Hello, thanks very much for watching. Well, welcome to the beautiful historic city of
Oxford.
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The City of Oxford is known throughout the world for its prestigious university. For
over 800 years it’s been a home to royalty and scholars and the city is filled with 38
colleges. The ancient architecture is in every direction and the Oxford Canal terminates
here.
Long stretches of the canal south of bridge 232 have been changed to designated conservation
areas and Agenda 21 long term mooring. I’d been told time and time again by other boaters
not to travel down into the city. With very limited mooring available and a turning circle
of only 52 foot, I wouldn’t be able to turn around should I not find somewhere to stay,
or the river became un-navigable.
At the end of the canal, there’s a lock that goes down onto the Thames with the name
after the Egyptian Goddess of light and magic rather than anything more recent.
Just after Dukes Lock you can either go straight ahead towards the city of Oxford or as I did,
turn right onto Dukes Cut.
{Heavy metal wheels grind together}
With precisely three turns of the ground paddle, Alice rose in the lock ready to head out onto
the short stretch where it joins the River Thames.
I was about to enter a large river again so both Molly and I had our life jackets on and
the anchor was chained up and ropes connected to the stern of Alice, just in case.
To make my journey down the Thames easier to understand for you as a viewer, I headed
west upstream.
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Having travelled down from Kidlington just
north of the city of Oxford, I turned onto Dukes Cut that bypassed the city and out onto
the River Thames. I then drove to Lechlade-on-Thames where I pick up my journey once again. Travelling
down the river through open countryside, we pass the small villages of Buscot, Kelmscott
and Radcot and moor for the night just east of Newbridge.
This is Lechlade-on-Thames and this is the very start of the navigable section of the
River Thames. Now if you want to come this far up the river and turn around here, in
front of the mill – oh, you’re in for a treat!
{Engine revving}
I made three attempts to turn here. With a shallow bank to the south, a low hanging willow
tree to the west and the fast flow of water of the river passing to the north, let’s
just say I made a complete mess of it!
{Sounds of branches hitting camera}
{Large bangs as branches hit the rood of the narrowboat}
{Calm music}
The locks along the river, even as high upstream as this, are large. Depending on the time
of day many are manned by lock keepers. You need a licence from the Environment Agency
to travel on the Thames and for a week on my 60-foot narrowboat, it was £78.80.
I was a bit nervous about being on the Thames but to be honest, it was really exciting and
as the weather had been dry, the water was calm and easy to navigate.
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Our first lock was St Johns Lock where a statue of Father Thames sat. It once marked the river's
source north of Kemble in Gloucestershire but moved here in 1974.
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The river was being used as training at Buscot Lock by Wiltshire Fire & Rescue.
Most of the lock keeper cottages are still manned by active lock keepers, something the
Environment Agency is keen to continue. The dedication and commitment by the keeper to
maintain both their lock and the surrounding area is clear to see.
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To the north of the river is Kelmscott Manor. Dating from around 1570, this limestone manor
house was the country home of the writer, designer and socialist William Morris from
1871 until his death in 1896. The architecture and craftsmanship of the house gave Morris
great inspiration for his work on the novel, News from Nowhere and the manor appears in
the background of Water Willow, a portrait of his wife Jane Morris that was painted by
Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1871. There are moorings to the east of the manor should you
travel past either on a Wednesday or a Saturday during the summer and want to visit.
At Radcot the speed of the water increases as it squeezes through the bridge here. There’s
a popular pub here and lots of mooring. To the south behind the boats, Night Flight and
No More Bets is Radcot Bridge. This triple arched 13th-century bridge is the oldest surviving
on the Thames.
I really wanted to moor up for the night at Shifford Lock where there was even a small
floating pontoon but with rooks’ nests all around high up in the trees, there was a risk
of zero sleep, so I carried on to a spot just past Newbridge.
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In the next episode, I carry on heading south on the River Thames towards Reading. Until
next time, see you later.