One of my favourite moorings on the Thames tonight, for 2 reasons….nostalgia (I used to see them from my cottage in North Moreton) and peace ( something to do with England vs Germany in a football match). Last night was noisy enough in Oxford with an all male hire boat crew returning at 2am !

As we had to get thru a lot of rowing courses leaving Oxford we were the first boat out of the lock as the lockie came on duty. Then thru riverside Oxford and Folly Bridge….as we had taken the northern side coming upstream we tried the southern…

Once thru Folly bridge it’s open playing fields, rowing clubs and a WIDE river…..feels strange after the confines of the Oxford Canal

Our second lock wasn’t manned, so we helped 3 narrowboats go thru upstream, not helped by the rowers blocking the exit as they turned around. Repeated blasts on my horn didn’t do much but a much older and wiser narrowboat owner just put the power on and shot thru…..which moved them quicksmart….after all they are worth 5 points each !

The next couple of locks were all manned and shared with the same boats. One couple’s old 1971 cruiser was powered by a 1954 Ford Anglia engine..with an SU carb from the petrol fumes it left !

So we are settled in nicely, only 1.5 hours upstream of Wallingford, perfect for the thunderstorms predicted tomorrow.