September 2024 - A sunbathing dog and a day off!

Clifton Lock Moorings (River Thames) – Tuesday 17th September

There was news on the TV this morning that the Environment Agency is going to make some accessible moorings at Wallingford.  I don’t need an accessible mooring but trying to sort out the height of the bank would help me!

It was a lovely morning and Rio took the opportunity to do some sun bathing. 

The first place you arrive at after Wallingford is Benson where RAF Benson has it’s home.  In 1937 the Royal Air Force was expanding to meet the threat of Nazi aggression so work began on building a new airfield beside Benson village. The land, owned by five families, was formerly part of the Duchy of Cornwall estate.  It was compulsorily purchased at a cost of £18 an acre. Construction of RAF Benson finished in 1939. Its establishment on land previously farmed, meant the destruction of the 18th-century Lamb pub, which once stood on the outskirts of the village.

Up through Benson lock and passed the Shillingford Hotel.  There is a deep history within both The Shillingford Bridge Hotel and the bridge itself. The hotel dates back to the beginning of the 1600s where it was previously named the Swan Inn. The bridge has records which suggest the presence of a bridge on the site in the 14th century but this structure was short-lived and the crossing was made by ferry from at least 1379 until a timber bridge was built in 1767 and changed to stone in the 1800s.  Stupidly I forgot to take a photo.

This is one of my favourite houses on the Thames, though it is in sections now. 

Day’s lock and then on to Clifton lock which gets my prettiest lock on the Thames award!  They also sell icecreams!  Clifton has short term moorings for £12 so we availed ourselves.  It was a very nice mooring with grass to sit out on and then a wide pontoon to sit on when the sun went round.  

Clifton is one of the few lock sites on the non-tidal river where there was not a pre-existing weir and flash lock, although there was an important ferry. Problems to navigation had long been recognised and the first suggestions for creating a lock "near Clifton Ferry"  was raised in 1793.  The construction of the lock cut was delayed because the owner of the land was "a lunatic", but it was eventually completed in 1822 together with the lock. No weir was built at the time, giving rise to complaints. The weir was eventually erected on the old navigation in 1835. I can’t get my head round the fact that there was a lock with no weir. 

9 miles
3 locks


Abingdon (River Thames) – Wednesday 18th September

We left Clifton lock for a short journey to Abingdon. 

Culham lock was on self service - it always is!  It has now got a name as being the slowest lock on the River! 

We passed the entrance to the proposed Wilts and Berks Canal and also the entrance of the disused entrance, which is now built over. The 52-mile canal was opened in 1810, but abandoned in 1914 – a fate hastened by a breach at Stanley aqueduct in 1901. Much of the canal subsequently became unnavigable: many of the structures were deliberately damaged by army demolition exercises; parts of the route were filled in and in some cases built over. In 1977 the Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group was formed with a view to full restoration of the canal. Several locks and bridges have since been restored, and over 8 miles of the canal have been rewatered. 

When we arrived in Abingdon there was quite a lot of choice for moorings.  We pulled over on the meadow side but there was a wasps nest right where OtM wanted to moor.  We had the same problem when we came downstream but this was in a different place.  Obviously the wasps must love it!  In the end we moored up on the town side. 

The trouble with the town side is that there is goose poo everywhere and Rio, like Muffin, finds it a tasty snack!  We tried letting him off the lead but he went through the fence railings and over to a concrete area where there were water fountains last time we were here in August.  It is obviously the place where the geese like to hang out.  It is absolutely disgusting.  There are no dogs allowed in the area but the geese are far worse than dogs.  The geese wander around in a line and then they jump into the water and swim in a line, it is amusing! 

After the debacle in Wallingford I had decided to order a new watch from Amazon which was delivered to Waitrose in Abingdon, so we walked up in the afternoon and did some shopping and I picked up my new watch.

We had planned a BBQ in the evening, but it was so windy we cooked in our boats and ate together outside.  It did get pretty chilly.

4 miles
1 lock


Abingdon (River Thames) – Thursday 19th September

A day off!  These have been few and far between.  We had a very lazy morning before walking into town and to the Nags Head for lunch.  The meal was good but not as good as last time we were there.  The Nag's Head is situated on an island which sits in the middle of the two Abingdon Bridges.  I wondered what the history of the name the Nags Head was, apparently the story goes that a pub named The Nags Head relates to the practice of providing an all-clear signal to pirates wishing to come ashore at night, which was achieved by hanging a lantern around the neck of docile horse, who was then led back and forth along the shore.  I’m not sure there were many pirates in Abingdon! 

We took a short stroll round the town before heading back to the boats.

The County Hall was built between 1678 and 1683, primarily to house the Berkshire Assizes when they were held in Abingdon. Until the nineteenth century it was generally referred to as the Town Hall or the Market Hall, and the name County Hall was adopted only gradually. In 1869 Abingdon ceased to be an assize town but the building continued to be known as the County Hall.  The ground floor is an open arcade which was designed to house a market. 

Next year we are planning a canal holiday in France with Steve and Tracey, so I spent the afternoon researching canals and boats.  I think we will do the Canal du Midi and hire a Le Boat boat.  We did the Alsace and Lorraine back in 2016 hiring with Le Boat and we found them excellent.  The hardest part of that holiday was the handover.  The Le Boat staff all spoke German and had to translate into French.  My sister speaks some French so was translating back into English, it took forever, but we got there in the end!

We didn’t sit out for long as it got chilly.  I think blankets are called for in the evenings now!