Friends just returned from a holiday including a week on the South Oxford. They had a great time, but I was surprised that the hire companies still aren't doing a decent tuition. They told me there was no film or briefing on lock handling, and that someone from the yard just rode with them to the first lock - which was on the Thames and manned, so they didn't do anything. When they were through it, he grabbed his bike from the boat and left telling them "You're good". So of course they then get to their first solo lock and wonder why it is taking forever to fill - and finally realized that you don't lift all the paddles at once! I know there are only a few locks on this stretch, but some instruction would sure help. It looks like they will never learn - or don't care.
My friends also tell me the Trout Inn has really gone bad. Changed the decor, took up the slate on the patio, etc. And the reviews on Yelp sound awful. Such a shame. Jerry Coleman in Belmont,California The amount of intelligence in the universe is fixed, but the population keeps expanding.
