Onward to Cropredy
There was an overnight mooring below the Claydon 5 lock flight. In a little wander Boatwif (not a tall personage!) was able to compare her height with that of the rape crop grown thereabouts.
About throat height it was - but maybe it will grow still taller…
Onward the next day, spotting a few surprising sights: Katalina, surely this boat spent a number of years moored up at Higher Poynton on the Macc…
Those certainly are some oversized scarecrows…
Was THIS the place?
In the late 90s twice Cleddau and crew moored outside Cropredy; it was a mile or so walk into the village to join Baby Sis, family and friends at the Fairport Convention Music Festival. [See footnote (1)]
Memory number 1: being tied up against a hippy’s boat, alongside which was a recording studio with bands rehearsing inside.
Memory number 2: the huge crowds on the festival field, Baby Sis and Crowd identifiable by the tallest tentpole from which flew a Pembrokeshire flag.
Pembrokeshire flag as flown on nb Cleddau
Memory number 3: the blue haze of smoke that hung above the festival, all attendees intent on having the best of times.
Memory number 4: well behaved fans, some of whom, between favourite sets, were intent on reading their Open University study packs…
On this 2025 cruise towards Cropredy it was a hot morning, the sun increasing in strength. A hat with brim needed to be grabbed – and what should emerge from the bag of sunhats but this elderly cap, bought on the Fairport Convention Festival field all those years ago…
Nowadays just north of Cropredy there is an impressively large marina https://www.aquavista.com/find-a-marina/cropredy-waterside-marina with space for 395 boats. Compared to some marinas it has easy access to its service wharf for diesel and on a calm morning the reversing and winding to get back to the canal was achieved with minimal fuss…!
For the previous half hour or so the evocative sound of church bells had been filling the air. Just a small section of Cropredy’s church tower was visible. Was there a Tuesday morning wedding? Or was there an occasional or regular morning bellringing practice? On and on the bells rang, smooth, fluid sound filling the air. Was a quarter peal being rung? Was the day a special anniversary, the Battle of Cropredy Bridge perhaps? (Well no, Google check, the battle’s date was Saturday 29th June, 1644).
As Cleddau approached Cropredy Lock boaters on the lock landing explained a delay - C&RT staff were running extra water through the lock to supply the lower pound.
What’s the expression about not teaching someone to suck eggs? The boaters were regular visitors to the UK from Zealand Province in the Netherlands. As talk got to boating in East Anglia and the work of draining the Fens the Dutch boater intervened, “Ah, yes, Vermuyden, he was born about 29 kilometres from where we now live…” The Dutch couple had been boating in the UK for 27 years, had “done” tidal Sharpness to Bristol and everywhere apart from the north east to York…
The lock became operational again. The Dutch boaters dropped down and cruised on towards Banbury. The lock was refilled, Cleddau passed through and moored below the lock.
(Moored very close to Banbury Canoe Club: the photo of the capsized canoeist will not be included…)
And all the time the bells were still being rung. On and on they rang…
Then just before 1pm the spacing between chimes decreased as the bells were rung crisply into their “down” positions. The air stilled and all was quiet.
Investigation in the church later revealed no information about the ringers,
but then a lady in a nearby cottage garden remarked that the ringing had lasted for over three hours and the ringers were a visiting band [See footnote (2)] But what a wonderful musical welcome the ringing had been to a very pretty village.
There’s a fine village sign:
spot the river (Cherwell), the Roundhead and Royalists battle sign (1644), the church, the canal, fields being ploughed and a violin (Fairport?).
There are some attractive thatched rooftops,
a thriving vegetarian café, a pair of pubs, a strong sense of community
and recognition of the past.
There was activity at the steps by the canal bridge; a team of eight volunteers under the direction of a C&RT employee were repairing the steps and second-coating the paint on posts and rails. (“I am responsible for the canal between Oxford and Fenny Compton,” he explained.)
Mid-afternoon, the boat was winded (turned round) to head back north. Back up through Cropredy Lock, where panels of words describe the bridge.
On back past the marina, past an attractive gypsy caravan,
through two more locks to find a peaceful rural mooring.
After a very hot afternoon it was more comfortable to eat outside than it was inside. A first Towpath Dinner of the year – may there be more of those!
Cruise stats since last post: 3½ miles, 7 locks
Towpath Dinner: 1
*2025 Monkton Moments* (Monkton Moment*- a reference to / recognition of Cleddau’s Pembrokeshire connections) - 1 (lady at Cropredy Lock, referred to Manorbier)
(1) The Fairport Convention Festivals have run annually in August since 1976. Attendance numbers have been permitted to 20,000. In 2025 the ticket limit will be 6,500.
(2) For those who like to know these things a Google trawl has revealed that the peal ‘Spliced Treble Dodging Major’, involved 5120 changes and was rung in 3 hours 8 minutes by the Ancient Society of College Youths https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1845572
