John wrote: > We have just come up the Oxford from the Thames and have only found 3 > lift bridges that actually need lifting. The rest have been secured in > the up position. (170 - 193). Are there more lift bridges, further > North on the Oxford?
Only 3? I thought there were either 6 or 7 that were closed, including two on the very bottom section below Duke's Cut and the one at Banbury which is operated with a windlass. There was one closed in the section where my Nicholson's says they are all left open! There are none on the northern section. Fortunately I got swaps or offers of assistance at most of them and in the end only did 2 completely on my own, though I had started 2 others by the time assistance arrived. In one I managed to tie a knot in the chain ( ! ) and the other I raised the bridge then used a rope to hold it up. In both cases I wedged a mooring pin into the teeth of the hinge (bet that's not an approved practice!) as it was really windy and I wanted belt and braces. BTW a bit of lift bridge trivia, how come the construction dates are carved into the bridge in Roman numerals? Can't think or any other examples of this anywhere on the cut. Steve NB Bream
