Down river to Dorchester

I forgot to mention in previous posts that Helen and I did a bit of a book swap on Sunday - she's taken my 'Kiwi Afloat' to read and left us with 'Water Road'.  Kiwi Afloat is written by Dorris Coppell, a New Zealander now in her 80's who spent many years in the 1970's living in England, and along with her British husband, travelled some of our waterways in three different boats they owned.  It's an interesting tale, but I found it quite hard going at times as the language can be quite 'flowery' and overly descriptive for my liking.  Water Road has had mixed reviews from what I've seen, so it'll be interesting to read it and form our own opinions.  One thing's for sure, it's got to be easier to read than that 'Narrowdog' publication - there's not many books that I don't stick with until the end, but that one beat me hands down (I do grudgingly admire him for finding a niche in the market and making a lot of money out of his story though!).

We finally left Abingdon on Wednesday, we've only got four more days on our Thames License so we'd best get a move on!  It was a productive stay though, and Barry completed fitting the cratch glass wooden surround - a 100% improvement on the previous poor tired, old model where the wood had become irreplaceably rotten on the inside and we'd accidentally cracked the glass last year. 

In with the new and out with the old - our poor broken cratch window comes to an inglorious demise

 

We had our first downpour in a while on Wednesday, which is great news as we'll be heading onto the Kennet and Avon at the weekend and it's running rather low!  After lunch it abated somewhat so we returned up to Abingdon Lock for a pump out, pump in and a rubbish dump.  There's a dearth of facilities on this part of the Thames so we have to grasp opportunities while we can.

Down river in Abingdon passing St Helen's church (broader than it is long as it has five aisles!), Long Alley Almshouses and The Old Anchor

It's becoming apparent we're getting into the 'Wind in the Willows' territory now

Our aim was to go to Dorchester, a small Roman town on the banks of the Thame and Thames, just 8 miles and a couple of locks away.  We almost didn't make it even such a short journey though, as at Clifton Lock the Lock-keeper walked to the boat as we tied up waiting, to inform us that the hydraulics were leaking and he was expecting an engineer to arrive some time later, but he thought he may get one more lock-full completed - luckily that included us!

 

Sharing Clifton lock with a narrowboat, a rather large cruiser called 'Hurley Dawn' and a charity rowing boat hidden behind

We're beginning to see some huge cruisers now and humongous houses, you can certainly notice the immense wealth of many people living in the south of England, particularly around these parts as they're a short commute to London.

The very impressive 'Clifton Hampden Bridge'

 

 

Leading the way under the bridge ...

 

 

 

but not for long ...

  even the other narrowboat overtook us!

Reaching the outskirts of Dorchester, we saw many boats moored up sporadically along the bank, and spotted a prime niche just made for Northern Pride which we snuck into - an idyllic rural mooring.  After tying up we had an evening walk across 'Pooh Sticks Bridge', aka Little Wittenham Bridge, where they hold the annual world Poohsticks Championships that were cancelled in March this year due to high river flows, but are rescheduled for the autumn.  I've visited the real Poohsticks Bridge, not far from Haywards Heath, north of Brighton, but hadn't heard of this one where they actually have championships!  It's such a narrow bridge, it's unimaginable that it could draw such attention - or maybe it's not really a big event?!

Continuing to Little Wittenham, Barry took a stroll up the Wittenham Clumps - I declined the offer as I had my UG boots on which aren't terribly suitable for trekking up inclines in!  The weather certainly seems to be turning autumnal already, with much cooler evenings, yikes!  The nights are now drawing in, whilst conversely in NZ they are becoming longer ready for spring-time next month.

 Our idyllic rural mooring

Looking up to Round Hill 

 

 

 

 

 

 A few anaemic looking cows in the field on the edge of Dorchester-Upon-Thames

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Showing off the new cratch glass and chilling at our private riverside picnic spot

A woman outstanding in her field

 A dramatic sky as we walked along - rain in the distance led to a resplendent rainbow

 Eerie sky

 'Pooh Sticks Bridge', aka Little Wittenham Bridge

   Dorchester in the background - must be a pot of gold there somewhere! 

 View from the top of Round Hill on Wittenham Clumps - an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, owned and managed by Northmoor Trust who arrange the some unique 'green' children's birthday parties

 Dorchester Abbey dominates the town

 Didcot Power Station can be seen for miles around to the west

The Beech tree wood atop Round Hill

 St Peter's Church, Long Wittenham 

   Another World War II Bunker close to the footpath to Dorchester

 A variety of boats moored for the night

The remains of the the evening sunlight sneak through the clouds to dance on the river 

We returned to the boat and had a very late meal, but it's not an issue when you don't have to get up early the next morning!  We'll be taking the path across the fields into Dorchester on Thursday to explore the town and visit another Abbey ...

I really should know this one - is it a type of Dahlia?

A couple of days in Abingdon

Monday morning was a bit of a late start - though not for Helen and Andy who'd already been into town and back before I even emerged from the boat!  Maybe they've had more practice than me - yeah right, lol!  They were heading off to Sonning only a little hung over, and still very chirpy; such a pleasure to see you all again, enjoy the rest of your holiday!

We had a walk into historic Abingdon after lunch, and were enthralled with the town, it has such a relaxed feel, and was recently confirmed as the oldest town in England, having been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age.  The Council certainly seem to provide a wealth of opportunities for locals and visitors to enjoy.

The view from across Abingdon Bridge

We visited Abingdon County Hall Museum, housed in a glorious Grade 1 listed building from the 17th century, and along with a diverse display of artefacts from Neolithic times to the present day, also houses a fascinating time line of England's history and different 'periods' of time since the Iron Age - I wish they'd had something similar when I was at school, I may even have comprehended the history of my country.

Abingdon County Hall Museum

 

 

 

 

 

A sign found during conversion of an ancient building

 

 

 

 

 

The centre of the town - very well kept with lots of floral displays

A variety of architecture

More views of the Museum

A few gargoyles on The Guildhall, spotted as we walked along Abbey Close

 Old hospital buildings

   Not sure about the green, but a quaint old building              Our Lady's Convent School

We'd heard there was a launderette in Abingdon, and eventually found it late on Monday after asking at the Information Centre in the Council Offices - it's a bit of a walk from the boat so Barry visited on Tuesday taking a large bag of towels and sheets on his bike, while I caught up with some clothes hand-washing (it's too expensive to do it all in the launderette!). 

After our visit to town on Monday we walked back through the Abbey Gardens, which also house a heated outdoor pool open daily from late May to early September and obviously very popular with local people as they were filled with families and youngsters having fun while we were in the area.  It's refreshing to see children participating in outdoor activities, rather than them staying in and playing on their x-boxes or whatever the latest computerised games are nowadays!

 

     Unsure as to what this monument is                Peeking through the Abbey ruins

The moorings at Abingdon are fabulous, though space is at a premium with a five day time limit advertised, and many boats stayed the same three nights that we did which must've made it challenging for others to find a slot.  They certainly embrace boaters here.

Northern Pride moored opposite the Abbey Gardens - facing the wrong way!

Ruins of the old Abbey

Returning to the boat on Monday evening we were treated to an outstandingly dramatic sky, with one half being dark and daunting whilst the other was bright and cheery - consequently producing an amazing light ...

  Abingdon Bridge over The Thames

 

What a welcoming, friendly sign - well done Abingdon!

We also found a glazier to cut some cratch glass for the front of the boat which was a relief - we've been searching for one since we arrived in late May!  Barry took the cardboard template to them on Tuesday morning and they had it ready within a couple of hours, so once we'd collected it he spent the afternoon fitting it.  It's such an improvement on the cracked glass and rotten wooden frame we had previously.  A very productive couple of days!

 

 

 

 

Barry prepares the cratch frame for its new glass

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday evening Barry went for another long walk around Abingdon, discovering more delightful scenes ...

 St Helen's Church by The Thames

 'The Old Anchor' at St Helen's Wharf

 Night shot of St Helen's Church with the moored boats in the foreground

Looking down 'Vineyard' from the town centre

The view of Old Abbey from under the museum - for the atomic bloke Barry met while taking this shot

   Pretty Petunias (I think!)