It's a hard life....

Saturday 19^th August 2017

Banbury to Aynho Wharf

7 miles, 5 locks

After all the rain in the night the morning dawned dry, bright and sunny.  Sadly there is still a nasty wind around keeping everything cool.  We are used to the 10am rush on this canal, but in Banbury it was the 7am rush! One heading south (as we are) and two heading north.  We left about 45 minutes later. We passed the one heading south at Twyford Wharf - it was a hire boat, presumably being returned for the usual 9am hand over.  

The first obstacle before the lock in Banbury is a lift bridge which you do have to raise and lower - quite an easy one, thankfully.

One thing we missed in Banbury was Tooley's Historic Boatyard

Next time maybe.

There was certainly no shortage of material for a sailor's suit in the sky as Chris approached Banbury lock

As the locked filled I became aware of a very large lump of wood.  Chris had hoped to hold off whilst I tried to move it, but the wind had other ideas, so he made his way in slowly.  It stayed where is was and it became apparent that it was too large for us to shift.  We were about to phone C&RT when lo and behold, just like magic, two employees turned up!  Someone else had reported it and they were here to try and sort things out.  First they tried to lift it - no chance

Then they tried using one of their long handled rakes, but again it was not going to budge, so they asked us to drain the lock and then they might be able to see what was going on.

We did and it soon became apparent just how big it was!  I think he was going to try to lift it when

over it went.  We left them to it and proceeded carefully as they had warned us that someone had reported a mattress in the canal around 11pm last night.

They weren't kidding - thankfully someone had hooked it to a bollard.  The thought of this on the prop is the stuff of nightmares

There is a large bus station on the left as you look back at Banbury lock.

Moored boats are everywhere - this one is on a 14 day mooring, so one has to presume it can move with the market garden on the roof!

Mostly we were in wide open countryside with a succession of lift bridges, all of which are permanently open.

It looks as though they are constructing yet another marina and this one, supposedly, will come with a bar and restaurant/

The only downside to this stretch of the canal is the constant presence of the M40 - this lift bridge is clearly visible from the motorway, but we would much rather be down here looking up than vice versa.

As you approach Kings Sutton lock (our third of the day) there is a sharp bend with a boat moored right in the way!  The boater was just returning to his boat as we negotiated him and almost as soon as we passed he pulled pins and started to follow us to the lock - the dog should have had a shorter walk!!

By the time we got there it was nearly 10am and we met the first boat of the day coming towards us - they arrived with a big crew as we entered, so lots of help with the lock.  As we proceeded on our way there was another waiting behind them with yet another round the next bend.  The 10 'clock rush is not a myth!

Just before the next lock there is a campsite selling food, wine and beer and parked under this carport is a vintage van and a Rolls Royce. They are both in immaculate condition.

 
And so to the last lock (Aynho Weir) of the day and the most interesting.  It certainly presents a charming scene as you approach.  There were warnings at the previous lock to heed the water level indicators, however there was no board to be seen.  We knew we were going to cross the River Cherwell, but even though we had had a lot of rain in the night the canal seemed to quite low still, so we proceeded with caution.

Looking back from the lock you can see the river really does cross the path of the canal.

The indicator board is clear here and as you can see the water level is in the green, so no reason not to proceed.

The lock itself is not very deep with a drop of just 12 inches, but it is diamond shaped, so takes a while to fill and empty.

 As we were about to enter the lock to go down, this boat appeared wanting to go up.  We got talking, as you do!  They know this canal well as they moor in Cropredy, but what made the meeting so interesting was their boat - they have remote control!  He quite often goes out on his own and is not too well these days, so climbing lock ladders is not feasible and he does not have the strength to pull the boat in and out of locks.  They either had to find a way round it or give up.  The remote only goes forwards and backwards, but as we vacated the lock, he got off and the boat just very gently nudged its way into the lock.  A perfect solution to their situation.

We were moored at Aynho Wharf before midday.  So what is so hard about this life?  We were meeting friends for lunch at The Great Western which is right by the Wharf, so a meal out last night and again at lunchtime today - yes it is a hard life, but someone has to do it.  Last night's meal was good, but today's was something else all together.  We all had a really hard time choosing from the very varied (and far from run of the mill) menu.  Was it worth the hard time we had making decisions - most decidedly yes!

 When we had finished lunch and headed back to the boat to have coffee who should just be mooring up in front of us but the boat on the bend by the lock we passed much earlier in the day!

More chat with Jane and Chris and Monty's bonus - they had brought their black lab (and sometimes deputy boat dog), Kiera, with them.  He was most put out when they left and took his friend with them!  A quiet evening ahead with definitely no cooking required!!