Two weeks ago we arrived at Appleford in serious rain and storm, relieved that we could moor up in the field of a farmer who lives next door to friends of ours. They took us in, dried us out, fed us well and re-energized us for the next leg of our journey. R had a totally relaxing weekend. I meanwhile, returned to London for my first ever full day of granny duty, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Having been told my grandchild loved a croissant, I popped into one of the local coffee shops on our walkabout. I’m not sure if I looked harassed or if the shop assistant was just feeling kindly towards me, but when it came to paying for my coffee alongside the croissant, he said the bill was ‘on the house’ as granny treat! Amazing how a kindness like that restores your faith in human nature!
We set off for Lechlade, via Oxford, in more rain and the weather was mildly inclement for the entire week. Whilst moving into Oxford on the Thames river we met up with K, the daughter of a friend of ours, who lives on her boat come rain or shine. Hearing we were headed to Lechlade she expressed an interest in joining us, so we travelled in convoy, which was great fun; only slightly complicated by the extra length of K’s boat compared to ours, with the added hazard of a canoe attached to her stern. It’s made going into locks a bit more challenging on occasions.
Most of the locks on the Thames are manned, and electric, which is a great help, although you do feel like you have to be on your best behavior with the lock keepers and remember the protocol exactly. Most of the them are delightful, but occasionally you meet someone rather stressy – invariably new to the job or a volunteer with little experience, so still learning the ropes. Further out from the city, the locks are manual and you don’t require a windlass because the paddles open and close using a ships wheel. One such lock, self serve, R only opened one gate, which is usually not an issue for me. However the Thames lock gates are slightly differently configured to the canal ones and unfortunately I didn’t see the sharp corner edge, which then proceeded to make a sizeable rip in the bow cratch cover. Last night saw me trying to repair it with a patch and fabric glue, but weighting the patch proved tricky – a very Heath Robinson affair of a wonky table, some balancing wood blocks and a pile of books and water containers to add weight to the press. Even so, the patch this morning had barely adhered to the main fabric, so I’m going to have to think again. We also clunked the boat heavily on a log entering another lock, which R needed help to lift out of the water.
In the rain the riverbanks and surrounding countryside are still lovely. All quite green at the moment but the varying seasons will herald a host of different colours. Autumn especially must be glorious as the trees take on the spectacular autumn colours. The river at times is seriously bendy and we have been fortunate not to meet too much traffic coming towards us. Invariably, when it happens, there’s an additional obstacle in the way. We narrowly missed hitting a concrete low wall on the outside of a bend, but the choice was that or bumping the side of an oncoming narrowboat, taking the corner too centrally. R favoured the narrowboat, whereas I preferred to miss the nb and take my chances on the wall, by reversing sharply. That then involved further manoeuvres to ensure we didn’t hit the wall but it all, momentarily, became a little stressful. Further along, according to R, I took a corner a little fast and we ended up tangled in the trees as the boat nestled tightly into the bank. A lot of pushing off was required to get back on course! The dove of peace left us for a short while – I’ve written about the dove as a separate ‘thought’.
The other thing of note were lots of cows, often in the water (we were warned they might eat our mooring ropes and my herbs!) and some beautiful bridges, although a few of them must be a bit of a challenge for broad beam boats or any with any height.
On Friday we arrived in Lechlade, having passed by Kelmscott Manor, one of the houses owned by William Morris and now open to the public, but not on Fridays! He was concerned that with the coming of the industrial revolution, the skills of craftsmen would come under threat, so he championed the keeping of crafts alive and built up his own successful empire! As Kelmscott is only 3 miles from Lechlade, we visited it on Saturday (K gave us a lift in her car) and were surprised by the number of people milling around. We soon found out why – as it was a Heritage weekend, the house and gardens had free entry! They timed ones visit around the actual house so it did not feel as crowded as it first appeared, and as it was a beautiful day, wondering around the extensive gardens was delightful. Walking the Thames path back to the boat gave us some much needed exercise and allowed us an alternative view of the river to chugging along on Naomhog.
Although part of the reason for taking the boat to Lechlade was to get as far along the Thames as possible, (and to visit the Christmas shop that is open all year – bizarre!) we also knew we would be reasonably close to three sets of long standing friends whom I have known since my teens. It was great fun to have a lively evening at the local pub, imagining that we were still the age of the youngsters at the table next to us, with reality sinking in when we compared our noise level to theirs. And our alcohol consumption, which was a lot less!
Sunday, we attended St Lawrence’s church in the town centre, which was encouragingly well attended by young and old, and then bought a sour dough loaf from the locally renowned bakery. I was slightly surprised to part with £5.40 for a loaf of bread, but looking at the stack of loaves in evidence, they obviously must be popular (or the baker is optimistic!).
We began the return trip to Oxford, this time severely hampered by fishing rods in our path, every 50yds or so. It transpired they were all part of a fishing competition. Some of the rods stretched across the entire river and were only retracted at the very last minute, which was slightly nerve wracking. No one wants to get fishing line caught around the boat propellor! Aside from that, the weather was warm and sunny and travelling with the current, meant we made good time and arrived back to the outskirts of Oxford in two days. A glorious sunset and a bbq next to the boat, moored alongside a luscious field of verdant green, seemed a fitting end to our journey in convoy.
NarrowboatTLC 