Dorchester to Lechlade

On Monday morning we awoke to a heavy mist which gradually cleared as we made our way to Abingdon; a town which provides long stretches of moorings for visiting boaters.

A waterfront pub and alms houses with tall chimneys at Abingdon

The next day we had an early walk around the town before the sun broke out to give us the hottest day of the year.  On Wednesday we joined other boaters making an early start and sailed to Iffley near Oxford.  I then took off on the bike to see the sights in a city which conveniently provides plenty of cycle parking.  

The path around Christ Church Meadows gave my first views of the fabulous college buildings and Cathedral and also led to the University Botanical Gardens which were well worth a visit. At this time of year the herbaceous borders and flower beds were a riot of colour and the greenhouses held some interesting collections.  Carnivorous plants waited to trap unsuspecting insects, little fish swam under big lily leaves and weird and exotic plants were on display.  

Strange pods dangling from a plant in a hanging basket in one of the greenhouses.

I enjoyed seeing the honey coloured college buildings and as the streets were wide there was plenty of space to stand back and admire the architecture.   

The Radcliffe Camera building which houses a library

My final port of call was the Carfax Tower, I can't resist a rooftop view.

View of the 'dreaming spires' from Carfax Tower.  The people on the roof are at a roof top cafe. 

Heading north we sailed under the low Osney Bridge which is the limit of navigation for boats with an air draught over 7' 6".  There were still plenty of narrowboats about including a camouflaged one.  

A camouflaged narrowboat

Kings Lock was the first manual lock we'd seen on the Thames and the lock gear was very different to that on the canals.  A large wheel makes easy work of raising the sluices.  

A Thames lock gate with a wheel to raise the sluices

We moored up for the day on the edge of a meadow and that evening Kev spotted a family of foxes playing in a distant field.  We watched through the binoculars and the next day set up the telescope.  That evening only one lazy fox appeared but we had a good view of it curled up asleep in the late sun.  

Our attention turned back to the river when a flotilla of strange rowing boats passed, the rowers were standing up which looked a bit awkward. 

Standing up to row

We stayed 4 days and Bess and Brinny enjoyed chasing in the long grass until poor Brinny got a seed stuck in her ear.  No amount of shaking her head would dislodge it.  But we are prepared for such incidents and using the syringe from our first aid box Kev was able to flush it out.  

On Monday we continued west and the river started to narrow.  We stopped for the day at Northmoor Lock which was conveniently close to Appleton village shop where we picked up a few supplies.  

The next 2 days were hard work for Kev negotiating the sharp twisting bends on an increasingly narrow river.  Eventually we came up the last lock and the river opened out on the flat meadows at Lechlade, the limit of navigation on the Thames.  We had been warned about the young inquisitive cows who graze the meadow and after we'd moored up they came over.  They seemed to be looking for a tasty treat but weren't going to find it by licking Brent III, pulling at  the ropes and taking off our coloured mooring pin covers.  We quickly put anything that could be removed out of reach.  

Just tasting the boat while the cow behind investigates the mooring pin and it's bright warning cover which Kev had to retrieve.

Our journey from Dorchester to Lechlade