canal, and we had another double one there. Whilst still on the Thames, a very lovingly kept boat house with thatched … More Reading – The Big Smoke – 19th August 2022

Such very English sounding name – Goring-on-Thames – it sounds rightly posh. We had only 2.5 hours of cruising between Wallingford and Goring, so took our time heading out. Before we chugged off, the local person from the council came along requesting payment of 12 pound for mooring for the night. It kind of grates … More Wallingford to Goring-on-Thames – 18th August 2022

No map today of our progress as we moved a total of 300 meters only. Our plans were to remain in the town of Wallingford for the day and depending upon how we felt we would either chug off later in the day or else spend another night here. We went off to walk to … More Wallingford Excursion – 17th August 2022

We made progress of 13 miles today which took us five hours. We had four locks to navigate of which two were manned so the others we did ourselves. Just on the other side of the bridge at Abingdon, we pulled in to get diesel. Unfortunately, this time we were not so lucky with the … More Rain on the Thames – 16th August 2022

We only had three hours of cruising to get to Abingdon but it took us five hours. Some of the locks had elaborate bridges and staircases around them dating back to the 18th century. They don’t build like this anymore, sadly. This particular lock was just chocolate box perfect. The garden around this lock was … More Abingdon Bound – 15th August 2022

Intentions today consisted of being more of a tourist and taking in the sites of this university town. We set off early so as to beat the crowd but in the end we beat no one as nothing opened until 11.00am at the earliest. We decided to utilise the time by Fraser getting a hair … More “Scholastic” Endeavours – 14th August 2022

Our good friends Lynne and John from Wolverhampton drove down to Oxford this morning to spend the day with us. We first met up with John and Lynne when they drove to Scholars Green on the Macclesfield canal back on the 22nd June. Our rendezvous location today was at the Westgate Mall in Oxford. The … More Good Friends Revisited – 13th August 2022

The decision was  made to  get up early and cruise the hour and half into Oxford so as to secure a mooring. Our first lock of the day was Godstow which was fully automated. As we go downstream now, most of the locks will be like this. There was no lock keeper on duty so … More Oxford – 12th August 2022

It was beautifully cool last night under the willow and we awoke to a cool boat. We hung around until 11.00am before we set off. As the day heats up, we get a cool breeze off the water which keeps us cool as we sit up on the back of the boat under the brolly. … More We are Melting Again – 11th August 2022