Hawkesbury Junction to Clifton-Upon-Dunsmore (Oxford Canal)
Much to our surprise, it's been yet another lovely sunny day, albeit with a few spots of rain early in the morning.
The Oxford Canal has had a lot of northbound (and novice) traffic, which always seem to appear at the narrow places on the canal, so progress has been fairly slow. We also had to stop several times for supplies, so we haven't made it as far as we'd hoped.
We went through our first tunnel today; the 250 yard Newbold tunnel. I was amused by a sign right at the entrance with the notices and restrictions - by the time the helmsman has reached the sign, most of the boat is in the tunnel - far too late to do anything about it...
We noticed some ducks picking blackberries at the side of the canal today - a strange sight! We also had an opportunity to pick some of our own from the side of the towpath when we stopped for supplies in the mid afternoon. It's just the right season for blackberries - they're all perfect - fat, sweet and juicy.
We also saw a kingfisher.
The photo shows one of the many iron bridges constructed when the canal was 'streamlined' in the 1820's.
13 miles and no locks today.
No comments:
Post a Comment