Sunday 21 Nov 2010 Thrupp

We were just catching up on the Archers this morning when a boat came up Pigeon lock. That's lucky I thought, it will save us having to turn the lock, wrong. before we could do anything a boat came passed us and went straight into the waiting open lock, so we still had to turn it.
As we passed through Enslow a Crayfish pot came to the surface near the bank, I checked that it was tethered and not just floating around waiting to catch someone's prop and saw that there were three Red Signal Crayfish in it, I wonder how often the owner empties it?
There was a lot of diesel in the water at Bakers Lock, we timed this one right as a boat had just come up and was leaving as we arrived.  Again the Cherwell was hardly moving, but the indicator boards showed it to be just in the amber, I would have thought it hard for it to be any lower. At Shipton Weir we met yet another boat and as the lock was with them Diana helped them through. They said they had come from Sheffield mainly weekending and were making there way back.
Just after this there was a new experience awaiting me, as we approached the lift bridge the anglers not only took in their lines, but one of them, followed by two young lads crossed the bridge and opened it for me to pass under.
There were several vacancies on the visitor moorings as we entered Thrupp but we really wanted to be at the other end, so we went as far as the lift bridge and while I waited for a boat to leave the services Diana walked along the canal to see if there were any spaces by The Boat or The Jolly Boatman. By the time the other boat had left the services and I had come along side Diana returned as said there was a space by the Jolly Boatman and the boat that passed us at Pigeons lock was moored in the middle of 160 ft gap outside The Boat. On the strength of this information we aborted the service stop and made our way to The Boat where I was just able to squeeze in between the bows of the boat moored in the middle of the gap and the stern of a boat on the first Long of the Term Moorings. Since we have been here there have been several boat passing through looking to moor, so I was just as well we moved up when we did.