A morning walk around Dorchester

One of the footpaths to Dorchester

 We left the boat to walk into Dorchester early at 8:30 to avoid the heat expected later in the day.  It took about 20 minutes along footpaths and farm tracks, the route being far from direct due to the need to bypass fenced-off areas.

First stop  the Abbey Church which, prior to Henry VIII, was part of an Abbey originally founded in the 7th century by Bishop Birinius, a missionary to the West Saxons sent by the Pope.  The town was initially the cathedral city of Wessex, the honour quickly moving to Winchester, and later its See covered much of the Midlands, but this moved to Lincoln in the 11th century.  After the dissolution of the monastories the 12th century building became simply the parish church of what is now little more than a village.

The nave of Dorchester Abbey where the monks prayed

The adjacent People's Chapel for the laity

The church is now an impressive historic building with ancient stained glass, remains of medieval wall paintings, tombs of knights in armour, and a carving of a Green Man, and a powerfully serene atmosphere.

Dorchester High Street

Row of thatched cottages by the footpath

We then walked down the peaceful high street past two attractive coaching inns and the only shop, a small Coop.  Then back to the boat stopping off at a cafe which seemed to be part of a comunity-run farm which also owned the river bank where we moored.

As I write this the thermometer is showing 35 degC.

Daily travel details

Distance:0
Locks: 0
Duration:0

Down the river to Dorchester on Thames

 After a day's rest we were ready to move on to the next interesting town/village, Dorchester on Thames (not to be confused with the one in Dorset). 

In Culham Cut

We left Abingdon at 9:45 and two miles later we reached Culham Lock which is approached through Culham Cut,  a narrow channel off the main river, the latter drops over a weir. When we arived at the lock the gates had already been  opened by the lock-keeper ready for us to enter.  There we were joined by a small launch. 

Waiting to enter Clifton Lock

After we left Culham Lock Denise saw a kingfisher, her third one of this holiday.  I missed on all of them.  3 miles further on came Clifton Lock, also manned.  We had to wait while a large cruiser exited the lock. We then entered joined by a small cruiser along side and  larger one behind us both. When the lock had emptied and the gates opened the small cruiser left first and we followed. The lock keepers take great care to ensure that heavy narrow boats don't bang into the more fragile glass fibre boats.

Moored near Dorchester

Another 3 miles further on at 12:45 we found a mooring in a small gap in the tree-lined riverside not too far from Dorchester, about half a mile inland from the river.  It looked at first that there would be insufficient room but it turned out that some of the rough shrubbery and long grass was actually hiding a solid bank which could securely hold our mooring spikes.  The land-owner charges moorers, but given the lack of moorings on the Thames we were happy to pay the £15 for two nights.

Daily travel details

Distance: 7.92 miles
Locks: 2
Duration: 3 hours

A day off in Abingdon

 

The local goose family

After nearly 2 weeks continually cruising we are staying in Abingdon for a day or two's rest.  This afternoon we walked to the local large Waitrose to stock up on our groceries for the next few days.

The photo shows some of the geese that have been grazing near the moored boats.  They dont seem much bothered by the boats and their crew coming and going.  You can just see Densie's stern at the left of the picture.

Daily Travel Detail

Distance: 0
Locks: 0
Duration: all day

Cruising to Abingdon in glorious weather

 Now that we better understand the Thames, its locks, and moorings we were able to enjoy the cruising rather than getting stressed. We left our moorings near Iffley Lock early at 8:55 with the aim of reaching Abingdon before the moorings were all taken.

Reaching our first lock of the day at the  2 foot 9 inch drop Iffley lock we were pleased to fnd a lock-keeper on duty.  This allowed us to stay on the boat whilst he did all the work. 

Between Iffley Lock and  Sandford Lock

Leaving Sandford Lock

The second lock at Sandford was very different.  It is about twice the length and 3 times the width of the canal locks we have met so far on the this trip. At  8 foot 10 inches it has the deepest drop of any lock on the Thames.  It also did not have a lock-keeper so we had to work it ourselves. Following the instructions given to us yesterday by the Osney lock-keeper I was able to fill the lock and open the gates electrically. A fairly large fibreglass cruiser joined us in the lock. One of their crew operated the controls to empty the lock and open the gates as both of us were needed to hold onto Densie's ropes to stop her banging into the cruiser in the swirling waters.  

In Abingdon Lock awiting for the gates to open

Moored in Abingdon

We then had a four mile lock-free run through attractive wooded countryside to the manned Abingdon Lock. A quarter of a mile further on we were able to moor in one of the last remaining spaces in the park opposite the town, only 5-10 minutes walk away.

Tonuight we have booked into a tapas restaurant for our first meal off the boat this holiday.

Daily travel details

Distance: 6.94 miles
Locks: 3
Duration: 3 hours

Onto the Thames, another very long day

 

Denise opening Drinkwater's Lift Lridge

Dukes Cut Lock

Heron in Dukes Cut

After yesterday's arduous cruise, today was planned to be relatively easy. We left our mooring near Kidlington at 9:10.  We quickly descended 2 locks went through a lift bridge and filled up with water.  The next stop was at Duke Cuts Junction where Dukes Cut leaves the Oxford Canal to join up with the Thames above Oxford.  Here there are 2 further locks, one on the Oxford and a then a small rise up onto the Thames level.

We turned left onto the Thames soon after midday and started looking for somewhere to moor.  We had been travelling for about 3 hours.  But all moorings on our map were filled with other boats.

We had no choice but to carry on through 2  large locks that once would have had full time lock keepers but they have been replaced by rudimentary instructions for boaters to operate the electrically powered locks themselves. We failed to understand these which frced us to use very heavy manual handles.

But still no free moorings, so we carried on through Oxford city.  We did find some barely adequate moorings  but having just moored up a local came out to tell us that mooring was not permitted so we pulled out our mooring spikes and carried on.

We then arrived at the large Osney Lock in the city centre which still has a permanent lock keeper.  She could not provide any moorings but did explain how to take advantage of the electric locks and also charged us £170 for a 2 week Thames license.

Moored near New Hinksey

Following the look-keepers advice we carried on intending to reach the next lock at Iffley where we were told moorings would 'be available.  But on the way we saw a very attractive mooring spot where we finally stopped at 16:10, some 4 hours later than planned. 

Daily travel details

Distance: 9.04 miles
Locks:7
Movable bridges: 1
Duration: 7 hours

Bicester and a long day's cruising

 We got up early and left the boat at 8:30 to walk the 3/4 mile to the Lower Heyford bus stop where we caight a bus into Bicester, a journey of about 30 minutes.  There we shopped at the large Sainsburys for food for the next few days.

As the buses only operated hourly we had chance to look around the shoppng area and have  cup of coffee. I think it is fair to say that Bicester is useful but unlikely to become a tourist hot spot. After catching the bus back and returning to the boat we set off at 12:35 expecting to cruise for about 2.5 hours.

Entering Dashwood Lock

The  Oxford Canal (on the right) meets the Cherwell

On therCherwell

In Shipton Lock after leaving the Cherwell

However things turned out differently.  We arrived a bit early at our intended destination and the moorings looked uninviting so e decided to carry on another 3 milex and 2 locks which would takes us through a mile long section where the canal joins the River Cherwell.

Moored at Kidlington, at last

Having left the Cherwell we started looking for somewhere to moor.  But there was nowhere, all possible mooring places being occupied by other boats, mainly on private morings.   After an hour's further cruising we finally found somewhere where we could stop at 17:45 in Kidlington over 2 hours later than originally planned.

Daily travel details

Distance: 8.86 miles
Locks: 5
Moveable bridges: 2
Duration 5 hours 10 minutes.

Lower Heyford and good news

 The good unepected news first - CRT have annouunced that the Thrupp lift bridge is now working and the waterway is open. So our trip down the Thames is now back on.

Allen's Lock

Mill Lift Bridge

We set off on a bright and sunny morning at 9:55 and travelled through beautiful countryside.  After passing through Heyford Common Lock, Allen's lock, and an electrically operated lift bridge we moored up in the very small village of Lower Heyford at 11:15.

We stopped early because we are likely to run out of food in the next few days. There are very few opportunities to shop for some time so I consulted Google's AI, Gemini, which informed me there was an hourly bus from Lower Heyford to Bicester where there is a large Sainsburys in the town centre. It will also give us chance to explore the town as neither of us have been there before.

Daily travel details

Distance: 3.4 miles
Locks: 2
Movable bridges: 1
Duration: 2 Hours