Oxford

Last night we heard the church clock strike midnight, thankfully I think it was the last time it chimed, well we didn’t hear it any more.
This morning we set off about ten but only did a ¼mile upstream above the bridge and moored against the park to visit Waitrose for a while. Once we had parted with lots of cash we set off upstream to Abingdon lock which was against us, we had just started locking up and a cruiser came up the river behind us. We met a couple of boats before Sandford Lock but even so the boat ahead of us was still going up so a bit more hanging about, the cruiser that locked up behind us caught up but turned round before the lock moorings. Yesterday I mention converted ship lifeboats, both big orange fibreglass ones and old metal ones like this.

One of the bridges coming into Oxford has a very nice bit of graffiti if it can be nice?

We have only seen 2 rowing boats out this week and they were together today in Oxford, behind the you can see a couple of the sunken boats, I lost count how many we have seen on the river but it tops a dozen.

Above Osney lock there were some very popular moorings, sorry to say no more with this hand written notice on the lock gate and the “No Mooring” signs on site #.

  They are renovating the building opposite the closed moorings, I don’t know if that has anything to do with them being closed, or what the building will be when work is complete.

At Sheepwash Junction we turned off the river and back onto the canal. the first time we have used a windlass for a week. Once on the N Oxford canal we stopped at the first mooring spot we came to, opposite the newish flats that use to be a factory.

Today’s Journey

10 miles with 5 locks in 4¼ hours