Friday 29th May, Days Lock, River Thames
We were moored above Abingdon lock with Nb Bramber; enquiries made of the owner revealed that they had lived in that village, some 5 miles away from Shoreham where I lived from 1947 to 1965. We swapped names of some of the local people that we knew, nostalgia – wonderful!
Filling with water and PortaPotti emptying were the tasks for today to be completed before boating. I was ably assisted by Caleb, who when closely watching the contents pouring down the drain said ‘Yuk’. That said it all really!
Myra and Caleb then went to operate the lock whilst Madeleine held the boat against the jetty with the rope. The sluices worked correctly, the lock filled right up, but the gates would not open when the appropriate button was pressed.
Fortunately, the lock keeper, Roger, appeared at that moment. He said nothing, smiled and opened the office. Emerging seconds later, he said ‘try it now’; the gates opened perfectly. Myra discovered that one particular lock had been converted to self operation some 18 months ago and has required the operating unit to be replaced five times already!
It was a glorious day, the sky and the river were blue, and the sun was hot. In all, a perfect day for boating. My mind was busy soaking up the wonderful smells from the shrubs along the Culham lock cut, when I saw a familiar narrowboat approaching.
It was ‘Coriolus’ with friends Martin and Ann aboard. We stopped and held an impromptu meeting in the centre of the cut; updated each other with news and planned routes for the rest of the year when we could meet up, then general chat.
By the time that we arrived at Culham lock, Nb Bramber had arrived, locking down with us and a small cruiser. When the gates had opened, I had to yell to the temporary lock keeper to ask him to free the front rope which had caught around the bollard, preventing Myra from retrieving it. An efficient lock keeper would have seen it and released it without having to be asked. The quality of some of the temporary keepers is certainly lower than two years ago on our last visit.
By the Appleford railway bridge, we swapped greetings with oncoming Nb Best O Mates who we had met on the Thames 4 years ago and in Limehouse two years ago.
We locked down Clifton with Nb Bramber and then we moored above Day’s Lock whilst they carried on to Wallingford. We walked up the Wittenham Clumps and Castle Hill with Caleb and Madeleine and back down through the woods which we all enjoyed.
2009 Totals – Locks 204; Miles 380; Bus pass uses 8
