Prison and Castle.

Still moored above Osney lock.

Yesterday with Tracey coming up from London for the weekend her and Dot decided to go to Oxford Castle for a look see. The old prison has been used for such TV series as Inspector Morse, and Bad girls and the film The Italian Job.

The main block is now a hotel which even has the original cells that you can experience if you so wish.

As I had finished the painting late yesterday evening I was anxious to check out the roof this morning. Unfortunately the last section I did got a bit of bloom from the evening damp air. It was only a small patch but I sanded down the whole panel and repainted it. Hopefully it will come out OK.

Smart new paint job looking from the bow

It’s unbelievable that people are still navigating on the river even though the red boards are still up. Today there have been 3 people, old enough to know better, in Canadian canoes going down river and a narrowboat came up through Osney lock having already been through 2 locks on red boards. The latter was persuaded to moor up.

Roof looking from the stern,

now hopefully cooler with the grey rather than midnight blue

There is a relieving lock keeper here at Osney as Ray is now on leave. He has been changing the sluices around and has now re-opened 3 gates near the lock and closed the sluice round by the old prison. This has bought the water level up and slowed the flow down slightly. We will have to wait to see what effect it has in 24 hours time

Painting day.

Still moored above Osney lock.

Last night when I was clearing up I heard 2 women talking loudly to each other and thought nothing of it. When I looked up I saw a woman in a canoe hanging onto the front fender of the cruiser “Magic Lady”. Next thing a man ran out of a house opposite and grabbed her paddle and tried to pull her in to the bank. She got out of the canoe but the latter got away from her. The 2 of them then chased it down river until they managed to catch it by the last moored boat by jumping onto the moored boat which annoyed the owner no end. Later 2 guys in Canadian canoes came up river from below Osney lock. They carried the boats up to the lock where they re-launched them. This was OK until they reached the weirs where they found it very hard work and eventually gave up. What planet are these people on?

I was up at an ungodly hour this morning drying down the roof after heavy overnight dew. By 9am the front section was dry and warming up with the sun so I started painting. By 11am I had one section finished and was half way through the second section when the sun got the better of me as the roof was heating up too much.

To fill in time I cleaned the towpath side of the boat and spoke to umpteen boaters about when the river would be open to navigation again. After lunch there was a bit of excitement when a small cruiser with 5 adults and a dog aboard came down river from where we don’t know. Some how they finished up going sideways and backwards trying to negotiate the rapid river flow. Somehow they managed to get into the bank and moor up. I went down and spoke to them telling them the river was still on red boards but they just replied that they had been told that could take their boat out at the week-end. I could see that they were visibly shaken up by the whole experience.

After a session in the pub they set off up river from whence they came. I could see that they were struggling with the engine on full throttle and being pushed all over the place by the turbulence. Even after they had passed Botley Road Bridge their progress did not improve much as they were still bouncing around all over the place. Idiots, stupid, morons, words fail me.

Preparation day.

Still moored above Osney lock.

Today didn’t start off the best weather wise so I decided that if I did all the preparation work, masking and light sanding, today I would be well placed to get the painting finished in one go. As the day wore on the skies cleared and it got very warm. It got to the stage where the boat was getting too hot to work on so I had to stop. It was after 7pm before things had cooled down sufficiently for me to finish the prep work.

During the course of the day I was approached by various people who had boats trapped on the Thames and wanting to know what was happening with regard to dropping red boards. I also had 2 people speak to me who are followers of our blog. Nice of you guys to stop for a chat.

The river situation is definitely improving at a reasonable rate and by mid to late next week should be back to normal. I can see that once the starter drops his flag the race will be on to make up for lost time.

Our baby pigeon is now flying around with the adult birds when they go out foraging for food and we only see him now when they return to roost for the night.

Painting day.

Still moored above Osney lock.

As today turned out to be another warm fine day I managed to get some more painting done. The first top coat is now finished hopefully with the weather forecast for the week-end I may get to finish the second coat.
We have spoken to Ray the lock keeper and he has told us that he is now starting to shut down some of sluices. We have been watching the water level go up and down every time he makes a change with the sluices. Water levels are now good but the river is still running very fast through here. Red boards are starting to change to Yellow but EA are advising people to check ALL locks on their journey before setting off otherwise they may find themselves no better off.
Northmoor lock normally has an operating level of 4’ 10’’ below the lock but at present is still sitting at 10’ so there is still a hell of a lot of water still to come down river yet. It is going to take EA staff a long time to clear up the mess after things return to normal.
Dot, Ron and Enid went for a walk up to Godstow lock this afternoon but only got about a mile from here when their journey had to be aborted due to the towpath still being under water.

Blenheim Palace.

Still moored above Osney lock.

Today we were invited to join Ron and Enid from n/b Tonic on a trip to Blenheim Palace which we accepted as we felt we needed a day away from the constant noise of the river. The bus trip to Woodstock was great sitting in the front seats on the top deck. I had to remind Dot that she didn’t need to duck as we passed under overhanging trees.

It was a most enlighting tour to see how through the 1^st Duke of Marlborough, (John Churchill) not having an heir apparent got a parliamentary decree to allow his daughter to inherit the title. This was the beginning of the end as the Spencer family (Princess Diana’s family) eventually took over the title. Sir Winston S Churchill of WWII fame was born at Blenheim Palace and the letter “S” in his name was Spencer.

As in any stately home the furniture, paintings, tapestries, dinner service sets and gilt ceilings were magnificent and mind boggling as to their value and age.

Back at Osney we can report that the surviving pigeon chick is doing well and has now crossed the abyss by flying across to a roof on the opposite bank. He now has to fly to the adult birds if he is to get food otherwise he goes hungry.

While out with Ron and Enid, Ron told us how he had designed and had built his narrowboat 16 years ago. Even the steel work was done to his design which is quite unusual. He fitted it out himself in Elm timber and spent several years doing it. A couple of years ago he re-powered it with a new Thorneycroft when attempts to overhaul the old BMC failed. This high spec boat will be up for sale at the end of the year with a recent survey report so if anybody is interested in a very well maintained 45ft live aboard boat send us an email and we will pass it on to Ron.

Heed the warnings!

Still moored above Osney lock.

As it turned out a fine day I started to do some more painting on the roof. Unfortunately by the time I had it all masked up and sanded the sun had warmed the boat up too much so I had to leave the painting until this evening when it cooled down.
In the meantime we went for a walk via Folly Bridge where a hire boat has come to grief. This is what happens when people ignore red board warnings from those in the know.

On board were not the hirers (they had abandoned the boat downstream) but someone who should have known better. The boat will have to be salvaged and lifted as it is almost blocking the main channel on the Thames at Folly Bridge. This would need to be done before they can re-open this section of the river to navigation, as the stern is under water and you cannot see the tiller arm you have no idea where the hull ends.

Along the way we crossed a bridge over the Bulstake stream where 4 huge round hay bales had been washed down river and jammed under the bridge.

Ray the lock keeper was aware of their presence but has a problem with how to remove them as they weigh about a ton, but being full of water will make them heavier. They don’t want them breaking loose and jamming up a sluice down stream.

Foul (fowl) deeds at Osney.

Still moored above Osney lock.

The last 24 hours has been a mixture of sadness, happiness and bliss.
To start off one of the pigeon chicks left the nest and managed to fly up to a ledge where all the adult birds congregate. This was OK until another bird spotted it on his/her perch and immediately flew down to shoo the interloper away. The parent birds tried to protect the chick but eventually it was forced off the ledge which was not high enough for the chick to fly and gain altitude. Ultimately it finished up in the water and was swept down stream. It did try to clamber out when it came up against a wall but it was a lost cause. The current eventually caught the chick taking it towards the weir. I tried to catch it in my fishing net before it got to the weir but failed.
Later in the evening the second chick took flight but managed to fly to a very high ledge with plenty of scope for take off. This ledge is not the territory of any other bird so hopefully we won’t have a repeat performance. Nearly 24 hours later and the chick is still there and being fed by the adults.

Not often do you get to do a pumpout direct into the sewer in Oxford

That was the happiness and sadness but the bliss came this morning. City council workmen arrived to collect the sand bags and I asked them if they had some tools to lift the sewer manhole cover so I could do a pump out directly into the sewer.

Well the Irish driver on the front end loader was only too happy to help out in our hour of need. It goes to show that you only have to ask. Within half an hour the tank was pumped out, well and truly flushed and the manhole cover replaced. The self pump out kit has turned out to be a real asset.

The rest of today was taken up with saying farewell to Peter and Pam who have gone to London to collect a rental car for another months touring before returning home.

Sorry we didn’t get any cruising done guys but we did get to see a lot of Oxford. After lunch it was off to the launderette to catch up on some washing. We would normally do this while cruising but as we don’t appear to be going any where for a while this was the best option.