We had a visit from friends, Allison & Paul at the weekend and took them for a trip down to Oxford, The City of Dreaming Spires [a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold in reference to the harmonious architecture of Oxford’s university buildings] We went through Isis Lock and winded on the new lock landing then moored up opposite College Cruisers where we saw Robert working who we had met in Banbury earlier this year. To be honest the city centre was so packed with people to the extent that it was not that enjoyable to walk around and one could have imagined that you were in Oxford Street, London.
The trip down was pleasant and Paul was pleased to be able to help out at the locks and take the helm for a good part of the time, giving Joy & Allison a chance to chat. Many of the lift bridges have been fitted with locks which require BW ‘Watermate’ keys to operate them which ought to make them easier to operate for single handers, although a couple of them were out of balance, maybe due to wet bridge decks, and needed holding open rather taking us back to square one.
We took leave of our friends Saturday evening and Sunday, having arranged to get our car down to Oxford, we drove up to Bloxham for the Banbury Rally, it was a great day and a great show, well worth going to.
We have had an easy day today and returned our car to to Thrupp ready for our return (thanks to our car shufflers Bones & Maffi)