Abingdon

New belt and no squealing as the old one had done as it slipped, and we were on our way upstream on the Thames again on Sunday morning, the first of August 2021.

One of the barmaids at the George Hotel bar was also a housekeeper on this one of two floating caravans, available for hire.

We went through Benson Lock and under Shillingford Bridge.

Palatial houses were more spread out along this stretch and we predominantly passed trees and bushes on both banks.

A nice little riverside pad with boathouse and a little chug-about.

We passed the turn off for the River Thame with a footbridge over it for the Thames Path.

We made it through Benson Lock, Day’s Lock, Clifton Lock and Culham Lock and Abingdon finally hove into view.

We pulled in for diesel (40 litres £51.20) and water (£5!) at Abingdon Bridge Marina where the east European owner offered us mooring for £20 with use of shower.

We declined the offer and found free moorings the other side of the bridge by Abingdon open air swimming pool. It was clear from the amount of poo that the grass here was usually occupied by geese, probably of the Canada variety.

Once moored we made our way to the Nags Head on the bridge (in picture above), meeting our friend Choc Ice in Abbey Vale car park along the way. Choc Ice was a nickname from Nottingham University days when his rugby captain said “I can’t be doing with your surname, Paul Szyszczak, I’ll put you down on the team list as Choc Ice”.

The town is brimming full of history. Abingdon-on-Thames has a strong claim to be England’s oldest town. Archaeological digs have shown that this was one of the earliest areas in which our hunter-gatherer ancestors first began to lead more settled lifestyles, attracted by the food and trading opportunities that the confluence of the River Stert, River Ock with the River Thames provided. Object evidence on display in town includes tools such as hand axes from almost 400,000 years ago found here.

Medieval Abingdon was a highly significant place. From the time of Aethelwold, who was abbot around 943-963, the Abbey of St Mary’s was a centre of excellence in the cultural and religious life of Europe. Run with the efficiency of a modern corporation, its lands, wealth and learning were managed by Benedictine monks, but relations with the little town which had begun to grow in front of the abbey were not always good. The archway which once formed the entrance to the abbey grounds can still be seen today and there were times when the gates had to be locked against the rioting townsfolk.

Unlike Wallingford, Abingdon was happy to provide free mooring for boaters.

Although it’s to be found in the Abbey Gardens, the site of the former Benedictine monastery of St Mary’s, the ruins standing today are actually a 19th century folly known as Trendell’s folly, built at a time when the Abbey Gardens were a private garden.

A young Queen Victoria was lurking in the bushes in the parkland which surrounded our mooring area.

We had only had a glimpse of Abingdon and it left us with a favourable impression, but we were keen to get off the mighty River Thames and onto the Oxford Canal. Abingdon Lock staff obviously had a sense of humour as you can see from the signs below.

The river continued to throw in the odd curve ball like this submerged vessel which appeared to block the channel.

And we chugged serenely passed yet another DANGER sign.

Very few other boats were about, but quite a few swimmers. Thames boaters seem to be a fair-weather crowd and poor weather forecasts keep them off the water.

The clouds were grey but the rain held off for the most part, just a couple of fleeting showers along the way into Oxford. Rusting railway bridges were to become the new cycling and walking superhighways.

We passed our first and only punt as myriad rowing clubs with crests rather than names lined the banks on our way into Oxford.

There were some narrow channels and low bridges as we came into the city.

We moored up for lunch after Osney Lock next to The Punter, a recently relaunched pub. According to the Oxford Mail “Some pubs are designed to tantalise you, to make you resent going to work on these gloriously sunny days.

They taunt you with their al fresco dining, like an advert for outdoor living, complete with riverside location, happy people chatting, laughing, their white teeth glinting in the sunlight, linen crumpling in the heat, shoulders reddening, offering you a glimpse into a world where time has no meaning and deadlines are non-existent.

The Punter is one of these, put on this earth to remind us that not everyone is tied to their desks and that some do escape, emerging blinking into the daylight, heading straight for the Osney pub to recuperate with a cold beer and some decent grub before being sent back to the front line.

The beauty of The Punter isn’t just aesthetic or lifestyle related, although it’s a damn fine excuse if you need one, because the food holds up its end of the bargain as well with a price tag to match…”

We continued along to the right turn under a footbridge and onto the Sheepwash link between the River Thames and the Oxford Canal. We turned sharp left onto the relatively tiny Isis Lock and then we were on the canal where we moored up as soon as possible by a Network Rail sign that said “Private Property. No mooring on either side of Castle Mill Stream. Trespassers will be prosecuted“. As we were on the Oxford Canal we joined other moored narrowboats and moored up for the day.