Cropredy to Banbury (South Oxford Canal)

Tuesday14th July

Going into Cropredy lock

Going into Hardwick lock

It was a bit overcast as we set off from Cropredy, we went through Cropredy lock and stopped for water, then chugged on along the canal and through three more locks, there was a couple of boats coming the other way so made the locks easy.

Before we knew it, we were approaching Banbury.  We moored on the visitor moorings just before Sovereign Narrowboats.

We chilled out for a bit then walked up to the Aldi which is in a retail park not far from the canal.  We also had a walk to the town centre.  There are plenty of moorings right in the town centre by the Castle Quays shopping centre.  We walked up into the town and had a wander around, it’s a very nice place with lots of shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants.  Banbury was originally a wool town, the castle was pulled down by Cromwell’s forces in 1646 and now no trace remains.  

We are staying here for a couple of days, so will have a better look around tomorrow.

Wednesday 15^th July

We are staying here today, so had a leisurely start then walked down to the shopping centre and up into the town.  There is an historic boat yard right on the canal called Tooley’s Boatyard, it is the last remaining element of the old Banbury canal terminus surviving since 1790, and thankfully has been saved.  It was here that Tom Rolt’s boat Cressy was prepared for his honeymoon cruise with his new wife in 1939.  This cruise led to the formation of the Inland Waterways Association in 1946.  

Banbury

Tooley’s Boatyard still has a working forge and an operational dry dock, together with all the tools needed to build a wooden narrowboat and boats are still being built and restored here.  There is a museum and they do guided tours of the boatyard, so we will try and do that while we are here.

Banbury Cross

There is a Banbury cake, which is similar to an Eccles cake but oval in shape, so we thought we should try one.  We found a small café in one of the little side streets where they make them fresh every day and had one with a cup of coffee, they were delicious.

We also found a really good butcher in one of the many small side streets and got a few provisions.

Banbury is famous for its ancient cross which was in the nursery rhyme “Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross”, so we walked up through the town to find it.  It is on a roundabout on a very busy road.  The original cross was demolished in 1602 and the present cross is a 19^th-C replica.

In the afternoon, we walked back up to the retail park to get a few more things, then just chilled out for the rest of the day.  Where we are moored you can only say for two days, so we are going to go through the lock and the lift bridge tomorrow and moor on the 14 day moorings a bit further down so that we can have a couple more days here as it is such a nice place.

Moored at Banbury