Culham Reach to Thrupp. River Thames. South Oxford Canal.

Well Dear Reader, we’ve seen the last of the Mighty River Thames, pulled our pins from the beautiful Camping by the River on Culham Reach, and left our wonderful friends - and our half filled van - behind.

 

Goodbye dear friends, Thank you for having us!

Narrowboat Legend is now on it’s way up the Oxford canal with “For Sale” signs in the windows, adverts on both Facebook and Apollo Duck, and two rather giddy kippers trying their best to keep it clean and tidy ‘just in case’.

We’ve had quite a lot of interest, both locally and from further afield, which developed into several viewings, three of which were very positive.

In other news; Our nephew Ben and the lovely Megan got married, with one of the best weddings imaginable. Mere words are not enough to describe the magic and dazzling romance of that amazing day, so here’s a few pictures to give you some idea.

Ann-Marie made them this beautiful card.

The congregation waiting for the ceremony to begin. 

The beautiful bride waiting for the Groom...

...and here he comes, to be given away by his mum.

 Dave's family.

Andy proposed to Anne in Paris the next day!

(She said Yes)

The seating Plan. We were in Wales,

 along with all the other van and boat lifers.

All the flower arangements the following morning.

A final farewell photo before we head home.

Both the kids came over for the wedding; Frankie, Harry, Thibault and Axelle came and stayed with us in one of the bell tents for a couple of days beforehand, and Chloe, Caleb and Matilda did the same for one night afterwards so we were able to grab some real quality time with them.

Mum and Dad came over for the day for a BBQ

 and to meet Axelle for the first time.

On the way back from the wedding.

Baking with Nana.

Yummy sausage rolls.

There were, of course, boat trips into Abingdon for everyone; very emotional for us, as we’ve always had visions of grandchildren coming to stay for holidays aboard, which is now never going to happen. However, going to live with them - even half of them - more than makes up for that. Both the boys had a go at steering, Thibault didn't last very long, because he was still too short to see where we were going, but he kept evryone informed via the walkie-talkie.

Caleb. being that little bit taller,turned out to be a very competent skipper indeed, piloting the boat all the way into Abingdon and back with hardly any intervention on Dave’s part.

 

We’ve found that with kids before; if they haven't got any driving experience, they pick up tiller steering really easily.

 The rope swings were areal hit with all the kids.

It was all a bit of an anticlimax when it was over. Our family had all gone home, we'd left our mates behind and it was just us again.

.It took us two days to get from Culham onto the South Oxford Canal and through the city to Wolvercote. We stopped at Iffley and Osney and had a good explore of the gleaming spires (and coffee shops) of Oxford.

A very nice coffee shop in the covered market.

Dave also got the left hand tumblehome sanded and painted, while Ann-Marie started getting us ready for a possible viewing at the weekend.

The day after that we went up the last stretch of the river, then waved it goodbye and crept under the bridges on the little Sheepwash Channel to Isis Lock, our first narrow lock since Foxton last year. 

Turning into the short Sheepwash Channel between the Thames

 and the Oxford Canal.

So named because they used to wash short sheep here.

Goodbye Old Father Thames.

The last time we came this way, Rewley Road swing bridge

 was an overgrown rusty mess.

The restoration society has been busy, and it now looks favulous. 

We carefully wound our way through all the moored boats up the South Oxford, through Jericho and the city, heading for Wolvercote.

We picked there because it was only a 15 minute walk from Oxford parkrun, and so that the chap coming for a viewing could get there on his bike. We spied a sunny gap in the trees on the end of the ‘Agenda 21’ residential moorings, which at first looked like a bad idea, what with there being a wasps nest and a load of nettles, but the wasps didn’t seem that bothered by the intrusion, and we chopped down the nettles to make tomato feed.

In the morning it was chucking it down, and we almost didn’t go to parkrun, but in the end we talked ourselves into it and enjoyed it despite - or maybe in a weird way, because of - getting thoroughly soaked.

We had just enough time to walk back - still raining - for breakfast and a shower before Ivon arrived. Viewings are tricky when it’s wet outside because it really limits the space, however he seemed very interested and despite obviously being a novice, asked a lot of questions and talked about the next steps, surveys etc.

The sun came out in the afternoon so with only the odd cloud burst we moved on up to Roundham lock in Kidlington where we stopped for three nights.

On the Sunday we volunteered for junior parkrun in Kidlington. There were more volunteers than kids, probably due to it being a BH weekend, but it was a really well organized and happy run. In the afternoon Dave gave his bus pass another airing and went back to Abingdon (change at Oxford) then walked to Culham Reach to collect the car. Steve and Annmarie were out boat moving so unfortunately he missed them. Never mind, we’ll be back there soon to collect the van and we’ll make sure we’re all in party mood when that happens. On the way back up the really bumpy campsite lane he heard a horribly familiar squeaking noise. A quick inspection confirmed his fears; the passenger side front shock had come out through the top of the inner wing. Again. It happened about 18 months ago after a violent encounter with a big pothole, this time we’ve been up the lane several times, not always going as slow as we maybe should have been, so clearly C3 Picasso suspension is not designed for off-roading. We wanted it to be fixed by the weekend, which, because of the bank holiday was fast approaching, but luckily we managed to get it booked into a garage in Kidlington for the Thursday.

On the Tuesday we had an early morning move up to the 7 day moorings in Thrupp where we’d noticed a rare vacant spot the night before.

We were only just early enough; as we were tying up another two boats came past, both crews looking disappointedly at Legend’s nice little slot.

As Dave was shutting the engine down he noticed that the nylon pipe that supplies the grease to the stern tube stuffing box was dribbling water from its union and had half filled the plastic tub that we keep under it to catch the odd drip. This was not the odd drip. Between us we managed to stem the flow while Dave figured out what had gone wrong and how he was going to fix it, especially as 90% of his tools and all his bits and bobs were in the van. It turned out that the nylon pipe had split where it goes into a sort of olive, probably through a combination of vibration and being moved to the side every time anyone has gone under the back deck over the last two decades. Who’d have thought?

Anyway he fashioned a temporary fix with a little leather plug in the compression nut which stopped the leak...

...then had a quick run up to Enslow Marina to see if he could get a new olive ordered. Karma was really on his side, because the first person he came across just happened to have the exact part in his tool box and was happy to hand it over gratis. People are so nice sometimes. Half an hour later it was all fixed and working with a much shorter pipe fixed more securely, so it should be another few decades before it needs doing again.

New                                     old.

All ready to go back together.

Narrowboat Legend top tip. If you’ve got an older type boat with a similar set-up, we would strongly suggest that you get one of these in the correct size and keep it somewhere safe. Also check your stern tube after every trip. We only went about half a mile and it wasn’t leaking when we set off, but if Dave hadn’t checked it, it could potentially have sunk our boat!

We intend to stay for the full 7 days at Thrupp as it’s a very popular gongoozling spot, giving our “For Sale” sign and shiny paint maximum exposure and it’s also a really easy place to get to for viewings. 

Apart from that it’s beautiful and we love it here.

Culham Reach, Sutton Courtenay. River Thames

Dawn at Culham Reach

The time we spent with Stephen and Annemarie at their amazing riverside glamping site was indeed very busy. Our first task, while there was no-one booked in on the camp site, was to help with removing the canopy from the fallen ash...

...followed by assisting Stephen with felling the second half of the tree.

Before we started we took the closest bell tent down and dragged it a few yards out of the way...

...which turned out to be a wise precaution as the top branches fell in a very neat pattern round the edge of the vacated space, and would have damaged the guy lines.

The tree’s descent was halted by the one next to it, so Stephen had to completely cut through the trunk to get it to drop, and in doing so his very nice Stihl chainsaw got crushed under the trunk when it fell.

We thought at first that the whole machine was totalled, but luckily the only damage was to the bar and chain. So with the back-up bar and chain, our bow saw and three sets of loppers, we soon had all the canopy off, leaving both trunks on the ground as ‘Architectural Features’.  

Dave spent a couple of days putting new front discs and pads on the car, as well as a new front drop link, then took it up to a very nice local garage in Sutton Courtenay where it passed it’s MOT.

Brave little Citroen!

We got some big solar panels ordered and delivered to the camp site.

They are second-hand from a solar-farm upgrade, about seven years old, so still have plenty of life left in them. We got a dozen of them; ten for the static and two for the camper, and spent an afternoon cleaning them...

and stacking them in the van behind the front seats, giving us a good bulkhead to pack everything else behind.

The ‘Plan for the Van’ is to SORN it for now, and use it as storage as we clear all our stuff out of the boat. Then, in late August we’ll leave the campsite with the boat ruthlessly de-cluttered and in minimalistic mode, leaving the van behind while we make our way up the Oxford canal. At some point - either in early October or before that if we sell quickly - we’ll tax it and take it to wherever Legend is, where we’ll pack everything else that won’t fit in the car and take it over to Antrim on the ferry. We’ll park it at Chloe & Shandy’s and SORN it again, then spend a frenzied fortnight starting the conversion on the static, before flying back. (Of course if we sell quickly, we’ll take the car on the ferry as well and won’t be flying back.) There will e no further progress on the camper conversion until we’re properly installed in the static with all the insulation, cladding, heating, power and plumbing sorted.

The time line for that all happening is obviously rather vague, and depends entirely on how long it takes to sell Legend. We know we’ve missed the big COVID bulge in the market; two years ago you could guarantee a quick sale at any price. Now however, just like touring caravans and motorhomes, the narrowboat market is much less buoyant. Hopefully we’ll get Legend sold before Christmas, if not, our back up plan is, if it hasn’t sold by Easter, we’ll put it on brokerage.

With all the priority tasks taken care of we started on the boat, tidying up and getting all the little jobs that should have been completed ages ago finished off. We put new bases in the kitchen drawers..;.

...put up a new ‘arch’ between the kitchen and the saloon...

 put new sealant round the bath and cleaned up the grout...

...and made a new silicone seal round the hob.

Dave cleaned and painted the fire and put new rope in the door...

...and Ann-Marie spent a meticulous two weeks filling, sanding, colouring and varnishing all the little screw holes that we’ve made for pictures and hooks over the years, (and also quite a few that were in the boat when we bought it).

Ann-Marie also repainted the well-deck seating/storage.

While that was out on the bank, Dave painted the well-deck floor, stained the decking, and put new paint on the front and back decks and dollies.

During all this energetic activity we still managed to get away for a weekend in Sheringham for the Potty Festival, staying with Diane and Richard in their lovely holiday home and catching up with lots of our old Molly and Morris dancing friends.

And later that week we went down to Hayling Island for the Pompey Puddleducks 2cv club Bastille night celebrations, and had a great catch-up afternoon with Fran, Sean and Phoebe. We paddled the kayak across the river to the lock island and went to watch the scarlet clad Swan Uppers coming through Culham Lock.

The annual Swan Upping has taken place for hundreds of years, a flotilla of rowing skiffs led by the King's Swan Marker make their way up the Thames on a five day journey from Teddington to Abingdon, counting, weighing, measuring and checking the cygnets, and ringing any Vintners or Dyers birds. Numbers are slightly down this year due to the late floods. 

Last week we also managed to fulfil a long held ambition and - along with Julia and Colin - went to see the Mikron Theatre Company  who were performing their brilliant play, 'Common Ground' in Wallingford. It's all about countryside access for the public and the enclosures act, subjects close to our hearts, and was absolutely tremendous.

So good in fact that we went to Goring lock that evening to watch their other play, 'Jennie Lee', which was also very good. It meant we had a whole day sitting on camping chairs eating an apparently bottomless picnic, but it was great fun and by then we really needed a day off. 

Our good friends Martin and Yvonne came to see us one afternoon, which gave Ann-Marie an excuse to bake some of her Legend 'Rie scones. Which is always a Good Thing.

 

Of course the biggest job we had to do while Legend was stationary was to repaint the roof. First we had to remove everything, so all our plants went onto Nb Celandine, an old Springer that Stephen owns, the big box got taken down and dismantled, with all the camping gear and the bikes going into the van, and the solar boxes got taken apart ready for staining.

The solar panels had to stay up there, perched across the hand rails while Dave prepped and painted around them. Boat painting outside is a fickle thing and totally dependant on weather conditions. If it’s too cold, too hot, too damp or too windy you might as well stay in bed, plus - if you do manage to get a good day - before you’ve finished cleaning your brushes an army of suicidal bugs zoom in and ruin it. Luckily conditions improved tremendously over the following couple of weeks, giving us a perfect window of opportunity, and Dave was able to get on with the roof and handrails without any hold-ups.

We’ve decided not to put the plants back on the roof, or the log pallet, or anything else really. There’ll just be the solar boxes and the poles and plank up there giving Legend a clear roof for the first time since we bought it. We’ll not recognise it.

We’ve still got the gunnels and the tumblehomes to paint, but access to the sides is tricky on the riverbank, so we’re going to leave them until we’re on the Oxford canal.

Stephen and Annemarie had to go away for a few days, so we stepped up and looked after the campsite for them. It was a real eye opener for us, finding out just how hard they work. We had a big family group in all four tents when they left, after they checked out the following day we had to clean the tents, change the bedding and put everything back where it belonged ready for the next campers checking in.

Plus all the daily tasks of checking the compost toilets and showers, making sure they had enough fire wood, and servicing the wood fired hot tub.

 Both of their hire boats were out as well that weekend, Nb Tranquility was on a static stay for two nights in Abingdon, so when the guests had left Dave went up to Abingdon on his bike, pulled the pins, turned it round, took it up the lock to the services and did a pump out, then turned it round again and brought it back to the site and filled the water tank.

Then Nb Barking Mad came back from a five day holiday hire, so we had to do a check-out, turn it round and strip all the beds. Ann-Marie put all the washing in the huge washing machine that lives in the container, thank goodness for sunny days and a big washing line!

The site is on a flood plain, and regularly has a foot and a half of water washing over it each January. Their own boat, Nb Adelante, is on a scaffolding riser arrangement so it can survive the floods, and in the worst of it, if it’s too deep for waders, they get on and off in a canoe. Camping by the River may be an amazingly beautiful slice of paradise during the summer months, but there is a price to pay for that.

While the roof paint hardened off, Dave spent at least three days stripping everything out of the engine-room. All his tools, all the nuts, bolts, screws, brackets and bits & bobs that he’s accumulated over the years got packed into boxes marked “SHED” and stacked in the van. All the hooks and tool hangers got taken out and the scores of holes filled, and the shadow boards got painted over.

The end of an era.

Poor lad has got nowhere to play now!

It was all a bit emotional for him; he’d been very proud of his little engine ‘ole.

Stephen gets all the firewood for the camp fires and the hot tub boiler from Oxford Wood Recycling in Abingdon. It’s mostly broken pallets and scrap, but occasionally there are some jewels in the mix. One such ‘find’ in one of their deliveries were some engineered timber joists, about one foot wide by two inches thick, made up of thin veneer similar to plywood, but with the grain all running the same way. They have no knots, are dead straight and immensely strong, and the longest pieces are over 5 metres. Stephen is understandably reluctant to just chop it up for firewood; firstly it would be sacrilege, and secondly there’s obviously a lot of glue in there, so we’re going to put the big lengths in the container for future projects. However there were two 3 metre lengths that Dave begged and stashed in the van, along with some 3 metre lengths of normal rough cut timber that will go through Shandy’s table saw and make decent battening for lining out the camper. We don’t know what the big stuff will get used for, but it was just too nice to leave behind.

We wrote a list when we arrived at Culham Reach (of course), which soon turned into two lists as we found other jobs to do (of course)...

...but by the beginning of August, most things had been crossed off. It was all very reminiscent of when we started this blog and were selling the house, and it occurred to us that we’ve spent 14 years ‘Becoming Listless’ without ever actually not having a list. We think it’s really about time we just accepted the fact that we are People who List.

Just like back then, we don’t know what the future holds. Once again we have hopes and dreams and are stepping into the unknown. Will it all work out? Who knows, the only certain thing is that whatever happens it will be a great adventure.