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Enjoying taking photos, blogging and travelling on NB Hallmark .

Thursday, 5 August 2010

Day five: :Cleeve to Abingdon

Another good day at Hallmark’s helm.
We are through the famous Goring Gap where and back on to flat open fam pastures  
This stretch from Goring to Abingdon must have some of the longest lock pounds on the Thames. 
The day is also a bit loopy or to use the proper terms you meander round some rather large bends and chug miles when as ‘the crow flies’ you would cover very little distance.  But who is counting……….. I am certainly not!




































Also for a good deal of the trip you seem to waltz around Didcot power station.  Amazingly it seems to appear left, right and centre but you finally leave it behind!



















Another feature of the day is the number of war time pill boxes you see.  But RAF Benson was an important part of the British Second World War effort.
The other feature of the day are railway bridges. Some people might consider them ugly.  At times some of them are ‘stately’.




































Just outside Abingdon I got Hallmark stuck on a sandbank!  Powering up rocking the boat did not help.  So I went down below for the long pole and punted us free!.
 The approach to Abingdon had every river spot taken with moored boats. Amazingly it was just after two o’clock and ‘there was no room at the inn’. Mind you I did not want to stay in such a busy and narrow place.




















Abingdon was once the junction of River Thames and the Wilts and Berkshire canal which by all accounts brought the town Somerset coal(!) and local agriculture produce.  The enthusiastic canal trust are campaigning for the restoration of this narrowbeam canal.  Meanwhile the ‘old’ entrance looks grand. 






















Alongside the canal entrance is the Old Anchor Inn.




















Once through the lock the mooring were deserted.  A 15 minute walk to town that all.
What a great historic town Abingdon is too!
Well worth a proper day visit.
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I found a great pub to end the day.  It was the Broad Face and managed to plug in my laptop and get a web connection and even charge my camera batteries.  Technology we need it!
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