On Friday (24/09/2021) we bid a sad farewell to Napton and ably assisted by Dave and Linda plus Nigel on his bicycle we good progress through the Napton Lock Flight and the Marston Doles Locks. Nigel had introduced us to Dave and Linda in the Potting Shed last night and they had regaled us with tales of 45 years of narrowboat holidays. They were currently coming to the end of a fortnights holiday on Napton Narrowboats boat Laura.
This looking back at Marston Doles top lock. Here we filled up with water and made coffee for Nigel. On his cycle back home to Napton Lock Cottage Nigel caught up with Dave and Linda who were walking back. Linda had fallen over and hurt her shoulder. Nigel took her to Rugby Hospital where they discovered that her shoulder was dislocated.
We passed the narrowboat embedded in a field, and assumed that they had connection to utilities or else they would have all the disadvantages of living on a narrowboat, but without the advantages of travel.
Men in orange and mechanical diggers were busy converting nature to HS2 where it will cross the Oxford Canal.
We passed under the Wedding Bridge XXIV, the romantic name for Plank Footbridge No 131A, which is linked to a wedding venue and no doubt figures in many wedding photographs.
We passed a boat that was usually moored at Napton. The owner comes from Jersey in the Channel Islands and had explained the origin of the strange name to Nigel. Both friends and bitter rivals since time immemorial, the French and the British have always engaged in a bit of name-calling.
You’ll sometimes find the British referring to their continental neighbors as “frogs,” a derogatory term that partially stems from the stereotype that French people dine on frog legs. The French retaliated by calling the residents of Jersey (a United Kingdom territory that lies just off the Brittany coast, where French is used as much as English) “les crapauds,” meaning “toads.”
Rather than croak about their nickname, the people of Jersey take a certain ironic pride in their “crapaud” status, to the extent that the warty toad has been adopted as a symbol for the island’s residents. So proud are the Jersey people of their moniker that the capital of Saint Helier has boasted a public sculpture of the hoary creature since 2004. The work of artist Gordon Young, the crapaud squats proudly atop his nine-foot column in an area previously known for its marshland toads.
But the amicable amphibious association hasn’t always been friendly. According to an island legend, when Saint Samson of Dol arrived on Jersey, he found the people so unwelcoming that he sent all the toads and snakes from nearby Guernsey to their land. Jersey is the only island in the English Channel that has a population of native toads.
We passed under a wide variety of bridges and through long cuttings.
From cast iron bridges to concrete road bridges carrying motorways.
All of them are numbered for navigation purposes, including this lift bridge.
We found a tranquil spot to moor in the middle of nowhere just before Claydon Top Lock.
This Lock Flight was closed over night as part of water conservation measures and would reopen at 08:00 on Saturday (25/09/2021), the next day.
Vera and Steve walked down to check out the top lock which was next to some pretty lock cottages. Little Red Lock Cottage is a holiday let. The owners boast that a kind of alchemy happens when city folk fall in love and up sticks from the city in search of a secret country bolthole. This aerial photo is from their website.
Filled to the beams with English eccentricity and encircled by a wooden picket fence, this unique canal-side home near Banbury in the Cotswolds is a perfect example. Little Red Lock's waterfront setting on the Oxford canal oozes tranquillity, while inside its brick walls, a carnival-like celebration of eclectic rustic charm awaits.
We thought that we would give this a try, and although we like both components individually the taste of this is somewhat disquietening.
Steve and Vera took a tennis ball into the adjoining field.
The wheat seemed to be growing well.
There were very few buildings to be seen in this area of Oxfordshire.
Vera did her impression of Puffing Billy when we returned to the boat.
On Friday evening we watched the last 2 episodes of Manhunt 2: Night Stalker on ITVhub. Serial rapist and burglar Delroy Grant reigned terror across South East London for 17 years leaving thousands fearing for their lives. Dubbed The Night Stalker, Grant preyed on elderly women, and some men, who lived alone in Croydon, Bromley, Catford, Forest Hill, Sidcup, Orpington, Dulwich, and Beckenham.
He would often attack his victims in their beds at night and carried out a disturbing ritual by cutting the victim's phone cables, putting light bulbs in the kitchen sink, and lining up their ornaments outside of their homes.
Grant is thought to have committed hundreds of offenses between October 1992 and May 2008 and in 2011, at the age of 53, he was found guilty of 29 offences, including burglary, rape, and sexual assault.
Grant was sentenced to four life sentences with a minimum of 27 years in prison. He was given concurrent eight-year sentences for seven indecent assaults, and concurrent six-year sentences for 18 burglaries and attempted burglaries. The exact location of where Grant is serving his sentence has been undisclosed and he will not even be considered for parole before 25 years into his sentence.
To cheer up after this we watched Gogglebox live on Channel4.
On Saturday morning we made our way through the locks. We stopped briefly at Cropredy to get the Telegraph and negotiate our way through swarms of canoeists, some of which ran aground on the right bank, which was worrying.
There were 12 locks in total between Claydon and Banbury.
This deserted lock cottage was still enjoying every moment although it didn’t look like it!
As we approached Banbury Sovereign Wharf was still proclaiming that it was now open all day on Fridays.
We chugged between the tall buildings into Banbury and our usual mooring spot. Several areas of the new Castle Quay Waterfront development, including the Lidl supermarket and Premier Inn hotel had opened in summer 2021. The cinema and restaurant units are still under construction and are expected to open later in the spring of 2022.
The building site made for a busy narrow tow path alongside us, where families, cyclists, joggers, dog walkers and commuters passed on their way to Spiceball Park.
The Mill Arts Centre by Banbury Lock is home to two wire sculptures: “The Dancers” and “Spaghetti-Legged Pete,” the pirate. Vera ascertained that they were not edible.
We read our books and watched more episodes of Mare of Easttown.
The new LIDL, 5 minutes walk away, was handy for shopping.
Luckily construction work on the site which overshadowed us stopped on Saturday evening and was very limited on Sunday. The quiet was only broken by live music from the General Foods Sports & Social Club Waterside Bar.
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