After Oxford

So I upped stakes and left Oxford a day sooner than I had planned. It was so hot, I didn’t think I could manage more sweltering museums (pretty bad, huh?) so I headed north. After a couple of fairly long days, I got to Banbury and moored up in the centre of town, just past the lock. It was a really pleasant town, lots to see and do.

I stocked up on groceries, did some laundry, went to a very cool OLD chandlery (more on that in a bit), and met some YouTube stars! It was great to have a chat and get to know you a bit more Kath and Annamarie.

So Banbury is known from a nursery rhyme, unknown to me but everyone here seems to know it. It’s about Banbury Cross, a woman with bells on her toes, and more. In the centre of town is a beautiful statue in it’s honour:

Tooley’s Boatyard is the oldest chandlery and boat repair yard in the UK (according to them). Apparently, when they built the monstrous (and somewhat ugly) mall along the canal, they weren’t permitted to tear the boatyard down. So they built the mall completely around it! It’s got a terrific little museum, tons of old stuff for sale or on display, and a great place to get work done on your boat…

After overstaying a bit, I headed north towards my next goal, Braunston. However, I didn’t go far, about three hours, and found a gorgeous spot to moor up. Quite remote, quiet, and beautiful scenery. Exactly what I had read about, and came here for.

Turns out it was a good day to stop a bit early. It rained! Not for too long but it was enough to cool the boat a bit. The water levels have been quite low of course, there’s been no serious rain the country for many weeks. I’ve been scraping the bottom a lot when passing other boats, got quite stuck a couple of times. It’s very muddy however, and not that difficult to push or drive off.

Some are doing their best to help the situation: