On Thursday (19/08/2021) we resumed continuous cruising and made our way from Heyford Wharf to Aynho. There were lift bridges as well as locks, but most of them are permanently left open.
Our canal guide said “draw bridges abound, their functional looks disguising the economy of construction inherent in their design. Most of them will be chained open, reminding one, somewhat tangentially, of rolled up shirtsleeves, and thus of no hindrance to boaters”.
We got to Aynho Wharf where we filled up with diesel and water. Luckily, a boat opposite moved away and we took the mooring in a prime spot near bridge 190, opposite the Great Western Arms Pub.
We walked along the tow path with Vera and talked to some women who live aboard their narrowboats. In one case, on Kings Gambit, her partner had bought another boat so they could have his and hers living spaces. She was irritated that there was no apostrophe on Kings, but it was like that when she bought it.
Steve and Vera walked down to bridge 192 where there was a footpath leading to The Duke at Clifton public house, a distance of 3/4 mile.
The story of the Duke of Cumberland`s head goes...
The name of the inn derives itself from Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a nephew of Charles I who played a key role in the famous Battle of Edgehill, 1642, in nearby Warwickshire, and was rewarded with the title the Duke of Cumberland. He was widely regarded as a skilful and athletic soldier and records show he was stationed at Aynhoe Park House with Royalist troops during this period. Rumour has it he stayed and drank at the pub during this time.
The footpath went across fields under a huge sky, but the last bit (350 yards according to the road sign) was on a road with no pavement into the village of Clifton.
Vera found plenty of trails to follow.
On Friday (20/08/2021) we made our way to Banbury going through five locks, including this one at Kings Sutton.
We used the Canal & River Trust Services as we went into Banbury and moored up in the centre. According to J. M. Pearson Banbury “squats like a bad bruise on the peaches and cream complexion of the Oxford Canal. This upwardly mobile market town provides boaters with useful shopping, cultural and commercial (including Cotton Cloud Launderette) facilities, and yet it’s soul remains elusive”.
Banbury was a base where we had access to a range of shops and could tackle boat maintenance, and also a good pub in the Old Auctioneer Inn. We went for lunch in this pub and had an interesting chat to the serving staff. One was from Greece and the other from Bulgaria. They said that Banbury was very cosmopolitan and it was easy to get a job. According to our J.M. Pearson & Son Ltd. Canal Companion there are 6,000 Poles and counting, living and working in Banbury. This was reflected in some of the shops. There were also a lot of Turkish barbers and kebab emporiums.
Hermes courier had finally limped into Heyford Wharf and dropped off our new folding bicycle. It had been despatched on Friday 13th August on a 1-2 day delivery ticket and arrived late on Saturday 20th. The slow delivery time was due to the package being “unusually large” for 15kg, thus requiring a specialist vehicle, and the shortage of delivery drivers and or vans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Saturday (21/08/2021) morning Steve and Vera went on a hunt for a newsagents for a Saturday Telegraph with the all important Review, or telly guide. Back on the boat he knocked up some bacon sandwiches for breakfast.
At 09:09 Steve took the train from Banbury to Heyford, a journey of 16 minutes by train, whereas it had taken us 2 days by boat! It cost £4.90 return and Steve got back to The Duke at 11:00 hrs. with the Falcon Nimbus.
Heyford Wharf is right next to Heyford Station in Lower Heyford. The team at Oxfordshire Narrowboats was busy with a new lot of holidaymakers and day boat trippers.
We now had a folding bike on board again, and although Steve thought it was invaluable Hilary thought that it was simply cluttering up the cratch.
The new LIDL had just opened by the canal and was very popular with shoppers, and us.
On Sunday (22/08/2021) morning at 08:20 we were walking to Tesco Express when we saw Tyseley, the narrowboat home of the Mikron Theatre Company. Multi-award-winning Mikron was founded in 1972, and 2021 marks Mikron’s 49th year of bringing professional theatre to your doorstep.
Mikron is the UK’s most prolific theatre company and we had enjoyed many of their productions when we were living in Nottingham. My phone was switched off so this picture is taken from their website at https://mikron.org.uk.
They tour the country on their narrowboat mainly performing with 4 actors in pubs along the way. Hilary’s dad, Brian was a fan of theirs. Luckily they had a van for backup as the chap on the tiller told us that they were trying to catch up after being stuck in Reading for three weeks.
Banbury was quiet on Sunday morning but we got our shopping in preparation for the next stage of our continuous cruise.
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