......And on to the River Thames!

OK, so I've had a couple of emails......."where is the blog"? "why haven't you updated the blog"? well, the truth is that we are just so busy I've not had chance.  You see, living on a boat is so hectic, so much to see, so much to do.......so, the update could be a few days, could be a few weeks....

So much to see.....

.....and so much to do

We have so much to see and so much to do.....like wild life spotting and soaking up the sun!

Anyways, Whilst at Banbury we get an unexpected visit from my son Dave, his fiancée Anna and their 2 boys Ruben and George. It was so lovely to see them and spend the afternoon together and all to soon they had to head off back to Southampton......see you soon x
Fred and Lisa our lovely friends who also live on their boat NB Chyandour join us at Banbury the next morning and it's off to Oxford we go after a quick visit to Morrisons. I guess if there is a downside to our lifestyle then I think it would be shopping as often when we go to the supermarket we make 2 or 3 trips and we have to walk!
We head out of Banbury and take 3 days to get to Thrupp and stupidly we cruised in the rain which was a first for us (we don't like getting wet....or I don't) thank heaven's for motorway bridges eh? great place to shelter a 60ft Narrowboat from the rain. Onwards to Thrupp which is a lovely little village with a few houses,  2 pubs and a post office and not a lot else. Moorings here are good so we stay 3-4 days this will allow Suzie to get over her nasty chest infection which she got from me, sorry darling but you knows we share everything!
We leave Thrupp and cruise into Oxford and with Suzie still ill we contact the local warden and explain and she allows us to stay on a 48hr mooring for 4 days to allow Suzie to recover and to get out of bed and see Oxford.

The Radcliffe camera built in 1739,
camera meaning "room" in latin
for those, like me that
didn't know

Christ college and gardens

Hertford Bridge, popularly known as the Bridge of Sighs,
is a skyway joining two parts of Hertford College

Oxford is a truly wonderful city that is dominated by the colleges, there are 39 different colleges which all are famous for one reason or another and are often featured in many films and TV programs.
In 1790, the Oxford Canal connected the city with Coventry. The Duke's Cut was completed by the Duke of Marlborough in 1789 to link the new canal with the River Thames; and, in 1796, the Oxford Canal company built its own link to the Thames, at Isis Lock. Fred, Lisa, Suzie and I leave Oxford and go back up to Dukes Cut and join THE RIVER THAMES!!!! and on to Lechlade which is the start of the navigation for the River Thames. None of us have cruised on a river before and none of us knew what to expect. We are all used to canals that have no current, fairly straight with no U bends, and not, in places 200+ ft wide! We needn't have worried as it has been a lovely experience mainly due to the weather as I'm sure if it was raining and blowing a hoolie it would have been different.

Some of the bends were a bit tight!

I didn't hit a single one!

Fred and Lisa enjoying the cruise

Suzie trying to....erm..........not sure?

Froggie at one of the locks

Father Thames at St John's Lock, note the wearing of life jackets...
....safety first!

Suzie and Lisa taking a well earned rest.
look at the lockie tending the garden, beautiful.

Ha'penny Bridge, the start of the navigation 

Type 22 Pill Boxes built around 1940
line the river all the way

Fred though I was taking log collecting a bit
too far!

We stop at Lechlade for a couple of days and enjoy the sunshine and BBQ's. As I said Lechlade is the highest town to which the River Thames is navigable by Narrowboats and it is possible to travel by river or on foot from here to London. The Halfpenny bridge is deemed to be the start of the navigation and it's where we stopped although you can go a couple miles further it's not advised.

We are now back in Oxford for a couple of days so we can go and see my daughter Claire, hubby Dan, grandchildren Jacob, Ellie-May and the new addition Amy-Louise before heading back to Thrupp.

Since the last blog we have done 87 miles and 39 locks this gives a grand total of 615 miles 100 yards, 322 locks and 9 tunnels (tunnels over a 1000 yards only)