Heading off with just three locks into Banbury.
Probably only a morning’s chug.
Last night the motorway was in the distance today we get really close and pass under it twice. There is no doubt the M40 rips through countryside of Oxford particularly the Cherwell valley and makes an enormous scar on this wonderful landscape.
On the way to Kings Sutton lock there are lots of lift bridges but fortunately they are all open.
For a considerable way to the lock the spire of the village church dominates the journey.
We also past an abandoned railway line that once linked Banbury with Cheltenham. This closed in 1951. Kings Sutton Lock is delightful with a really lovely lock cottage on one side and the former blacksmith shop on the other side.
Banbury is so different to anywhere Hallmark has been so far.
As you chug into the outskirts of the town the number of residential moorings increase and then you are hit by the local industry. The quite tranquil world of the Oxford is gone in an instant!
Banbury lock is right is the centre of town. And if I said it was busy …………. that would be a total understatement.
The 70 foot lock had so many boats waiting on both side and to make matters worse there is no room for most boats to moor, so there were narrow boats here, there and everywhere and as the lock empties the outgoing boat has to steers really carefully between all the boats waiting.
To add to the mayhem there is a sanitary station and a couple of water points!
Alongside the lock is a modern shopping centre called Castle Quay. This was the site of some really historic canal building. However, alongside the centre remains Tooley’s Boatyard. Just up from the lock is a road bridge names after the famous canal restoration campaigner Tom Rolt.
I decide ‘to get out of town fast’. Not that there is nay space to moor anyway. I end up a good two miles out in the restored country side on a great lone mooring.
However, I do decide to walk back to the town centre to visit the famous Tooley’s Boatyard
The town is really crowded for a Monday. I think what am I doing here.............!
Finding a wireless connection is easier than I thought. The Grand Union (what a name when the Oxford Canal is yards away) pub provides a good connection and a great snack with a pint of Fosters for £5.99!
I also find a Morrison’s supermarket near the canal and get a bit of food shopping done.
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