Good Call

Tuesday August 14th... Well, as forecast the rain arrived in the early hours of this morning but although breezy the gale force winds that had also been forecast didn't materialise.

We laid up for the day as planned at Dashwood Lock and were able to get a walk in later in the evening. We spotted a couple of tree's that had fallen during the day but none fortunately in the direction of the canal. Our mooring ran alongside the river Cherwell so we were also able to keep a close eye on the levels which on the Tuesday evening had risen slightly.
Wednesday August 15th... Today was a much windier one with the persistent rain giving way to heavy showers, sometimes accompanied by the odd rumble of thunder. We moved only a short distance 'winding' just before Kirtlington and found a decent mooring once again parallel to the River Cherwell. By the evening we could see that the river was definitely running faster and had risen a good few inches.

Thursday August 16th... We set off northwards heading back towards Banbury and met up with a boat also going north as we passed through Northbrook Lock. They informed us that the Cherwell level boards were just entering the red zone. Between Shipton Weir Lock and Baker's Lock (pictured) around a few miles south of our location the canal and river share a common course, this can be hazardous if the river is in flood and these guys had luckily just passed through. We continued on stopping briefly at Lower Heyford for milk and bread, mooring for a short while at Summerton, which was solid with boats. We were able to squeeze in at the very end but after deciding we were too close to a bend moved on finding an excellent mooring just after Summerton Deep Lock.

Friday August 17th... As we continued on it was obvious that the Cherwell would pose no hazzard to us having probably reached it's peak but if we had any regrets as to whether we should have continued on to the Thames they were put to rest later in the day. As we arrived at Kings Sutton Lock we met up with a guy who told us that he'd been stuck on the Thames for 19 days last month and had passed through the Thames Locks at Swinford Bridge and Kings two days prior just as the red boards were going back up. He informed us that the lock keeper had told him not to continue but had told him that there was no way he was getting marooned again and so swiftly moved on escaping back onto the canal system!

We stopped in Banbury for supplies for around an hour and then moved on mooring at Cropredy for the night.

Talking of Banbury, a couple we'd spoken to earlier in the week told us that they wanted to moor in the town for the night and had moored next to a boat where, they'd been told, the owner had unfortunately mysteriously died aboard. His tools and wellington boots etc were still on the towpath exactly where they'd been left. Feeling a little rattled by the events they had moved on. The story made Dee and I laugh until she pointed out that the boat we'd moored next to had pots of paint, tools and wellington boots sitting on the towpath!!! We swiftly moved on after shopping.