South Oxford Summit - Water Resources!

[Dav and Pen]

I’ve walked round Boddington a couple of times this week and whilst it down its nowhere near as far down as last year. When I last walked up the Napton flight there was so much water running weir that I thought a paddle must be up but none were although plenty of gates leak. 

[Rob-M]

We missed Claydon by 10 minutes today, CRT were already present when we arrived at 15:10 and told us the flight was closed. They let two boats down that were on the flight and then locked up. We are moored on the lock mooring waiting for them to reopen, hopefully before the official 09:30.

Unfortunately we were following two boats from Banbury that were helping each other through the locks so taking a long time to get both boats through each lock so this really slowed us down.

[john6767]

31 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

We missed Claydon by 10 minutes today, CRT were already present when we arrived at 15:10 and told us the flight was closed. They let two boats down that were on the flight and then locked up. We are moored on the lock mooring waiting for them to reopen, hopefully before the official 09:30.

Unfortunately we were following two boats from Banbury that were helping each other through the locks so taking a long time to get both boats through each lock so this really slowed us down.

We will possibly pass you tomorrow, we should be going up Napton tomorrow as long as we get there in time.

[Rob-M]

1 hour ago, john6767 said:

We will possibly pass you tomorrow, we should be going up Napton tomorrow as long as we get there in time.

We are hoping to get through Claydon and make Marston Doles before the chains are on. On Tuesday they only locked the two Marston Doles locks.

[john6767]

1 hour ago, Rob-M said:

We are hoping to get through Claydon and make Marston Doles before the chains are on. On Tuesday they only locked the two Marston Doles locks.

I am assuming that it is only the top 2.  If we are late we may stop at the bottom and go to the Folly, assuming it is dry.  Have to see how quickly we get off from home in the moring and then get the boat sorted and off!  We have 5 weeks so I guess there is no hurry, but want to get on the Thames while the weather is reasonable, fingers crossed.

[Rob-M]

CRT were running water down Claydon at 7:30 this morning, let us in at 8:45. We came out the top lock at 9:20. We passed 3 boats in the flight and another 7 were queuing at the top.

[George and Dragon]

Quote

Notice Alert

Oxford Canal
Location: Locks 15 & 16 Marston Doles
Starts At: Lock 15, Marston Doles Bottom Lock
Ends At: Lock 16, Marston Doles Top Lock

Friday 14 August 2020 10:00 until further notice

Type: Navigation Restriction 
Reason: Water resources

---

 

Update on 08/09/2020:

From Wednesday 9th September 2020, the locks will be open between 9am to 5pm, 7 days a week, with last entry on the flight at 4pm. 

 

 

Original message:

 

Reservoir holdings in the South Oxford Canal are lower than usual for this time of year.

To maximise the available water, the Trust is taking the precaution of locking targeted locks up overnight. This measure is intended to reduce the potential for water losses overnight and allow back pumps more time to transfer water from the Braunston Pound onto the Oxford Summit.

Boaters also have a really important role to play and we ask that they help us to save water by making sure that all gates and paddles are closed after use, sharing a lock if possible and waiting for oncoming boats where appropriate.  

The locks will be open between 10am to 5pm - 7 days a week

[last entry on the flight 4pm]

For more water saving tips go to www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/boating/a-guide-to-boating

You can view this notice and its map online here:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/18034/locks-15-and-16-marston-doles

You can find all notices at the url below:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices

 

Received today 13:37

[Dartagnan]

On 26/08/2020 at 19:42, john6767 said:

We will be heading down the Oxford to the Thames next week.  I was not aware that Clayton had a time restriction as well as Marston Doles but we were planning to stop at least one night on the summit anyway, so should not effect us other than queues.  Hopefully that will be the only hold up of the trip, I am rather hoping that the Thames will be quiet, at lest midweek, as it was in Sept two years ago when we were last there.

From what I have noticed (from land) The Thames seems very quiet at the moment. Certainly at Kingston and Runnymede 

[john6767]

33 minutes ago, Dartagnan said:

From what I have noticed (from land) The Thames seems very quiet at the moment. Certainly at Kingston and Runnymede 

We are at Lechlade at the moment, only a few boats here and the river has been quite up from Oxford, and most of the locks on self serve.  A complete contrast to the South Oxford canal which was busy all the way down.

[cuthound]

6 hours ago, Dartagnan said:

From what I have noticed (from land) The Thames seems very quiet at the moment. Certainly at Kingston and Runnymede 

 

5 hours ago, john6767 said:

We are at Lechlade at the moment, only a few boats here and the river has been quite up from Oxford, and most of the locks on self serve.  A complete contrast to the South Oxford canal which was busy all the way down.

 

It's the Tim and Pru effect.

[Peter X]

I'm hearing that there's not a lot of water available going down from the summit towards Oxford, so expect slow progress there in either direction for the time being. I guess CRT will be hoping that the rain which is forecast for this week, Wednesday onwards, will help matters. The EA website is showing "No stream warnings" for the whole of the non-tidal Thames, so again no-one's going to be swept away by a flood there soon.

[Nightwatch]

A motor and Betty got stuck at Grants Lockthis afternoon. Not enough water and, I think, the butty got wedged as the level in the empty lock was low. We are moored near lift bridge 170 and the levels here have certainly gone down in the last two/three hours.

 

wonder if we will be afloat in the morning.

[mrsmelly]

9 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

A motor and Betty got stuck at Grants Lockthis afternoon. Not enough water and, I think, the butty got wedged as the level in the empty lock was low. We are moored near lift bridge 170 and the levels here have certainly gone down in the last two/three hours.

 

wonder if we will be afloat in the morning.

Are you still floating 

[Nightwatch]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Are you still floating 

Yep! But levels down about 18”. A couple of boats have passed from that direction so ‘assume’ all is well there. 

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Nightwatch said:

Yep! But levels down about 18”. A couple of boats have passed from that direction so ‘assume’ all is well there. 

full here old bean thankfuly.

[Athy]

11 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

A motor and Betty got stuck at Grants Lock this afternoon. Not enough water and, I think, the butty got wedged as the level in the empty lock was low. We are moored near lift bridge 170 and the levels here have certainly gone down in the last two/three hours.

 

wonder if we will be afloat in the morning.

That would have been the motor 'Nutfield', and the Betty was 'Brighton' (according to Mrs. Athy: there was no name on the stern but she spotted it on their water can). They came through Cropredy the day before. They appeared to be carrying, though they weren't deep down: visible through gaps in the cloths was something wooden. Furniture? Lock gate components?

 

I was surprised because I thought that 'Nutfield' usually towed 'Raymond' and 'Brighton' was usually paired with 'Nuneaton'.

[Rob-M]

23 minutes ago, Athy said:

That would have been the motor 'Nutfield', and the Betty was 'Brighton' (according to Mrs. Athy: there was no name on the stern but she spotted it on their water can). They came through Cropredy the day before. They appeared to be carrying, though they weren't deep down: visible through gaps in the cloths was something wooden. Furniture? Lock gate components?

 

I was surprised because I thought that 'Nutfield' usually towed 'Raymond' and 'Brighton' was usually paired with 'Nuneaton'.

I think Nuneaton is being worked on, possibly having a new bottom.

[Peter X]

Both correct. It was Nutfield and the butty Brighton, carrying lots of bags of coal and smokeless because doing the NBT coal run, and with some wooden items aboard. Nuneaton is nearing the end of some serious repair work including a new bottom, so the NBT have arranged with Friends of Raymond to borrow Nutfield.

I'll be one of the crew on the pair on the Thames and Wey for a chunk of October as we continue, in fact my first boating since I did the same trip last October, as I got very ill in December/January but am steadily recovering.

Then Nuneaton and Brighton are due to be reunited in late October.

Brighton does indeed have the name painted on a very nice water can but not on the stern, but who is Betty?

[Athy]

9 hours ago, Peter X said:

 

Brighton does indeed have the name painted on a very nice water can but not on the stern, but who is Betty?

A figment of Nightwatch's keyboard's imagination, I fancy.

Pleased to hear that you're feeling better; enjoy your boating in October.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Athy

[john6767]

I see the restriction at Marston Doles has been removed now.

 

Has the issue with levels been resolved?  We should be heading back up the South Oxford next week.

[Nightwatch]

35 minutes ago, john6767 said:

I see the restriction at Marston Doles has been removed now.

 

Has the issue with levels been resolved?  We should be heading back up the South Oxford next week.

The levels above Slat Mill Lock should now be okay. Achy was in Cropredy at the weekend so may confirm. The levels between Banbury andGrants Lock are a little down but not dramatically. Lift bridge 170 needs locking again in the Open For Navigation position again. The locals have decided to take the lock off and this lift bridge is so difficult. (I have informedCRT).

Levels below Grants we’re low when we came up a couple of weeks ago, but I am informed they are okay at Nell Bridge.

 

Hope this helps.

35 minutes ago, john6767 said:

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Nightwatch

[ditchcrawler]

Notice Update: 30th September 20

    Navigation: Open, Towpath: Open

Oxford CanalLocation: Locks 15 & 16 Marston DolesStarts At: Lock 15, Marston Doles Bottom LockEnds At: Lock 16, Marston Doles Top Lock

Update on 30/09/2020: Reservoir holdings in the South Oxford Canal is now stable. The time restriction on these locks have been lifted. From 30th September, Lock 15 and 16 will be open as usual.Update on 08/09/2020: From Wednesday 9th September 2020, the locks will be open between 9am to 5pm, 7 days a week, with last entry on the flight at 4pm. Original message: Reservoir holdings in the South Oxford Canal are lower than usual for this time of year.
To maximise the available water, the Trust is taking the precaution of locking targeted locks up overnight. This measure is intended to reduce the potential for water losses overnight and allow back pumps more time to transfer water from the Braunston Pound onto the Oxford Summit.
Boaters also have a really important role to play and we ask that they help us to save water by making sure that all gates and paddles are closed after use, sharing a lock if possible and waiting for oncoming boats where appropriate.  
The locks will be open between 10am to 5pm - 7 days a week
[last entry on the flight 4pm]
For more water saving tips go to www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/boating/a-guide-to-boating

You can find all notices at the url below:
https://mandrillapp.com/track/click/10513099/canalrivertrust.org.uk?p=eyJzIjoiRjVBTTg3V2hwTV9uS3pnM3Y5UDh2QTVGb3hzIiwidiI6MSwicCI6IntcInVcIjoxMDUxMzA5OSxcInZcIjoxLFwidXJsXCI6XCJodHRwczpcXFwvXFxcL2NhbmFscml2ZXJ0cnVzdC5vcmcudWtcXFwvbm90aWNlc1wiLFwiaWRcIjpcIjdjYzVkZDA0YTA2YTQ3NDNiOTg5NzAwNzE1ZWIyNzZkXCIsXCJ1cmxfaWRzXCI6W1wiNWU5OTViMjYyYWQzMzMwYjg2OTdlZGE5MmNmODE1NGUzMDNiMjMwMFwiXX0ifQ

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[Athy]

7 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

Achy was in Cropredy at the weekend so may confirm.

 

Who's he, one of the seven bloomin' dwarves?

[Hudds Lad]

7 hours ago, Athy said:

Who's he, one of the seven bloomin' dwarves?

isn’t he the chap with the breaky heart?

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, Hudds Lad said:

isn’t he the chap with the breaky heart?

Don't tell him ...