So we took 5 days to get to Lower Heyford, rather than Oxford, and 4 days to get back. We went 61.5 miles and through 43 locks - each way.
We moored at Lower Heyford for the weekend rather than go to Oxford because Heyford is a pleasant mooring, whereas Oxford can be rather busy, and by cutting out the 14 miles and 9 locks each way to Oxford we managed to replace it with a pleasant five mile walk and a 15 minute train journey.
Heyford has a very convenient station, water and rubbish facilities, a handy shop, 3 nearby pubs, a house and garden to gawp at, 2 pleasant churches, good towpath walks and a very fine tithe barn.
We enjoyed the Oxford Canal southern branch very much and would recommend it for its scenery, kingfishers, general interest and good waterside pubs. Its many locks, though single width, have the virtue of a stepping area just beyond the gate so that the boat can stop, the gate closes behind it and the crew member working the locks can step aboard without needing to moor up. Handy.
Bilges.
It should be added here that our engine bilges are usually wet - mostly just water leaking in from rain, as the gutter around the trap door clogs up with leaves and the outlets too. Occasionally there is a sign of anti-freeze and once even a hint of diesel. None of these has ever been a significant problem, but something in the bilges may indicate a problem now or in the future.
John regularly checks all this using a shaving mirror to magnify or a mirror-with-light on a stick to access hard to reach hoses and connections. Given that Patience may charge along for up to 8 hours non-stop, heat will expand joints and vibration will loosen connections. Age and hot fluids will perish rubber too, so it is always valuable to inspect, tighten and replace if necessary as part of daily maintenance.
So at end of September 2016 here, in yellow, are the canals and rivers where we have taken Patience.
Gradually the yellow lines showing our travels are extending from the Ouse and its tributaries to The Grand Union and beyond. Zoom in online to see the map more clearly.
Where next?
We moored at Lower Heyford for the weekend rather than go to Oxford because Heyford is a pleasant mooring, whereas Oxford can be rather busy, and by cutting out the 14 miles and 9 locks each way to Oxford we managed to replace it with a pleasant five mile walk and a 15 minute train journey.
Heyford has a very convenient station, water and rubbish facilities, a handy shop, 3 nearby pubs, a house and garden to gawp at, 2 pleasant churches, good towpath walks and a very fine tithe barn.
We enjoyed the Oxford Canal southern branch very much and would recommend it for its scenery, kingfishers, general interest and good waterside pubs. Its many locks, though single width, have the virtue of a stepping area just beyond the gate so that the boat can stop, the gate closes behind it and the crew member working the locks can step aboard without needing to moor up. Handy.
It should be added here that our engine bilges are usually wet - mostly just water leaking in from rain, as the gutter around the trap door clogs up with leaves and the outlets too. Occasionally there is a sign of anti-freeze and once even a hint of diesel. None of these has ever been a significant problem, but something in the bilges may indicate a problem now or in the future.
John regularly checks all this using a shaving mirror to magnify or a mirror-with-light on a stick to access hard to reach hoses and connections. Given that Patience may charge along for up to 8 hours non-stop, heat will expand joints and vibration will loosen connections. Age and hot fluids will perish rubber too, so it is always valuable to inspect, tighten and replace if necessary as part of daily maintenance.
So at end of September 2016 here, in yellow, are the canals and rivers where we have taken Patience.
Gradually the yellow lines showing our travels are extending from the Ouse and its tributaries to The Grand Union and beyond. Zoom in online to see the map more clearly.
Where next?
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