Lechlade to Wytham Woods

On Thursday morning the Lechlade farmer came to collect his mooring fee, £5 a night or £25 for a week; we stopped for the week.  

On the Lechlade moorings

As we sat out a small motor boat came along the opposite bank emptying crayfish traps.  The American signal crayfish have invaded our rivers and canals to the detriment of our native species and the size of their population is demonstrated by the commercial crayfishermen; they are exporting their weekly catch of half a ton to Belgium.  Kev asked where he could buy a crayfish trap and the fisherman gave him one he wasn't using.  Within 3 hours Kev  had 37 crayfish which once prepared he enjoyed fried in butter with garlic. 

One of the crayfish

Lechlade is a small but busy town catering for tourists with several pubs and take-aways, various shops and a very expensive supermarket.  Luckily it also had a car park convenient for Asda deliveries.   There were some good walks for Bess and Brinny who also enjoyed the meadow once the cows were moved to another field.  At night vivid sunsets lit up the horizon. 

Sunset at Lechlade

Our week at Lechlade quickly came to an end and we started our return journey.  At the first lock we passed the statue of Father Thames which was commissioned in 1854 for the Crystal Palace.

Father Thames, this statue has been at St Johns Lock since 1974

We were quickly back on the sharp twists and turns for the river and I tried to take some photos as Kev pivotted Brent III around the tight bends.

Pivotting round the tight bends

Shortly after sailing through the narrow Radcot Bridge we pulled over for the day. 

Radcot, the narrowest bridge on the navigable Thames

Over the next few days we travelled short distances and stopped on quiet meadow moorings. On Saturday morning we moored up in glorious sunshine on a meadow near Northmoor. During the day the river became busy with boaters, canoeists and several groups of swimmers. 

The last two swimmers with an accompanying canoe.  These swimmers had bright orange floats to warn boaters of their position.

Half a dozen sheep watched us from the top of the field and by late afternoon they came down to the river, reaching over the edge of the bank to nibble the grass.  Sitting out on our front deck we heard the splash as a ewe slipped in and the other sheep ran off.  The bank was too steep for the ewe to climb out so between us we hauled her up and by then one of the other sheep had come running back to us baa-ing loudly.  Reunited with her wet companion they made their way up the field and we were pleased they stayed away for the rest of the weekend.  
On Monday morning we sailed through Pinkhill and Eynsham Locks, our last two locks on the Thames, and moored up opposite Wytham Woods on yet another quiet meadow.  I think we'll be in for a shock when we return to the busy canal network.  


Our journey from Lechlade to Wytham Woods