South Oxford closing soon

[Hudds Lad]

11 hours ago, Lily Rose said:

I would wait until Autumn myself but Mr Gybe Ho recently announced that I'm about to sell up. I hadn't been aware of this but now that I am I need to make the most of it while I've still got a boat.

And you need to get as much boating in as possible before the civil war apocalypse, whichever comes first  

[Lily Rose]

56 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

And you need to get as much boating in as possible before the civil war apocalypse, whichever comes first  

 

Why?

 

Surely CRT will continue to operate to keep the navigations open (or re-opened in some cases) so us lucky boaters can escape from the mayhem.

 

Now I think about it I may have to keep my boat after all.

 

[Chris John]

NB Longfellow thinks he’s going to Banbury after being caught in the Atherstone flight out of hours when the gates were secured with padlock and chain. 

Edited August 3, 2025 by Chris John

[IanM]

We’ve just had a Rose hire boat turn around at Napton after being told the locks were closed. They were under the impression that they were just restricted hours. 

[Lily Rose]

7 hours ago, IanM said:

We’ve just had a Rose hire boat turn around at Napton after being told the locks were closed. They were under the impression that they were just restricted hours. 

 

Last visited here in late 2022 so unlikely to see this. But just in case.

 

@Rose Narrowboats

[Stroudwater1]

10 hours ago, IanM said:

We’ve just had a Rose hire boat turn around at Napton after being told the locks were closed. They were under the impression that they were just restricted hours. 

I wonder if they hadn’t got lost and thought they were at Calcutt? We’ve passed two Calcutt hire boats at different times happily heading and mooring up a bit of a way up the towpath at Napton after their weeks cruise for their last night just above the locks…

 

They had both mistaken the turn into Wigrams marina as the Napton turn and so headed straight on for Calcutt

[Gordon Comstock]

Soon (20th Aug) to be closed down to Aynho Weir lock Lock 17 Claydon Top Lock to Lock 33 Aynho Weir Lock

[MtB]

Odd they should close Aynho Weir lock. Isn't the pound above that supplied by the River Cherwell?

[Lily Rose]

Yes, that's the one where the Cherwell runs across just above the lock. Perhaps the Cherwell is running very low?

[MtB]

13 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

Yes, that's the one where the Cherwell runs across just above the lock. Perhaps the Cherwell is running very low?

 

I'll go and have a look next time I get a boiler-fix up that way and report back...

 

 

 

[Wafi]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

I'll go and have a look next time I get a boiler-fix up that way and report back...

I went down for a look a week ago. The Cherwell is still running over the weir (largely thanks to Banbury sewage works I suspect) and I can't see any reason that pound wouldn't continue to be navigable; I suspect the real issue is that there's nowhere to wind without going up the next lock (which isn't supplied by the Cherwell downstream of Banbury).

[Gordon Comstock]

Went to the source of our woes today - Bonnington Reservoir. I'd not been before but it looks at least two metres lower than it should be.

[matty40s]

36 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

Went to the source of our woes today - Bonnington Reservoir. I'd not been before but it looks at least two metres lower than it should be.

That seems to be recovering very well, far more water than a few weeks ago. The repeated thunderstorms must be doing the trick.

[MtB]

4 hours ago, matty40s said:

That seems to be recovering very well, far more water than a few weeks ago. The repeated thunderstorms must be doing the trick.

 

Closed canals with no water being drawn to work the locks is probably helping just as much...

 

 

 

[cuthound]

9 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Closed canals with no water being drawn to work the locks is probably helping just as much...

 

 

 

 

Indeed, we have had relatively little rain here on the Coventry, just light rain with occasional short heavy showers in the last 3 weeks, but mainly dry.

 

With no boat traffic through the locks the canal is now back at normal level having been 15" down.

[magpie patrick]

On 18/08/2025 at 21:14, MtB said:

Odd they should close Aynho Weir lock. Isn't the pound above that supplied by the River Cherwell?

 

Rather late to the party but once through Aynho Lock one can't get up Nell Bridge, and there is not a lot in between them - they probably don't want boats queuing at Nell Bridge and saying they can't physically turn round

 

Besides, given the reliability of the weather, there is a risk that the restrictions will end with a biblical rainstorm and the canal will flood... (I like to look on the bright side  )

[Gordon Comstock]

From the BBC:

 

There is a "very real risk" that the ongoing closure of part of the canal network will continue, the Canal and River Trust has said.

 

I'm trying to get my boat back to moorings near Rugby and am currently around the Heyfords (one lock away from the Aynho pound). What to do?

[phantom_iv]

41 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

There is a "very real risk" that the ongoing closure of part of the canal network will continue, the Canal and River Trust has said.

 

I do wonder what’s being referred to as the “key reservoir”. Boddington’s clearly more than 25% full. I could believe Clattercote was 25% full a couple of weeks ago. Haven’t seen Wormleighton but given it appears to be the smallest of the three I don’t know if it’s “key”.

 

Or maybe they mean “25% of the water we can use without upsetting the fishermen or sailors”… but then why not use it to keep the canal open?

[rustypaperclip]

Saw that they will do a two week window at end of October to allow boats onto the Oxford canal from Braunston. But nothing about the Clayton section. I wonder if they will do a two week window here as well, I need to get down that slide of the cut… 

[matty40s]

1 hour ago, rustypaperclip said:

Saw that they will do a two week window at end of October to allow boats onto the Oxford canal from Braunston. But nothing about the Clayton section. I wonder if they will do a two week window here as well, I need to get down that slide of the cut… 

Virtually the whole Oxfordshire narrowboats fleet has to return to Lower Heyford so I think the whole canal will be open for a period.

[phantom_iv]

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/document/gSk6icADifjNHwBMQ5n6Lg/dn1GjnNN1ML6Tshu09aec_DhVcl0tlecvY0ZMTDse4k/aHR0cHM6Ly9jcnRwcm9kY21zdWtzMDEuYmxvYi5jb3JlLndpbmRvd3MubmV0L2RvY3VtZW50Lw/0189d4bc-ac05-77b4-a518-d7a2cac78bf2.pdf

 

Today I learnt that there is a feed from the Cherwell in Cropredy, in the pound below Cropredy lock. Apparently there's an adjustable tilting weir to raise the height of the river when needed to divert water into the canal. IF this is the case, then why is the Cropredy-Aynho section closed? Is there not enough water in the Cherwell, or has the weir/sluice fallen into disrepair so that it's no longer usable?

 

CRT's GIS map suggests water from the "Cropredy Abstraction sluice" enters the canal just north of bridge 154. 

[Wafi]

12 hours ago, phantom_iv said:

Today I learnt that there is a feed from the Cherwell in Cropredy, in the pound below Cropredy lock. Apparently there's an adjustable tilting weir to raise the height of the river when needed to divert water into the canal. IF this is the case, then why is the Cropredy-Aynho section closed? Is there not enough water in the Cherwell, or has the weir/sluice fallen into disrepair so that it's no longer usable?

Most likely because there's insufficient water in the Cherwell. I quite often walk along/across the Cherwell South of Banbury (ie downstream of Cropredy). The flow rate was very low indeed over the Summer; a few calculations suggested it was much the same as the expected outflow from Banbury sewage works, implying there's very little coming from elsewhere. The Cherwell downstream of Banbury doesn't feed the canal until Aynho weir, which is the current limit of navigation.

[Wafi]

Latest stoppage notices seem to indicate:

• Claydon flight reopening from Mon 27th October to Sun 2nd November 10am-3pm (last boat in at 2pm)
• Nothing explicit on the canal South of Claydon, I assume the intent is that it will also be open
• Everything to the North of the summit pound open from Fri 10th October to Sun 2nd November, locks open 10am-3pm (last boat in at 2pm)
• Locks currently closed on the Grand Union and Coventry canals also open from Fri 10th October to Sun 2nd November (same time restrictions)

All subject to sufficient ongoing rainfall and to be confirmed nearer the time. As always, don't rely on my fallible interpretation; read the actual stoppage notices for yourself.

 

I had been thinking of a quick end-of-season trip down the South Oxford if it opened up, but not sure with the limited hours; getting onto the Oxford summit by 3pm from a 10am start at the bottom of Calcutt might be a tall order if everyone has the same idea, and coming back the other way has the added jeopardy of needing to beat the Winter stoppage at Calcutt. Might head towards the Stratford instead; the Hatton flight closes on 3rd November, but it's open 24/7 until then.

[IanM]

4 hours ago, Wafi said:

Latest stoppage notices seem to indicate:

• Claydon flight reopening from Mon 27th October to Sun 2nd November 10am-3pm (last boat in at 2pm)
• Nothing explicit on the canal South of Claydon, I assume the intent is that it will also be open
• Everything to the North of the summit pound open from Fri 10th October to Sun 2nd November, locks open 10am-3pm (last boat in at 2pm)
• Locks currently closed on the Grand Union and Coventry canals also open from Fri 10th October to Sun 2nd November (same time restrictions)

All subject to sufficient ongoing rainfall and to be confirmed nearer the time. As always, don't rely on my fallible interpretation; read the actual stoppage notices for yourself.

 

I had been thinking of a quick end-of-season trip down the South Oxford if it opened up, but not sure with the limited hours; getting onto the Oxford summit by 3pm from a 10am start at the bottom of Calcutt might be a tall order if everyone has the same idea, and coming back the other way has the added jeopardy of needing to beat the Winter stoppage at Calcutt. Might head towards the Stratford instead; the Hatton flight closes on 3rd November, but it's open 24/7 until then.

 

That was an idea I had too so I guarantee there will be a load of people doing the same.  I've decided against it now though so that's one less boat 😄 

[Gordon Comstock]

Compare this I took today

 

with the one I took about a fortnight ago shown earlier in the thread 

I can't see much difference - a couple of inches maybe.

 

When the CRT says "..the prolonged period of dry weather has now ended and rainfall so far this month is above average, [but] there has been little to no recovery in reservoir water levels since the closure" they're right (at least at Bonnington).

 

Although there might be rain this weekend, the following week looks pretty dry again. I do hope they have enough to go and open the closed bits for the week long window to get everybody home.