Rowkin Rovings Blog

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

A little about the books that we use as guides on the canals. There are two main books that are the bibles, Pearson’s and Nicolsons. We much prefer Pearson’s as they are easier to follow for us. We do have a slight problem with our copies we are using as they are nearly 10 years … More Oxford Canal –  28th July 2022

This is the trajectory of our travels since we left Birmingham. We left Birmingham going down the Birmingham and Worcester canal and then turned onto the Stratford canal, then turning onto the Grand Union Canal at Kingswood Junction. Yesterday we turned onto the Oxford Canal from the Grand Union Canal at Napton Junction. There has … More Onto the Oxford Canal –  27th July 2022

Perfect day for doing locks and cruising. Our distance today is not great, maybe three miles but another ten locks. Di didn’t mean to sound aghast in the video at the locks ahead as she does like the challenge of doing them – well, driving through them – not the actually lock gates and paddles … More Another Farewell –  26th July 2022

It just makes you want to scratch yourself when you see the sign post to Long Itchington. It is ten locks and seven miles up the canal. It is great travelling with Janet and Dave as they like to be ready to go by 9.00am and cruise about 3-4 hours per day. This means you … More Long Itchington –  25th July 2022

Very cruisy day today. It started off with doing two locks and then the rest of the day consisted of just over another hour of cruising. We pulled up just outside of Warwick and did a quick shop at the Tesco there before setting off again. Warwick and Leamington Spa are towns that are joined … More Onto Leamington Spa –  24th July 2022

Up at the crack of dawn – 7.00am – ugh. All in a good cause as Karen had organised for a taxi to pick her up from the pub at 8.30am to catch the train from Warwick back to London. It was tough saying farewell but we will see her and Miles again in London … More Hatton 21 and Farewell –  23rd July 2022

Poor Karen still didn’t get to sleep in as this morning she was woken by Fras whereas the previous morning she was up early because Di gave her the incorrect time. Ooops, she is going to be pleased to get off this boat. The weather forecast had said it would be raining in the morning … More Grand Union  –  22nd July 2022

It is truly amazing how we have gone from 38c and glaring sun to a high of 15c with rain and dull and overcast. We awoke to a fair amount of rain having fallen over the night and it was still mizzling by the time we pulled up anchor at 10.00am. We continued down the … More Lapworth Flight – Stratford Canal  –  21st July 2022