An obstacle course – the Southern Oxford canal from Thrupp to Banbury
The distance covered in this post is shorter as the going is much slower on the shallow and narrow Oxford canal. But it’s not less eventful. This post covers the southern section of the South Oxford canal up to Banbury. Banbury is roughly half-way on the South Oxford, so I am expecting more shenanigans in the future.
Maybe you remember that my journey on the Oxford canal started with my bike screeching under a bridge near Oxford and it didn’t end there. I am now modifying my bike every time before putting it on the roof to make it flatter, so the bike is now out of the danger zone. But since then, I have had a number more little mishaps, which makes me think that the Oxford canal is a real obstacle course, especially for single-handers.
I banged into the side of a bridge because of the fierce bywash in front of the lock. A bywash is a little channel that goes around a lock with a weir at the top that keeps the water level regulated. It usually gushes out into the canal just below the lock and pushes boats over to one side just as they are entering the lock. Of course there were onlookers as always in these situations!
After having rescued my bike from the low bridges, it was now the turn of my compost boxes. Fortunately I noticed BEFORE I hit them on another super low bridge. I had to pull an emergency stop to reposition them into the middle of the roof and in the process drifted backwards into the reeds. Ah well, there were reeds everywhere, they were hard to avoid.
I also met a boat just under a bridge with a blind bend and we both had to pull an emergency stop to not collide head on. It didn’t help that it was a narrow part (there aren’t really any wide parts on this canal) and that there was a boat moored just before the bridge as well. Careful manoeuvring ensued and we managed to just narrowly squeeze past each other without an actual scrape. The person having the most fun was the woman watching on the moored boat.
A few days later I met a boat coming towards me, whose skipper had real trouble steering. When he first noticed me, he veered sharply towards the towpath, then veered sharply back to the middle. If he had continued on that course (and he showed no sign that he would not), we would have collided head-on within a few seconds. In order to avoid that I pulled another emergency stop and waited. Eventually he worked out how to steer and go around me. An incident not really worth mentioning as there are many beginners on this canal with so many hire boat companies around. But the cherry on the top was as he passed he leaned over and said “don’t worry I would not have hit you” in his best “don’t you worry your little lady head” tone. He would have hit me for sure if I hadn’t stopped. Some men on boats just cannot accept that they made a mistake, and in front of a woman too! I let him go on his merry way to frighten somebody else. He was NOT a newbie hirer by the way, but on a private boat.
All of this coincided with a heat wave, which left me near incapacitated. I really really don’t like cruising in the heat, but there was no avoiding it as the weather was not set to change for a long time.
Anyway … disregarding all these minor obstacles the Oxford canal is so beautiful. There are two sections, where the canal joins the river Cherwell. This was convenient at the time as it saved costs, but it means that the canal is unnavigable in the winter months, when the river is in flood (we’ll come back to this later). The entry to one of the river sections is through this strange diamond shaped lock. Last time I came through here (going the other way) I got wedged and had a hard time getting out. This time I positioned the boat better and it was much easier.
What follows is a lovely winding river scenery for about 15 minutes, before the canal exits at another lock. Here are a few more impressions from the stretch of river and beyond.
I cruised for 4.5h in the heat as I wanted to make it to the shops in Upper Heyford. Shops are few and far between in this area, as it is all very rural and the villages are so small, they don’t have any! After the cruising I was too exhausted to cycle to the shop up the hill so that had to wait until the next day. This place was a total black hole of mobile reception, where neither my EE router, nor my 3 phone had any service. It was actually quite relaxing to just read a book. But one day without internet was enough!
On the way I also found this sad sight: a boat sitting on the towpath deposited there in a flood. This is a terrifying sight as normally canals don’t flood, because water levels are managed. But the canal runs parallel to the river Cherwell there. The river is at least 2m below the canal, but the flooding river spilled over into the canal and the boat floated onto the towpath. This area is not accessible by road, so it’s difficult to get it back into the water.
I learnt later that an old guy had been living on the boat in that location for years in defiance of the rule to move on after 14 days and that he still lives in the boat on the towpath. Maybe he is actually not that unhappy that he cannot be made to move now.
Not too far from Heyford there is one of my favourite places, Somerton Meadow. I didn’t stop there this time, because there was no space with any shade. It was so lovely to see also that the cows here have their calves with them.
Shortly after this comes the deepest lock on the Oxford canal: Somerton Deep lock with a rise of more than 12ft. It is quite a beast with a big waterfall at the top gate. As a single-hander I have to be very careful to fill a lock like this slowly, but as often another boat arrived and they kindly helped me through.
After this the weather turned. There was a bit of rain and then the wind really picked up. We had 20mph steady wind with 30mph gusts. This would normally be way too much wind for cruising but I was determined to get to Banbury by a certain day as I wanted to go back to London for some events and wanted a good train connection.
On the very narrow Oxford canal wind is doubly difficult. In a cross-wind a flat-bottomed narrowboat gets pushed over to the side constantly. The way to compensate for this is by “crabbing”, pointing the nose into the wind constantly and going along in a slightly diagonal position.
This practice falls apart when you meet a narrow bridge, which requires going through very straight in order not to touch the side. It was extremely tricky, but I am pleased to say that I got through without banging into any walls (though not without a few scrapes).
Next stop on my journey was Aynho, a lovely rural place, where I moored next to a farm with at least 100 cows in a field. I am a bit scared of cows and they all eyed me suspiciously as I walked through. As I was leaving the field the farmer arrived and herded them all over the canal bridge to the farm on the other side.
Aynho also has a lovely wharf with all services, a small shop and chandlery and a lovely cafe. The cafe (Brew Box) does a pizza night once a week and I met some nice local boaters there and had a delicious pizza. I don’t have much opportunity to socialise, so this was a really lovely evening. Inexplicably I didn’t take any photos at the wharf, sorry, only of the spectacular sunset.
Two more short days crusing in building heat again and I was very pleased to reach Banbury before the next heatwave hit properly and in time to go to London for a day.
Banbury is a lovely market town and one of the rare places, where the canal goes through the middle of the town rather than past the backyards and garages. Of course the canals were built for industry transport, so don’t take in the sights generally. I spent a few days in Banbury as it was the last place for some chores and shopping for some time. The second half of the South Oxford canal is one of the most remote places I have every cruised. Also it was way too hot again for cruising.
Banbury is also the home of Tooley’s Boatyard, one of the oldest working dry docks in the country since 1778. They are able to operate the dry dock without pumping the water out, which helped at a time without electricity I’m sure. They just pull the plug and let the water empty through a pipe under the canal into the river Cherwell that runs lower than the canal here.
I am amazed at your lovely photos of the crazy tiny locks and narrow canals! Such an adventure and such skill. Banbury does seem a bit of a disappointment after the countryside but I’ll bet your were pleased to be so close to the shops…
Actually I was really happy to arrive in a town with shops, launderette etc. and there are also nicer places than this one around the canal 🙂 Setting off into the wilderness again tomorrow after the heatwave is now past.
How lovely to follow your trip with your blue boat. The Somerton Deep lock does look scary.
Have great fun, less heat and always enough water under your keel.
The other Kerstin