Lovely locks on the Thames

I did most of the driving on Saturday so Barry could get up to date with his photos, though he did emerge at each lock as we have to go in, bring the boat to a stop using the engine rather than the ropes, whilst at the same time attempting to get a rope around a bollard at the side of the boat fore and aft and then turn the engine off!  It's a bit of a feat to manage simultaneously, and I failed much of time!  Luckily the Lock-keepers are friendly and help out whenever they can - there's so many inexperienced hire-boaters, never mind experienced owners who can't manage it - they'd have to be patient or they'd go crazy every day. 

 

 Leaving Newbridge - The Maybush Inn on the right

The locks are all so well kept, with beautifully manicured gardens, so despite the frustrations of boats coming through the locks (!) it must be a sought after job.  Having spent a few years of my career specialising in recruitment and retention projects, I'd love to see their person specification and job description.  It's quite refreshing to have the locks done for you, apart from lunchtimes when they're on 'Self-Service' - but even then it's so easy to open the gates with the large wheels that they're a pleasure to operate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self Service at Shifford Lock - it's a doddle!

 

 

 Much of the Thames to Lechlade is very rural, here's some photos of the journey today ...

 

 

 

 

 Lots of kayakers on the river

 

 

 

 

 

These tall,straight trees are grown for Bryant and May - the match-makers!

 

 

 

 

 

 Most buildings and bridges are made from 'Cotswold Stone' - it's one of the features of the area

 

 

 Look at these gardens!  And even a frog watching over as you pass through

 A conglomeration of crafts - anything goes for messing about on the river!

 

Teeming with the Queen's birds - the male on the left was chasing the female swan until she finally found the strength to fly away and spurn his advances

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing but rare to see a swan in flight

 

 

 

    Not much room for anything else in the lock with this widebeam - less than  six weeks old so still very shiny

Wow!  Look at this for topiary! 

They watch over the lock after hours - lit up at night they'd be a sinister presence

We moored for the night at Radstock, and went for a drink at The Swan Hotel which was amazingly quiet for a Saturday night, but there was a Folk Festival on at The Trout Inn at St John's Bridge a few miles up the river so maybe that's where everyone was?

This time we discovered the oldest surviving bridge on the Thames, to the left of another bridge that was built more recently after the Thames split into two.  The triple-arched old bridge was the scene of a skirmish during the Civil War when Prince Rupert's Royalist Cavalry pounced on Oliver Cromwell's men and marched to an attack on Farringdon, two and a half miles south of Radcot.

 

 The Swan Hotel - Housemartin nests in the eaves of the building busy with birds feeding their young

 

Front of The Swan Hotel and the barn out the back

We moored against the river bank a little precariously, and had to use our plank to exit and enter the boat - but as the Thames is fairly shallow at the moment due to water shortages, we were lodged on the bed of the river so the boat didn't move once we were pegged in!

We had it confirmed on Saturday that Kim, my younger daughter, is coming to stay with us next week for a few days, so we'll get to Lechlade on Sunday and I'll travel back into Oxford on the bus to meet her and bring her back to the boat - how wonderful!

 

 

Very tame ducks patrolling the pubs gardens seeking food!

 

 

 

 

These are truly stunning - would love to know what they're called?

A few toll/tall stories ...

When we walked along the path up to the road on Thursday evening to say goodbye to Saul and Sarah, we noticed a toll bridge over the river which appeared to be collecting money from each vehicle passing through.  According to the Nicholson's guide, this has been in place since 1777 - wow!  Barry got a photo on Friday morning of the toll keeper's hut in the centre of the road and the charges in 2010 are as follows:

• Car, small coach, small Lorry - 5p
• Car and caravan/trailer - 10p
• Large coach - 12p
• Double decker bus - 20p
• Large lorries 10p per axle

  Swinford Toll Bridge - obviously still paying it off after 233 years

How fascinating, there must be a story behind this - would the money collected even pay for the toll-keeper's wages we wonder?  How quaint though.

Passing through our first Thames Lock, we had to pay our fee of £93.50 for a 15 day visit.  So we have until 7 August on the river, at which time we'll head onto the Kennet and Avon to Bristol and back, ready to do another 15 days on the Thames.  You're only 'allowed' two 15 day licenses, and although a month's license is cheaper, we wanted to do the upper Thames prior to the Kennet and Avon rather than returning to it (after doing the mad trip down the Thames to Reading overnight to avoid the license fee as was suggested to us!)

We also picked up our 'Guide to the River Thames' from the lock-keeper - it reads like a rule book of Dickensian proportions - DO this, but DON"T do that, AVOID this and that, etc, etc.  Then there's the blasts on the horn to tell oncoming boaters your intentions - yeah right, I can see hire-boaters understanding those rules when we give them two blasts on the horn to say we're passing on their port (left).  So typically British to issue such finite instructions so that if anything goes wrong they can say you didn't follow the rules to the letter!  Still, I'm sure it's all supposed to protect our safety and we'll follow it to the letter (if we can remember it all, which is unlikely!) ...

The guy in the dingy above is a commercial crayfisherman who sets his pots up and down the river and supplies live crays to the local pubs and restaurants. Since he can't throw the little ones that they don't want back, he sadly has to destroy them.

This couple have been on the waterways for 30 years - she's Irish and he's from Stockport on the Macclesfield canal - a beautiful boat but very heavy so they struggled on the twisting winding river

Painted pots and cans adorning a narrowboat roof

Looking back after leaving Eynsham Lock (£93.50 lighter)

Every lock is 'manned' in the summer from 0900 - 190hrs June to August (with an hour for lunch from 1300 to 1400hrs), which certainly makes travelling on this stretch of water rather a doddle!  The locks are very well cared for and all have beautifully manicured gardens ...

Pinkhill Lock keepers cottage

A very tranquil setting, though it would be nicer without the plethora of pylons!

Harts Footbridge spanning the river

Typical view seen along the river

We meandered along the snake-like Thames to Newbridge, where there's a pub either side of river so of course we were obliged to sample them both!  On the one side was The Rose Revived Inn, seemingly a fine-dining experience with many tables on the banks of the river, and on the other side was the The Maybush Inn which was a lot quieter than its counterpart.  One imagines that there's a friendly (or otherwise) rivalry between the two establishments.  We certainly enjoyed the latter more than the former, as there was a real 'pub' atmosphere and Barry soon found himself chatting with a fellow boater (albeit of the plastic boat variety!) at the bar - leaving me sitting on my own outside!  I could hear his dulcet tones so went in to join him - his favourite place nowadays is standing at the bar of a British pub telling and listening to (tall?) boat stories.  I'm not a 'standing at the bar' type of girl, so find it all a little tedious, especially when I'm sober and my only company are chattering men drinking beer and getting more and more slurry with their words!  Ah well, sharing your life with another person is all about compromise, and poor Barry had had to sit patiently while Sarah and I rabbited on about women and madwives the other day ...

The Hamlet of Newbridge, which has a fine 13th century bridge - and our mooring for the night by The Rose Revived Inn

    Part of the fleet of paddle and electric punts for hire                     Old 13th century Bridge

The sunset lit the bridge just at the right time - Maybush Inn on the right

  The Thames walk follows the line of the river from the source to the sea

Electric punts buzzing round with a group of giggling girls on board

 

 

Friday night was the first time we've had a boat moor alongside us, though we suspect it won't be the last as it's now the school holidays so there'll be many more boats around.

Looks foxglove-like, but suspect it isn't!