It’s all about the timing…

Knowing that it was bound to get busy at Abingdon Lock sooner rather than later, we were on the water point at 08:45, and among the first group of boats down when the lockie came on duty at 9.

Leaving Abingdon Lock
It was starting to get busy below the lock…

Through Abingdon

The two boats with whom we’d shared the lock pulled in for shopping, so we were on our own as we left the town behind and headed out onto Culham Reach.

The Wilts and Berks Canal joined the river at the south end of the town, and was a 52 mile canal that linked the Thames with the Kennet and Avon at Semington, near Melksham. Built in 1810 and abandoned in 1914, much of the line has been lost, filled in and built upon, though a lot of the rural stretches still survive.

River Ock under the iron bridge.

Wharves ran along the river from here to the canal junction.

Site of the canal junction

There will be a second, replacing the earlier, now unusable, junction, if the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust achieves it’s aim of restoring the link. The Jubilee Junction is near the end of Culham Reach, and at the moment just goes a couple of hundred yards to a winding hole. Named White Horse Cut, it is planned to intersect the original line of the canal to the west of Abingdon.

Culham Reach

Culham Cut avoids a river loop to Sutton Courtenay, and has Culham Lock at it’s eastern end.

Culham Lock

Then there’s a long easterly reach before a northern loop takes the river past Clifton Hampden and Burcot. There’s a weir that takes the river around past Long Wittenham, Clifton Cut takes the navigable channel through Clifton Lock and to Clifton Hampden Bridge.

Start of Clifton Cut

Clifton Lock was on DIY, boater operation, but was easy because a party of Scandinavians were waiting below with their hire boat so they did all the button pushing for me.

Leaving Clifton Lock

Clifton Hampden

We’re definitely in the “stockbroker belt” now. Big houses, boathouses, summerhouses and long, well manicured lawns line the river banks.



Geese operate apartheid, you know. Large flocks of Greylag Geese keep clear of their transatlantic cousins…

The early start paid off when we reached Days Lock. The always-popular moorings on the Dorchester side of the river above the lock were only sparsely occupied, and we managed to pull onto a bit of bank very familiar to Sue and Vic… 
Noon and we’ve already had a good day. There’ve been a lot of boats up and down this afternoon, looking for moorings, and here we are feeling smug!

Sue, Thanks for the comment, I didn’t pick it up till we got here, so missed the spot you described. Good job this bit was empty!
Hi Tom. We run off two alternators, both linked through a Sterling A-B controller. This means that both banks can be maintained through one alternator, but it puts quite a bit of strain on it, and the one that was working was the oldest, having clocked up nearly 8000 hours. It’ll go back into storage as a standby when (if) I get the others back repaired.

Locks 3, miles 8

Hot to trot…

Well, the new alternator is fitted and working, thanks to Chris at Marine Engine Services and Justine at Abingdon Boat Centre.

That’s a bit healthier…

So we’ll push on in the morning aiming for the meadow above Days Lock I reckon.

I just hope it’s not as manic at the lock as today…

Yesterday evening, when it cooled a bit, Meg and I had a bit of a ball session, ending in Meg having a close encounter with goose grass…
…And she still wanted to keep playing! It took a while to get all the seeds out, they were all up her legs and on her belly too.

Abingdon Weir this morning

It’s been another warm day, a little cooler in the early afternoon when clouds rolled in for a bit, but the sun came out again for the evening.

Locks 0, miles 0.

So far, so good.

Everything is going to plan at the moment…. I hope I’m not tempting fate!
We arrived at Abingdon at around 11:30, mooring above the lock, and I toddled off into town to drop the two dead alternators off at a local motor factor. All being well they’ll be on their way to the repairer this afternoon. On the way back I stopped off at Waitrose for a few bits, then returned across the Abbey Gardens and Abbey Meadow, busy with people on a fine afternoon.
The supplier of the new alternator has sent it today, overnight delivery to Abingdon Boat Centre, where it’s expected. All looking good.

The past couple of days we’ve been visited by these fascinating little beasts, turning up in all sorts of odd places…

Grasshopper
Amazing things, those back legs enable them to jump phenomenal distances, up to 20 times their own length. This guy (although I think it’s a female, the spike at the back is for egg-laying) could jump maybe a yard, in human terms that’s 120 feet! A bit to go, Greg Rutherford! And you get a running start to reach your PB of 28 feet!


Leaving our mooring above Sandford Lock

We shared the lock with a quad scull and it’s support boat, they’re heading for London, taking three days, for charity.
In sculls each rower has two oars, in sweeps they make do with one each. The little guy at the front has the best job…

They left us standing as soon as we’d cleared the lock, but we were taking it steady, maximising the time we’d be running at 1000 revs to get the most battery charge off the one alternator.

On the reach above Abingdon Lock

Salter’s boats were considerably faster than us today!

A beautiful Dutch Tjalk, still rigged for sailing with lee-boards and mast.

Swift Ditch is a backwater of the river, cutting across the loop which heads close to the town. It was the original navigable channel, with a lock at the upstream end being built around 1624.

Swift Ditch, upstream end

By the late 18th century merchants in the town had realised that they were missing an opportunity, so the current Abingdon Lock was built and the longer but more potentially profitable loop opened up to boats. The Swift Ditch fell derelict, the old lock is now a weir.

Abingdon Lock is a busy spot, and today was no exception.

Bustle at Abingdon Lock
We didn’t get involved, dropping handily on a mooring behind the cruiser on the left.

These two cuties came for lunch…

Ahh, sweet!

So long as nothing goes wrong we’ll be on the move again on Sunday, after fitting the new alternator tomorrow afternoon. I’ll pick up the (hopefully) fully repaired units when we head back upstream in a couple of weeks time.

Locks 1, miles 4½

Our Thames curse strikes again…

Back in 2009 we had an alternator fail while down here, and guess what, we’ve another popped it’s clogs today! Coming out of Eynsham Lock I noticed one of the charge warning lights on. There are two, one for each alternator, and the top one was lit, indicating the domestic side.

Although it doesn’t matter now that I’ve fitted a Sterling A-B controller, the unit splits whatever charge is coming in from either alternator, to refresh both the starter and the domestic banks. it just takes longer to fully charge with only one alternator working.


Anyway, it didn’t detract from the enjoyment of our first proper day’s cruise on the river. We turned around and ducked back through Swinford Bridge, filled with water and dropped down Eynsham Lock

Back under Swinford Bridge, the limestone construction is badly eroded in places.

On the reach below Eynsham

Some of the wiggly bits are very shallow on the inside of the bends, the shoals marked by bouys. Now then, going upstream you keep the red ones on your right, downstream you pass to the right. I think…

Yeah, that must be right. Confusing for a ditchcrawler, we’re used to going aground in the middle of the channel.

We shared the first three of today’s locks with a pair in an open canoe. They weren’t much slower than we were, but we left them below Godstow. I suspect they stopped for lunch…

Kings Lock, with company
They are heading for the Thames Barrier, I hope they’ve got bailers ready for when they meet the ferries!

Godstow Lock after Kings, alongside the ruined nunnery where Henry II’s mistress is reputedly buried. A later Henry, number 8, had the nunnery closed during the Dissolution in 1539, and it’s final destruction was at the hands of Fairfax, Cromwell’s New Model Army commander, in 1645.

Dropping down Godstow Lock, the nunnery ruins in the background.

The day had started dull, cool and breezy, but by the time we’d got this far it was starting to get hot again.

Out of Godstow the river passes Port Meadow, a vast unspoilt area of grazing. The cattle and ponies were taking advantage of the shallows for a foot spa…

The river splits into backwaters at Binsey, the main navigation channel now quite narrow and overgrown. Also a little faster than the broader reaches above and below.

I didn’t notice these signs last time we were here…

…although the state of the bank makes the restriction pretty moot!

The second Oxford Canal connection is the Sheepwash Channel, passed a few hundred yards above the infamously low Osney Bridge.

Sheepwash Channel

Restricted headroom under Osney Bridge.
The last time we came this way the river was up a bit, and we twanged the aerials on the roof. Today they were no-where near the framework.

The lock landing above Osney Lock can be tricky if the river is running, opposite two weirs that carry the water around the lock.

Osney weirs, the lock ahead.
We’d pulled into a vacant space on the Oxford Road moorings for a short stop to give Meg a comfort break.

Meg emptied, a brew and a slice of Eynsham butcher’s pork pie, and we were dropping down Osney Lock, this time in company with a launch.

Osney Lock, ready to kick us out 

The river, now constrained between reinforced banks, twists and turns around the southern edge of Oxford before it’s eeny, meeny, miney, mo time at Folly Bridge. This time we decided to go right…


Folly Bridge
After the relatively narrow stretch it‘s a pleasure to get out on the wide reach used by the university boat clubs.

Out on the broad reach below Christ Church Meadow 

Our first encounter with a trip boat

Iffley Lock was on DIY when we arrived, the chap on the launch had passed us and was filling the lock, so I was able to go straight in. I‘d agreed to close up after us, but then a Salter’s Steamer turned up, making it easier all round.

Iffley Lock

Good timing. 

First choice for mooring was Rose Island, but any useable spots there were occupied, so we motored on, finally tying up in the weeds above Sandford Lock. There are two spaces on the hard edge at the landing, but these were full, so we’re on a rough edge and sitting on the mud each time the lock is filled.

Moored above Sandford Lock

After a brew and a paddle in the river for Meg I got stuck in to swap the duff alternator. Not a task I relished, a hot alternator on a hot engine on a hot afternoon. But needs must. I removed the old one and fitted another that I’d had recon’ed 18 months ago, and fired up the engine. Satisfaction. No warning lights, and a charge rate. A low charge rate because the batteries were fully charged. But after running the engine for less than a minute I noticed a smell of burning, hot insulation, and the “new” alternator was too hot to touch. Bugger! Obviously something not right.
So after a round of phone calls I‘ve arranged for a new unit to be delivered to Abingdon Boat Centre on Saturday morning (for a price!), and the motor factors in the town will take the defective one away and get it checked out. Ah well, these things are sent to try us.

So tomorrow we’ll have just two locks and 5 miles to do, hopefully mooring near Abingdon Bridge.

Locks 5, miles 9½