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Week hire south from Napton questions


thewomble

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3 days there and 3 back so southam for shopping before getting the boat

day 1 Fenny Compton walk into village, shop and pub plus Wharf inn two meals for a tenner before 6 o,clock. Subject to boat pick up time could be day 2.

day 2 Banbury 

day 3 explore Banbury 

day 4 Cropredy

Day 5 moor in open area after Fenny Compton relax and enjoy the scenery.

Day 6 Napton good village shop /cafe Folly Inn an excellent pub large garden short run back to base in morning.

A relaxing week through beautiful countryside without having to speed .

 

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1 hour ago, thewomble said:

Thanks everyone for the entertaining advice.

I am planning on going South towards Oxford. I have a couple of questions.  

I think it might be slightly ambitious to expect to get as far as Oxford as I think my crew will want to make the trip a bit more leisurely than our previous one, ie. have a bit more stopping time for "fishing" (sticks and string for rods :)). On our last trip we pretty much set early and cruised all day, eating lunch on the move etc.  

For the comparison, we went from Chirk marina to Wrenbury, then turned and went up to Llangollen and then back to Chirk.  Canal planner tells me this was a 76 mile trip.

I realise that with a different route it is hard to compare times and distances, but I am taking on board that someone said the Oxford is windy and so we are likely to be crusing slowly.

First quesion - we are hiring from Black PRince at Napton.   Using canal planner, do I put Napton Junction as our starting point?

As an initial plan I am thinking we aim for Thrupp which canal planner tells me is a 23 1/2 hour trip.  But it seems the nearest winding holes are Enslow (before Thrupp at 22 hours) or Hythe Bridge Arm which a fair bit further on at 27 hours.   That seems like quite a distance between turning points.  Is there anything I am missing in between those two?  Hythe Bridge seems to be only a stones throw from Oxford itself.   So would you perhaps recommend I am for the Enslow winding hole?  And then if we make it back to Napton with time to spare perhaps we could continue on past our hire base at Napton a bit further.  I will have to look into where we would be able to turn after that.?  

How does that sound?  I also heard that the Oxford is shallow and going aground can be a problem. Is this likely to be an issue for us on this stretch do you know?

Many thanks again

 

Black Prince is in Wigrams Turn Marina, which is right on Napton Junction, so that would be your start and end point.

Banbury I would have thought would be your second night, you can certainly go a lot further than there in a weeks hire.  Thrupp, would not be a bad objective, and as has been said you will be able to turn just before the lift bridge where the services are.

I would not have said it is particularly shallow or slow, for canal plan use say 2.5mph.

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I think I would make Lower Heyford the target - about a day past Banbury The stretch through Aynho and Somerton to Lower Heyford is one of my favourite bits of canal.

Edited by billS
I can't spell Aynho anyhow...
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Aah, Lower Heyford. Fond memories of being woken up about 7am by a USAF F-111 taking off on full afterburner, maybe 50 feet above the boat. Good job brown sheets were fashionable in those days... ;-)

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Remember Cropredy festival runs from 10 - 12 August. It's  not a problem if you're just passing through on the days of the festival, but can be a bit tricky if you are wanting to stop or if you are in a rush to get back to Napton in the days following the festival!

 

Ignore as I see you are looking at next week not August. I would thoroughly  recommend eating at the Great Western at Aynho if you plan to go that far. Pricey but very good!

Edited by Mal in Somerset
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3 hours ago, IanD said:

If the OP wants to do the Warwickshire Ring in a week starting from Napton, this is exactly what we did last year -- see this posting for suggested stops:

Fairly hard work, but a great trip -- you have to like locks though (though not as much as on the Rochdale+HCN ring we're doing in August...)

With a ring you are comitted to completing the full route, even if that turns out to be too ambitious, unless you bail out after a couple of days and go back the way you came. With an out an back route you can just suck it and see. Travel for half the week and then turn at the next winding hole. If you get back early you can always overshoot. From Napton you could go up to Braunston and back if you have half a day to spare. You can wind at the marina entrance or by doing a three point turn around the island at Braunston Turn.

Edited by David Mack
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22 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

but only until the railway is built, I fear ....

If it ever is. Any party which includes the scrapping of HS2 in its manifesto will gain a landslide at the forthcoming election, at least in the counties through which this excrescence is supposed to pass.

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Thanks all, it is sounding good.  The extra info on turning points will be helpful and also thanks David for the info on overshooting Napton which is just what I wanted to know.

"Do try and moor on the summit - I like the bit around Priors Hardwick" (sorrym can't figure out how to do the quote thingy)    I don't know what this means!  Where is the summit and how will I know when I am there?

Cheers

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No probs. If you start from Napton, you go up 9 locks, to the highest point on the canal -- the summit. This sounds like the top of a mountain, which this is not.

The canal then wiggles around as it follows the contour - see the map link. About 11 miles of canal for a journey that is about 4.5 miles as the crow flies. Then at Claydon you start going downhill all the way down the Cherwell valley to Oxford. A perpetual challenge is to keep this summit topped up with water - this canal has two reservoirs, and electric pumps that send the water back uphill. 

I know it's a bit old fashioned in this digital world, but I think a good guide book (eg Nicholsons) is a good investment. I would expect the boatyard to stock them. They tell you where you can fill up with water and get rid of rubbish. (You won't need to worry about emptying the toilet, I am sure...)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Grand-Union-Oxford-South-East-No-Birmingham/0008146527/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492787732&sr=8-1&keywords=nicholsons+waterways+guides

Edited by Scholar Gypsy
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13 minutes ago, thewomble said:

Thanks all, it is sounding good.  The extra info on turning points will be helpful and also thanks David for the info on overshooting Napton which is just what I wanted to know.

"Do try and moor on the summit - I like the bit around Priors Hardwick" (sorrym can't figure out how to do the quote thingy)    I don't know what this means!  Where is the summit and how will I know when I am there?

Cheers

If you head south down the Oxford Canal you will almost certainly moor on the summit pound on the first night unless you are late getting away from the base. Go prepared though as there isn't anything there except the canal, some fields and cows. It's an archetypal rural setting that probably hasn't changed much in a century or two.

JP

 

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Ah that makes sense (re the summit).  We will definitely aim for that then.  We bought a Pearson's guide for our last trip, so I was thinking of getting another of those for the Oxford. Is it just personal preference or is there an advantage of one guide over another?  

Not exactly thrilled by the sound of the weather forecast for next week, but it is what it is. 

I will have a good study of the canal planner and then no doubt will be back with more questions over the weekend.

Cheers

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16 minutes ago, thewomble said:

Ah that makes sense (re the summit).  We will definitely aim for that then.  We bought a Pearson's guide for our last trip, so I was thinking of getting another of those for the Oxford. Is it just personal preference or is there an advantage of one guide over another?  

Not exactly thrilled by the sound of the weather forecast for next week, but it is what it is. 

I will have a good study of the canal planner and then no doubt will be back with more questions over the weekend.

Cheers

Pearson's is an excellent choice, as proven by the row of Michael Pearson's little books on the bookshelf of our boat! There are other guide books, but it's a bit like football teams or beers - everyone has their own favourite and they can convince you why their choice is the best.

So, when do you set off?

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38 minutes ago, Athy said:

Pearson's is an excellent choice, as proven by the row of Michael Pearson's little books on the bookshelf of our boat! There are other guide books, but it's a bit like football teams or beers - everyone has their own favourite and they can convince you why their choice is the best.

 

Just like toilets.

I must confess I have never even looked at a Pearsons, being a creature of habit ...

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well clearly I'm in good company here then, as I lean towards the Pearsons simply because that is what I had before and I too am a creature of habit.

We start Monday.  It was a last minute thing.  

Our family have been in the UK since May and we have been house sitting our way around the country. We are now up to our last 3 weeks and plan to spend the last 2 in a holiday let in Cornwall because our only Cornwall house sit was up the top, so we want to explore the bottom,  which left us with a week after our current sit with no likely sits on the horizon, so reprising our narrowboat adventure got the vote as we had just enough cash to spare with a visit to latelinks. :)

Not looking forward to going home but this should soften the blow a bit.

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13 hours ago, thewomble said:

First quesion - we are hiring from Black PRince at Napton.   Using canal planner, do I put Napton Junction as our starting point?

That's right - Black Prince operate from Wigram's Turn which exits on Napton Jn. You could make it to Oxford and back in a week if your Karma is in credit but it's a busy canal because it's so beautiful and it does get short of water.

We stock up the fridge and larder before heading down from Napton, restock up at Morrisons @Br.168 in Banbury on the 2nd full day, and reach Thrupp on 3rd day where you can easily turn before the lift bridge. Have a look if there is a mooring below it and reverse down to grab it if there is. A local shop near Kidlington is about a mile down the towpath @Br.224 if you need milk/eggs etc. You're only 1/2 a day from Oxford now - do you feel lucky?

Re-restock at Banbury on return.

Edited by nikvah
corrected lock to lift bridge
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There are regular and frequent buses from Kidlington into Oxford, if you do fancy exploring the City.

Under a mile walk south from Thrupp, just follow the main road over the canal and then the railway.  The bus stop (The Moors) is here.  Three pubs on the way if you need a rest.

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It will be interesting if the Wombles have time during their journey to keep us updated with their progress - to see if the reality of their experience lives up to the rosy picture of the S. Oxford which I and others have painted.

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9 hours ago, nikvah said:

We stock up the fridge and larder before heading down from Napton, restock up at Morrisons @Br.168 in Banbury on the 2nd full day, and reach Thrupp on 3rd day where you can easily turn before the lift bridge. Have a look if there is a mooring below it and reverse down to grab it if there is. A local shop near Kidlington is about a mile down the towpath @Br.224 if you need milk/eggs etc. You're only 1/2 a day from Oxford now - do you feel lucky?

Re-restock at Banbury on return.

Thanks, I think this will exactly be our plan.  

Feeling pretty happy about it now, you all have done a great job

 

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Actually, is someone able to give me a quick rundown -

if we leave from Napton Monday afternoon and moor on the summit as suggested Monday night, where would we expect to get to each night if our plan was to turn at Thrupp?  Will we reach Banbury Wednesday afterrnoon and then again on Friday?

Canal planner is suggesting this:

Monday - summit
Tuesday-Broadmoor lock no.24
Wedneday - Souldern Bridge no. 192
Thursday - turn at Thrupp wide, moor SHipton Weir Lock no. 41
Friday - Aynho Weir
Saturday - Claydon Botton Bridge no. 146
Sunday - Napton Sanitary Station

I am a planner, so I like to have a plan in mind, but once on the go I am quite happy to be flexible on what we actually end up doing :)

Edited by thewomble
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You will do well to reach the summit before nightfall - the flight, depending on traffic, will probably take you 3 to 4 hours once you get to it (which, from memory, will take an hour - it's about 2 miles but there are usually lots of moored boats as you near the locks). But if you fall short, don't worry: on the upper part of the flight there are long pounds between most of the locks and mooring space is generally plentiful.

I'd suggest Cropredy for your 2nd night. From there you can reach Banbury and its shops in about 2 hours the next morning. There are decent rural moorings between Cropredy and Banbury if you want to push on a little further.

But the best plan is perhaps not to have too exact a plan: see where you are late afternoon/ early evening each day and, if you like it, stop there.

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How busy is the canal really going to be outside of the school holidays in April? It's almost inconceivable to me that you wouldn't get up the Napton flight if you turn up in good time at the hire base. I have never been made to wait until the official handover time.

I always boat with a plan often because I have arranged to meet family and change crew at a specific place or have booked a particular pub.

If you want to get to Oxford and plan to do so then it's unlikely you won't make it and it would look something like this;-

Day 1 - Marston Doles (above Napton locks)

Day 2 - Banbury

Day 3 - Heyford

Day 4 - Wolvercote (after turning at Oxford)

Day 5 - Aynho

Day 6 - Cropredy

Day 7 - Napton

 

Alternatively for Thrupp it would be something like

Day 1 - Bridge 116 between Napton locks 13 and 14 (and walk back to Folly Inn)

Day 2 - Cropredy (pubs available)

Day 3 - Aynho (Great Western pub)

Day 4 -  Thrupp (pubs available)

Day 5 - Aynho

Day 6 - Cropredy

Day 7 - Below Napton locks (or on to Braunston)

Beware of planning to eat at the Folly Inn on your last night. Last time I visited on a Sunday there was no food available after the Sunday roasts ran out. That was before seven in the evening. Thankfully we were there at half six.

JP

Edited by Captain Pegg
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