Mapledurham Watermill

Mapledurham Watermill
3rd August 2010

Regular readers will know that I come from milling stock and have a bit of a passion for watermills.

Mapledurham watermill

The Mapledurham estate contains a gem of a watermill, set beside the Mapledurham wier in a grove of trees. The mill has been restored to working order but I was way to early to see it in action.

Details of the watermill

In fact it was all gated off and out of bounds but that didn't stop me hopping over the fence and having a good look at the outside. My thanks to the warden for turning a blind eye.

Repairs to Mapledurham Wier

If you get a chance, you should spend a day looking at this estate. A lot of money is being spent on restoration of the house and church, which are well worth a visit too.

Abingdon to Mapledurham

Abingdon to Mapledurham

2nd August 2010

22 miles - 6 locks - 7 hours

Fortified by our early morning stroll round round Abingdon we were in surprisingly good shape given the shenanigans of the night before.

Houses great and small

We took our leave of Barry and Sandra at 11.00am, pulling our pins and heading down stream. Abingdon marks the start of the "lovely house" belt with amazing properties coming thick and fast, sometimes huge homes and other times extravagant boat houses. Sadly our pressing timetable denied us an opportunity to visit gems like Dorchester or Clifton Hampton - maybe next time.

The Fuzz

Somewhere along here we came across an elderly fisherman being pressed by no less than four policemen, plus a "bear in the air" hovering above. They sure seem to take licence evasion seriously hereabouts.

The Capt and Jeff indulge in some peanut catching

Belle resplendent in her sun hat

Lock follows lock, leading to Goring and Cleeve with their locks in a wooded valley. All terribly pretty and arguably the finest stretch of the Thames.

Beale Park came a bit soon  for mooring up, but would make an excellent stopping place another time. In a couple of weeks this area will be transformed when it is taken over by the IWA for the 2010 National Festival, but at the time of our visit there was just a banner attached to some railings.

Fisherman Jeff

The plan had been to reach Sonning but that was a bit out of reach. Instead we decided to moor between Whitchurch and Mapledurham Locks. Of course, mooring isnt that simple on the Thames where the banks are privately owned and one cant just stop where you want. All the moorings were taken till we spied a place on the offside at Mapledurham lock. Not a great mooring with only the stern able to get in close to some tree roots, but with a bit of creativity using the boat pole in the mud we secured a still afloat WB.

Mapledurham sunset

Fishing was a dead loss but it did offer a great sunset and a rather lovely mooring at a cost of £5, payable to a ranger from Mapledurham Park at 8.00 the next morning.

Abingdon

Abingdon

2nd August 2010

I cast curious eyes at Abingdon last time I passed this way six years ago on nb Honey, wanting to stop but not having the time. I was determined not to miss the opportunity this time and invested a couple of hours having a look round what is billed as the oldest town in England.

Belle and I were up and out by 9.00am, leaving Jeff and the Northern Priders to their slumbers.

It was a glorious morning and we could so easily have spent a lot more time in town, but we saw what we could and I had a bit of a photo fest.

As with Banbury, I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Abingdon bridge

This model girl I happened to marry

Abingdon Old Abbey and Church

Throwing Buns bakery

County Hall Museum

Ornate light under the museum

Pride comes before a fall

An evening on Northern Pride

1st August 2010

The occasion of the meeting of the crews of Northern Pride and Wand'ring Bark in Abingdon deserves a post of its own.

Jeff's Titanic entrance

We had been watching Sandra and Barry's steady progress down the Oxford Canal with interest, knowing that we would be following in their footsteps at the start of the summer holidays. This sedate progress slowed to a glacial pace at one point and we realised that if they took a look at the Upper Thames to Lechlade our paths might just cross as we thundered round the Thames ring at a rate of knots.

Wand'ring Bark and Northern Pride bum to bum

A quick look at Nick's Canal Planer confirmed that our paths should cross at Abingdon - if everything went according to plan. As with most boat trips, the itinerary slipped and slid, but in the end the plan came together and we spied a windmilling pair of boaters just below Abingdon Lock.

We had been offered an "evening of fun card games" which was accepted but only after we gained an assurance that it wouldn't involve the removal of any clothing! The game in mind was Six handed rummy, or better known as "Barry's Game" all lubricated with copious quantities of

his infamous home brew and distilling enterprise. Mention of Barry's home made alcohol is enough to suggest how this evening was going to turn out.

Sandra makes an entrance

I am going to try and record an outline of the rules of six handed rummy, not because I want you  to play it but to record it for future reference:

• 
  
  Take 3 packs of cards and shuffle together, including Jokers.
• 
  
  Deal out ten cards plus one to start the drop down pile, with the rest upside down.
• 
  
  Aim is to get rid of all your cards or to have as low a score in your hand as possible when the first person gets out.
• 
  
  6 rounds :
• 
  
  1 group of 3 the same (ie 3 threes of any suit) and 1 run of 4 (aces are high)
• 
  
  2 groups of 4
• 
  
  2 groups of 3 and 1 run of 4
• 
  
  3 groups of 3
• 
  
  2 runs of 4
• 
  
  2 groups of 3 and 1 run of  four but you must lay all cards in one go.
• 
  
  Twos and Jokers are wild and count as anything
• 
  
  In any group or run the number of wild cards can't exceed the number of proper ones
• 
  
  Player has the option to take the card showing or take a chance from the blind pile
• 
  
  Player may only place cards onto other runs / groups when they have placed their cards
• 
  
  Player must discard one card at the end of their go
• 
  
  If the next player does not want the upturned card other players can "buy" it - taking an additional card from the blind pile at the same time.
• 
  
  If you are left with cards when someone else is out you add the face values together except aces count as 20, 2's are 25 and Jokers score 50.

When you are winning it is clear that the game is all about skill but when you lose it is equally apparent that it is mostly a matter of chance!

Belle finally "gets" it

Barry's home brew flowed and flowed and the noise level rose in parallel. Jeff just sat there and played and drank and drank and played, happily accepting all that Barry sloshed into his glass, as would any self respecting teenager.

Barry's losing hand!

For some reason Belle and I fell into identifying a song for every occasion or word, and this strange game gained popular appeal as the evening wore on. Did I win the game? Well, very nearly and I should have - but I was robbed! I bought in the last round of the last game which you should never ever do, and as a result gave the game to our hosts. Not that I am competitive or anything!

It's amazing what fun you can have with some cards, some booze and some great friends! We stumbled back to WB at midnight and I would like to offer my heartfelt apologies to the boaters round us that night.

Barry and Sandra, thanks for a truly memorable evening and sorry we drank the boat dry!

Thrupp to Abingdon

Thrupp to Abingdon

1st August 2010

17 miles - 9 locks -7 hours

We have had a slightly surreal 24 hours ashore, dashing back to the Midlands to swap over Tilly and Jeff who are undertaking a variety of independent activities over the summer. Tilly was returned to Derbyshire whilst Jeff was collected from camp, hosed down, clothes defumigated and dried and then back into the car for a return to Thrupp. In all we were only off Wand'ring Bark for 24 hours but the time spent at home seemed like an unnatural interruption of our watery travels.

Dukes Cut

We were glad to get back afloat and have the journey resume. Keys were exchanged with Maffi and we look out leave by 11.00am, heading south for a rendezvous with Northern Pride in Abingdon.

Meadows above Oxford

The canal was busy with hire boats all the way down to Oxford and so we decided to get onto the Thames as soon as possible via Dukes Cut. I have never used this route before, locking up onto the river via an overgrown and rather stiff stop lock. Dukes Cut appears to be a channel that time forgot, narrow and overgrown with a towpath verging on the indistinguishable. Clearly not the most popular route to the river.

Sailing race

Within half a mile we were out on the millstream and then the main river itself, deep and wide allowing WB to surge ahead unfettered by the drag of narrow canals. We had passed from BW territory to that controlled by the EA (Environment Agency - not the Evangelical Alliance!) and dues had to be paid at the first lock. I asked for a five day pass but was told I needed one for 14. Sure, the Thames justifies a longer stay, if only we had time, but we don't. It appears that a 14 day pass at £72 is cheaper than one for 5 days at £81. I did question the reason behind what appears to be an absurd anomaly and was told not to ask!

Suddenly we found ourselves on a broad waterway, winding back and forth, throwing off the last of the serpentine bends which are a feature of the route up to Lechlade. We also found ourselves far removed from the bank and the intimacy of the canals, reflected in a marked reluctance on the part of the towpath walkers to engage in the sort of greetings we are so accustomed to. This distance went even further when we came upon a sailing dingy race which was about to start. The sailors were milling around jockeying for position and with little alternative I sailed a straight and predictable course to one side of the river. I needn't have bothered as one helmsman was heard to exclaim "bloody narrowboat".

The change to river is also apparent by the change of indigenous craft. Suddenly the stolid narrowoat is out of place and the home team all swan around in fancy white plastic boats, some humble and some very grand, bedecked with echo sounders and radar.

Narrowboats and railway bridges in Oxford

Both river and canal sneak through the back of Oxford, with interesting warehouses rising sheer from the water till we emerged at the Heads of the River pub, which leads out to the broad rowing reaches. This is one of Oxford's play areas, with parkland lining the river allowing the hoi poloi to enjoy the water alongside the more refined inhabitants of the university boat houses. The reach was dotted with skulls, punts, kayaks, canoes and dayboats, all skittering about here and there doing nothing but mess about on the river.

Punting in front of the University boathouses

Then it was on down the river, through Osney, Iffley, Sandford and finally Abingdon locks, each complete with its picture postcard perfect cottage built by the Thames Conservancy between the wars. We reached Abingdon Lock at 6.50pm, just as the lock keeper was going off duty. Any later and we would have been on self service.

Abingdon Wier

Northern Pride was moored just above the bridge, obligingly hanging over two moorings to keep one available for us with drinks at the ready. But that's enough for this post, I will save the account of the evenings revelries for tomorrow.