Saturday 12th April 2014 Oxford Canal Walk Ramble 6.

Saturday 12^th April 2014 Oxford Canal Walk Ramble 6.

From Priors Hardwick (Bridge 124) to Fenny Compton (Bridge 136) which we calculated to be 5.5 miles

We started off on a footpath, through gardens and downhill for getting on for a mile to the canal towpath. There was a cool breeze and the day became brighter and a bit warmer later on.

There were no locks at all on this stretch and the whole time we were walking alongside the ‘eleven-mile pound’ as the summit level is described in Tom Rolt’s book ‘Narrowboat’. It is one of the most twisted sections of canal in England and the 11 miles (18km) are between two points which are under 5 miles apart. ‘There are water shortages sometimes in dry periods and water is back-pumped and obtained from mines now.

We saw one boat having a fair bit of difficulty negotiating a rather tight bend and seemed to do a ‘three-point turn’ to get around. We watched (gongoozled), of course. The helmsman exclaimed something like ‘the bottom is too high’ or, as I read in a booklet, the canal around here is as shallow as a matinee’s idol’s smile.

  

We found the countryside to be very quiet with open, rolling hills way into the distance and many fields with wavy medieval patterns. There were plenty of grazing sheep and bouncing lambs near to the canal.  In Stuart Fisher’s book ‘Canals of Britain’ it says ‘It is a ruthlessly rural area with very few buildings along its length but the canal seems to go out of its way to visit all of them and search for more as well’ I think that sums it up well.

We saw many patches of coltsfoot (going to seed) and cowslips. Also, I have found out that the brown stems we saw are fertile ones from field horsetails, with cones containing spores. 

 

Maybe, because of the meandering canal, we kept a similar pace for some time, to ‘Fijou’, a smart looking narrowboat (apparently Fijou is a robust, full-bodied and spicy red wine from a region of southern France that overlooks the Mediterranean). There were a few more boats ‘on the move’ compared to earlier in the year and we saw a little ‘jam’ occur when boats passed near to moored boats, (not helped by the narrowness of canal). 

It is proposed that the HS2 railway line will cross the Oxford Canal on its way from London to Birmingham by bridge 128. Objectors to this scheme point out that the railway will diagonally bisect the 10 square mile region of open countryside and pass very close to the Boddington villages and the manorial settlement at Wormleighton (an impressive gatehouse  and cottages survive from Tudor times and were once owned by the Spencer family before they moved to Althrop in Northamptonshire. Later, the land owners were keen for the canal with locks not to go over their hill, so 1.25 miles became 3.5 miles of canal around the hill!) . 

While we were having our picnic sitting around bridge 133 we could see Wormleighton, not far away. Even nearer is the site of a medieval village and a German family passed by/through us having paid that a visit.

We finished at The Wharf Inn, by Sherne Hill Bridge, and although a large building, it seemed to be rather remote and quiet. We went in for a drink and got a surprise. It was packed. Not only can boaters moor up for a meal and drink but they can shop, use the laundrette and even visit the hairdressers and have beauty treatments! Oh, and there is a caravan site and a B and B too. 

So, Hugh, Dot, Margaret, Julie, Clive, Sue, Sue, Margaret, Peter and Jem walked with us and, on the Thursday after, John and Julie walked it both ways.