On 11/30/06, Mike Stevens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Most of that stretch is open countryside and very attractive. Apart from > Oxford itself, the only significant town is Banbury. Some of the villages > (Cropredy comes to mind particularly) are very attractive. Some, like > Cropredy and Thrupp are right on the canal bank, others are a short walk > away. I can't think of anywhere on that stretch that I'd regard as unsafe > for an overnight mooring. I'm particuarly fond of Thrupp, which is > attractive village with two good waterside pubs. Out of the busy season > there should be plenty of mooring space available there (and anywhere else > on the route). One of two of the possible moorings, such as Lower > Heyford, > are very close to the railway line and hence a bit noisy at night. > > In our experience it's not easy to find moorings in Oxford itself without > venturing onto the Thames (for which your boat would need a Thames > licence). > One possibility would be to moor at somewhere like Thrupp and go into the > city by bus. > > The one thing to be wary of is the sections (around Shipton and Aynho) > where > the River Cherwell flows into and out of the canal. After a period of > prolonged rain these can be subject to flooding and can become impassable. > When we were pottering around there in September this year, there was a > time > when we'd had a lot of rain and the indicator boads were only just showing > green (i.e.safe to proceed). > > I agree with everything Mike has said. I was also pottering about on the S. Oxford in October, and found reasonably good 48 hour [but they weren't picky at that time of year] moorings just above Isis Lock in Oxford. Note that this is in the vicinity of College Cruisers yard, and so close to water point and pump-out--£12, if I remember correctly. It's about a ten minute walk to the city centre. The downside is that it's only about 100 metres [or less] to the main Oxford railway station, so unless you're of the late to bed, early to rise persuasion, this might not be the best place for you.
I also noted that the towpath on this canal is probably the worst I have seen in my admittedly short experience. We also found that the paddles on most of the locks were quite stiff. In Banbury, we moored right at Castle Quay shopping centre, and had a quiet night. It might, however, be a bit more rowdy on weekends. Eric, if you'd like to have a Canadian perspective, drop me a line off list. Cheers, Phil -- Phil & Anne Irons Sydney, Nova Scotia [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
