Newbold catwalk.

 

 

This morning I dragged my reluctant better half for a walk around Newbold Quarry. En-route we passed this Bullrush sculpture which stands guard near the old entrance to the meandering Oxford Canal which was later re-cut in a more direct line.  The quarry has a quite a good fenced-off footpath running all the way round. It used to be a Portland Cement Quarry which opened in the 1880’s and closed in 1927 when it was flooded. In 1976 the water was pumped out to help with the nearby canal exposing the remains of an old  railway and wagons. The remains of WW2 Bofors gun emplacements were on the spoil heaps. Many lives have been lost over the years with people falling into the water, hence the surrounding fenced off footpath. There are fish and waterfowl, as well as the white clawed crayfish in the waters apparently. Not quite such an exciting a place as Kirtlington Quarry, but probably nicer to walk around during the summer months.

 

The cast iron bridge over the Willow Wren arm bears the scars of having many ropes rubbing over it. These were made when horses were used to pull narrow boats heavily laden with various cargoes.

Today we were joined by No Problem, Moore 2 Life and  Derwent 6, Piston Broke were already here with us. That made five bloggers moored up together, is that a record I wonder.