We moored at Kiddlington Green and did a trolley run by bus down to Sainsbury’s. Carolyn came with us and we had coffee and toasted teacakes before hitting the isles. We came back on a hybrid double decker bus which broke down and the driver couldn’t restart it. Anyway buses frequent this route every 10 minutes so we got on one that pulled in behind. It was a nice quiet night here so we slept well. Four Oxfordshire hire boats passed us with lads aboard, so we had to follow them down the locks and under the lift bridges, which was quite amusing. Lots of ropes being pulled, running back and forth and getting stuck in the mud on the offside, holding us up.
All these lift bridges have a new mechanism fitted since the last time we came down. The bridge has to be pressed down about an inch, the key inserted and a quarter turn unlocks it, then it rises gently while you hang onto a short chain to steady it. They were all balanced well so working them was easy enough. We paused at the services and for lunch before continuing on a little further. All in all a nice bright days cruising, but much of it done on tick over past Agenda 21 and other permanently moored boats.
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