Child-Beale to Abingdon.

Monday 23rd June.

Beale Park, Wildlife Park and Gardens.

They say it is a woman’s right to change her mind, but in this case it was Keith’s turn to change his mind. We woke up to a bright sunny morning, with no breeze at all, so Keith thought we should stay put and go and have a look around Beale Park after all. So we were going to see if £8.50 each was good value for money. Beale Park opens at 10am and closes at 6pm, so at 10am we took the short walk from the mooring to the entrance of the park.
I always go by first impressions and the first impression of the park was lovely.The parks gardens were laid out in 2006 on 50th Anniversary of the opening of the park. We enjoyed looking around at the aviaries, with some beautiful birds in them. The park also has some primates and other animals.This very cute Prairie dog was just one of the animals to see.
Throughout the park they have large lakes and ponds for the fish and waterfowl. It is a really great place to being the family as well, because there is such a lot for the children to do and see. They even have paddling pools, so if you take the children, take a towel and their swimming costume.
I am huge lover of owls and they have a wonderful selection of owls to see.Amongst them the Snowy Owl, Barn Owl and many others.
Keith and I really enjoyed our day at Beale Park and would recommend it to anyone young or old.
We spent the evening back on the boat, cleaning brass and then sitting outside to enjoy our dinner and the evening’s sunshine. Rowers were out in force training for the Henley Regatta.One things fore sure it keeps them very fit all that rowing.

Tuesday 24th June.

Child-Beale to Abingdon. 21.7 miles and 6 locks.A fantastic morning greeted us, the wind had dropped and the sun was shining, so what more could we ask for. We set off at 8.30am hoping to make Abingdon.
Firstly we passed a small island and a Narrowboat coming towards us, this was one of many boats we saw today. We skirted by Lower Basildon where Jethro Tull ( 1674-1741) is buried in the church yard. The views are awesome, you can see for miles across the countryside.
We passed under the Gatehampton Railway Bridge which was one of three bridges along this stretch built by Brunel. Approaching Goring and its lock there are some pretty boathouses, the mill and church in what is a stunning part of the river.
There are very few places to moor on the way to Abingdon, so you really find yourself on the move all the time. Even Wallingford moorings are in a real state, with the banks falling into the river. Wallingford itself is one of the oldest Royal Boroughs; Wallingford received its charter in 1155. It would be wonderful if there were more mooring places so you can actually go and see these wonderful places. The Boathouse Pub at Wallingford is lovely from the outside as it sits beside Wallingford’s stone bridge, I was however disappointed to read the blackboard outside of the pub though.Wouldn't you say this is discrimination to long boats?

Especially as the pub has plenty of room along its frontage for boats.I guess we will not be mooring Hadar outside and heading in for a drink or a meal. Shame on them.
The skyline is dominated by the Didcot power station, it can be seen for miles.We swept pasted Dorchester and into Culham Lock the last lock of the day.Having said thank you to the lock keeper we made our way to Abingdon, with the hope that we would find a mooring.It was now 3.15pm and first impression of Abingdon was awww how lovely it looks. We did find a mooring wedged between two cruisers, Keith managed to fit Hadar in like a hand in a glove, even one of the cruiser owners remarked on how well he did to get her into the slot LOL. So this will be home for overnight and tomorrow as we want to take a proper look around. The moorings are for 5 days, so it gives us a few options on what we decide to do. For dinner I made us Tacos, something a little different for a change. We then enjoyed what was left of the evening’s sunshine.

Wednesday 25th June.

We have spent the day looking around Abingdon, enjoying its history and its hospitality with a meal in one of the many places to eat in the town. Keith and I then took a stroll around the abbey ruins, the old and new part of Abingdon.

Abingdon is such a beautiful place and it is steeped in history. There is a small museum, which is free to enter. It was intersting reading the time line of Abingdon and the many famous people who have visited the town over hundreds of years, helping to change its history for ever.

So a nice day has been had by us so far. I will fill you in on anything else that happens when I do my next post LMAO, got to keep you guessing.