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Category Archives: On the Thames
Goodbye Thames, hello Oxford Canal
Boating on the Thames in Autumn has been a wonderful experience. The river has been consistently beautiful and interesting from Brentford to Oxford. At Oxford we left the Thames and entered the Oxford Canal via a lock. Suddenly everything’s much narrower. Continue reading
Spooky moorings at Mapledurham
At Mapledurham the river’s edge was shallow so, after a couple of attempts to moor more conventionally, we tied our narrowboat to a couple of trees. I sat outside on the rear deck for a few hours, with a pot of coffee, a wool blanker and my laptop, to get some work done. Thought how rare it’s been for us to be out in countryside like this, so quiet and dark at night. Continue reading
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Temple Island
The first time I drove past Temple Island, several years ago on the way to Henley, it was early morning and so foggy I could barely see the banks of the river. The thick bank of fog ended abrupty at the island, a quite dramatic sight. This time, headed towwards Henley, the island and its ornamental folly could be clearly seen. Continue reading
Moored on the Thames at Marlow
Very attractive moorings just west of Marlow town, and a great excuse to figure out how to take panoramic photos on my new camera. My parents and brother’s family had joined us for an afternoon’s drive from Marlow through the next lock and back again. Continue reading
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Moored outside Hampton Court
How’s this for a pretty fine spot for our first night on the Thames, moored outside the gates of Hampton Court? In the evening we were mobbed by hungry birds: it’s the coots I feel sorry for. Continue reading
More boats that make me smile
This is L’Escargot, a boat I’ve passed several times in Uxbridge and on the Thames: This tiny narrowboat was near Black Jack’s Lock: An imposing houseboat, Queen of the Thames, in the rain: A boat that looks like a Mondrian: … Continue reading
Posted in On the Grand Union Canal, On the Thames
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Goodbye Thames
My summer on the Thames is over and it’s back to the relative quiet of the canals. Made the short trip to Teddington Lock where both locks were filling up with narrowboats. Some of the boaters were returning from the IWA Festival at Beale Park. Unusually, it was a bit of a free-for-all going into the lock and the normal queuing etiquette seemed to have been abandoned. Were we all so desperate to be leaving? Continue reading
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Nice place, couldn’t leave
I moored near Hampton Court Palace for a few days, on the other side of the Thames in East Molesey. It’s a charming, old-fashioned place with small cafes and antique shops. When I went to leave I found I couldn’t. … Continue reading
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More repairs
Bristol Fashion is at Tim Barfield’s marina again, opposite Tagg’s Island, being repaired. Lately I’ve had a lot of water in the bilge and I asked the boatyard to find out where it was coming from. It turns out that … Continue reading
I’ll sail this ship alone
I live alone on my boat and I mostly travel alone. That brings with it particular difficulties and other boaters, passers-by and lock keepers often offer me help when they realise I’m going solo. Many times I politely decline, particularly … Continue reading
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