Shipton-on-Cherwell to Banbury.

Monday 26th January.

Shipton-On-Cherwell to Somerton 9.8 miles, 7 locks and 2 lift bridges.

A fabulous morning greeted us at Shipton Bridge; it looked so good for cruising, that we set off at 9.45am.The whole day was an absolute joy. Not only did we have wall to wall sunshine, there was no wind, so it really felt quite pleasant. I did not wear my donkey jacket all day and Keith managed to take off his fleece, which he normally wears under his donkey jacket, so it was almost tropical.We only met two other boats, one was Mike on coal boat Dusty, which was laden down with coal, gas etc.We cruised up the River Cherwell even though it was registering red on the water level indicator by about 2 inches. Hadar did not find it a problem at all.
Most of the 7 locks were with us, which made for an easy days cruising for me.The River Cherwell, which follows the canal was extremely high and had broken its banks in some places, flooding the fields and meadows.What was lovely to see, were the snowdrops out in flower along the canal.Our day finished at 2.35pm at Somerton overlooking the water meadow.

Tuesday 27th January.

Somerton to Outskirts of Banbury, 7.9 miles, 5 locks and 2 lift bridges.

Cold, crisp and foggy for our cruise today to Banbury. It was a beautiful start to our day, which began just after 10am, when we prepared Hadar for the off.We really love cruising when it is like this. The countryside takes on a whole new life when it is shrouded in fog.
As we approached Somerton Deep Lock, the sun was trying to burn off the fog, so that it may pop its head out to wish us a good morning.No matter where we looked along the Cherwell valley, it was covered in water, where the Cherwell had burst its banks.We got through Aynho Weir Lock without a problem, the water level indicator was on yellow, which surprised Keith seeing how high the river had been on the run up to the lock, and was therefore ok for us to exit the lock and carrying on to Nell Bridge Lock, where we got chatting to a lovely couple, who were out walking.
Although we were only cruising for around four hours, by the time we moored up just outside of Banbury at Nadkey Bridge 172, it felt like we had been cruising all day.