Two more locks and some more very wiggly bits of the river, where it even doubles back on itself, we have arrived at Lechlade. Before we moored up we went right to the end of the navigable bit of the river, where the Thames and Severn canal joins the river. There is a roundhouse here which is a feature of the canal.

Having turned we then moved back to halfpenny bridge and found a mooring in an ideal spot. Tonight we will go out for a meal.

Once again the phone signal here is abysmal so I can't put a picture on or get a map link, it takes about 1/2 an hour just get a page downloaded.

Thursday 28^th July

The day dawned cloudy but dry. I we set off once again. Soon we were at lock woke fairly early so decided to take a walk up to the road at Newbridge, only about a ¼ mile away. The bridge itself is typical of many in this area, single track with traffic lights. There are two pubs here, one each side of the river. Both look inviting if you're looking for a meal or drink.

Soon after we set off the river starts once again to wind sharply, it also is becoming noticeably; narrower.

After Shifford lock the river's wanderings become even more tight, with some of the turns doubling back on themselves. With 60' to play with it gets interesting, specially if you meet someone on the corner.

We continued following the seemingly chaotic twists and turns for about 15 lock/miles and have chosen another secluded mooring near Kelmscott, with just a few cows as neighbours. Unfortunately the manor here isn't open to vistors today.

Once again being out in the country the phone signal is very poor, I'll try to send this but it will be touch and go.. There should have been a picture with this post but the connection is so slow the last one took 45 minutes to load so I'll save it until we get a better signal.

Moored up near Oxford

Wednesday 28^th July

A glorious morning, sun shining and the river beckons. After breakfast we set off for Kings Lock only a few minutes away. The lock was set for self service so we cycled our way through and continued past Duke's cut, another entrance to the Oxford Canal, keeping left to follow the Thames. At Eynsham Lock we stopped for the services and I cycled into Eynsham to do some shopping. This is a lovely little village, very small but complete with butcher, baker, delicatessen as well a post office and Co op. Unusually the water point was at the other end of the lock so we had to stop for water after I had been to do the shopping.

The Thames continues and takes a windy path through the countryside, which is very picturesque. There are many sharp corners here, some of which are marked with buoys to show shallow water on the inside of the bends. You can usually see oncoming traffic over the low banks, but not always.

We travelled about 12 lock/miles today and are moored up near Newbridge. No phone signal so I'll send this when we get one.

A lovely secluded spot

We got off to a good start this morning, apart from the fact that I have developed a very sore neck. I must have strained it somehow. Cath has applied a heat patch which has made things much better.
Our trip took us through 5 locks today, at Oxford we went under Osney Bridge, which is the one that stops all the big gin palaces from getting any further, we made it with about 6" to spare.
We have now moored up out in the country in a lovely secluded spot with a couple of other boats and some sheep for company.

We didn't move on today. Not planned, but this morning we discovered a leak under the kitchen sink. One of the lines taking water to the tap had developed a drip and investigation showed that the flexible pipe had failed.

Could I buy one the same? Not a chance. The thread was 6mm and it seems that all the new ones are 8mm. A new tap had to be purchased and fitted so we've decided to stay here until tomorrow. I also took the chance to try out how we can get our prescription medicines. The system is long winded, but seems to work.

All that's left of the Abbey

Little Puffer!

Abingdon is a pretty little town on the banks of the Thames. Unusually for such a popular town the mooring here is not only free, but is for up to five days. Expecting it to be difficult to find somewhere to moor we got here about 11.30 this morning, good thing we did as it was filling up fast. We've managed to find a good spot although we can't get tele so the bike racing is off the menu.

I took a wander into town for a look around, there is good park and some nice buildings.

Henry VII didn't leave much of the Abbey when he dissolved them, all the lead and most of the stone went to build more palaces for him.

The boat in the picture is a little steamer which we have seen a couple of times now moving up and down the river. It's cute!

Our mooring is on the south side of the river in this link:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=abingdon&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Abingdon,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.667981,-1.280106&spn=0.001103,0.00284&t=h&z=19

A long but uneventful day today. We set off from Beale Park at just gone 8.00 and meandered our way up through Goring, Benson and Day's locks and started to look for a mooring but every likely looking spot had already been taken. Eventually we decided to go through the next lock, Clifton and found a nice place just past the lock. Unfortunately it's owned by the EA and they know how to charge fees! Having gone further that we had expected today we'll make Oxford easily tomorrow.
We're moored up just down from the lock on this link.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=clifton+hamdon&sll=51.646812,-1.211758&sspn=0.004247,0.011362&ie=UTF8&t=h&split=1&rq=1&ev=zi&radius=0.29&hq=clifton+hamdon&hnear=&ll=51.646812,-1.211758&spn=0.004247,0.011362&z=17