An overcast and cool morning but no rain. Our main job today was to visit Morrisons in Banbury to stock up with groceries for the next 5 days until we get our next chance to shop. Leaving Cropredy at 9:30 the route took us through more remote countryside descending 4 locks each we had to wait for boats in front to pass through. Just before Banbury the canal passes beneath the M40 and down the final lock before entering the town. The canal route through Banbury is unattractive with light industry on the outskirts and a centre that is dominated by large building sites on both sides of the waterway.
In the centre a pedestrian liftbridge crosses the canal. it was kindly operated for us by an engineer who had been fixing it after it broke down 3 hours earlier blocking the canal. The lift bridge was followed by a lock which more took us down to more workshops and light industry on both sides. We moored up there with Morrisons just a 5 minuts walk away.
Back on the boat we set off again but the way ahead was blocked by narrowboat which was securely grounded on the canal offside. We tried using our boat to pull it off without success but were able to get a rope from the the grounded boat to some people on the towpath who were able to pull it back into the main channel. After that delay we were keen to stop for the night and a mile out of Banbury were able to find some suitable moorings.
5.91 miles, 5 locks, 1 liftbridge, 4 hours 35 minutes cruising
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