Banbury Again

We made it through the lowest pound we have had to traverse so far.

It was not quite this low last week.

The overflow illustrates this well.



Some boaters are now really frustrated. Worth zooming in to read the sign.

Aynho

Today we cruised for 7 hours. That's fine when TMS is interesting and sometimes I get too involved in the cricket.

We left nice moorings at Thrupp.



And there is a lovely view of the church as you cruise.



Thrupp has the only stop lock we have seen on the Oxford.



The lift bridges are frequent but ok when they come into view like this.



These are more inconvenient but this one is electric so not as bad as some others.



We came back through the deep lock at Somerton



And finished at the Great Western Arms at Aynho where wasp attacks mean you don't even have time to put both crocs on before you run away.

The Jolly Boatman

Today we left Oxford after a second wander around the city.

We found the low pound not quite as low. It became clear that this was because water was being let down.
The side effect of this was the overflow by the lock was a torrent sending every boat at 90 degrees to where they were steering with considerable force. The boat coming out of the lock got pushed and the grounded. We made it into the lock only because we bounced off the grounded boat when we were pushed sideways.

But we got through that section.





We then moored at The Jolly Boatman at Thrupp.





But walked to The Boat Inn for dinner as it was slightly cheaper but more importantly had a better Gluten Free menu.

Oxford

We made it through the low pound without grounding once. We are heading back through it today as we know we can pass through at the moment.

Enslow

Today we have moored up at Enslow. The famous waterside pub The Rock Of Gibraltar was the attraction. But disaster. They don't do food on a Tuesday evening and we had steaks on our mind all day following this morning's encounter.

Little Heyford

The name is very apt, tiny place with no shops and a pub that only opens in the evening.

That's why there are plentiful moorings.

Today we went through Somerton Deep Lock.







I still think the Hanbury locks are deeper though.

Other than that we just pottered down the canal. An easy day progressing towards Oxford.

Banbury

Today we stayed in Banbury making the most of the facilities in the nearby shopping mall and staying out of the rain.

We got a good view from the local multistory car park.



Yesterday we had a good look round and went to Banbury museum which was very interesting and the canal section is on a bridge over the canal.



We did go to Banbury Cross.



And ate in the Globe Room at Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn. This is the room where Oliver Cromwell had his head quarters during the civil war.