Oxford Canal Info Please!

[saltyseadog]

According to my Pearsons Guide there is a 70ft Winding Hole just before bridge 113

at the bottom of the Napton Locks. Can anyone confirm that this is the case & that there are no

problems turning a 70ft boat at this winding hole.

 

 

Thanks - me ship mates!

[NB Willawaw]

Can't remember, but it shows up in our Nicholsons just north of the Folly Inn and water point at Bridge 113.

 

Mark

[alan_fincher]

According to my Pearsons Guide there is a 70ft Winding Hole just before bridge 113

at the bottom of the Napton Locks. Can anyone confirm that this is the case & that there are no

problems turning a 70ft boat at this winding hole.

Thanks - me ship mates!

 

 

Let's hope there are not too many like the one Nicholson's shows as part way down the Soulbury Three Locks on the GU.

 

My friend who believed it, and hoped to turn a 70 footer there, can testify that it's not possible.

 

I also often wonder why Nicholson's fails to show long established winding holes, like the one near Berkhamsted station on the GU. It may be "unofficial" in someones eyes (?), but as this was the normally declared limit for broad beam barge operations, it seems strange not to recognise one like that.

[Oliver]

Saltyseadog

 

There is a winding hole below Napton Bottom Lock and we use it with ease for our 60 foot boat. There is also another winding hole a bit further on by Bridge 111. We have had trouble winding there because someone had padlocked their NB to the pilings in the winding hole.

 

Nicholsons shows a further winding hole just after Bridge 109 but this is actually Napton Narrow Boats and if their boats are all in you could have difficulty there.

 

Of course, there's also Napton Junction - what won't show on any Pearsons or Nicholsons yet is the new Wigram's Turn Marina, the entrance to which is directly opposite the turning onto the GU.

 

If you've not managed to wind at the bottom of Napton Locks it won't add that much to your journey if you have to go as far as Napton Junction to turn.

[Cafnod]

It was certainly more than ample for a fifty footer alan but that was three years ago at least.

[Paul Evans]

It was still there last week and looked good enough for a 70' boat. The towpath has been piled and I'm sure the hole has been dredged in the last couple of years. There ae signs on the towpath indicating a no mooring area across the winding hole but, just occasionally, somebody ignores (doesn't see would be more charitable) the signs and moors inconveniently.

 

The hole at 111 is there and has also been dredged recently but it looks a bit short for a 70' boat. It's right opposite The Napton Bridge Inn and very, very close to the bridge so inconsiderate mooring can be a problem here as well.

 

As Oliver says, Napton Junction is not that far away and you can certainly wind there.

[Keeping Up]

Let's hope there are not too many like the one Nicholson's shows as part way down the Soulbury Three Locks on the GU.

Puzzled about that one Alan, our boat is 67 foot and I've often winded below the top lock with well over 3 feet to spare.

 

Allan

 

 

According to my Pearsons Guide there is a 70ft Winding Hole just before bridge 113

at the bottom of the Napton Locks. Can anyone confirm that this is the case & that there are no

problems turning a 70ft boat at this winding hole.

Thanks - me ship mates!

Certainly last year you could wind a 67-footer there easily. It's not close to the locks, it's about 100 yards away round the corner (we towed someone backwards to it when they overshot)

 

Allan

[alan_fincher]

Puzzled about that one Alan, our boat is 67 foot and I've often winded below the top lock with well over 3 feet to spare.

 

Oops!!, I was only going on what I was told........

 

Whatever the reason, my friend had decided she had no choice but to carry on south to Old Linslade to turn.

 

I'll have to ask her again, then.....

 

Possibly a problem with levels rather than length then, as I know those pounds can be all over the place, when it gets very busy.

 

Or perhaps she only THOUGHT it wasn'y going to fit.

 

Scrub my complaint anyway

[Keeping Up]

Possibly a problem with levels rather than length then, as I know those pounds can be all over the place, when it gets very busy.

That could well be the reason. The same can apply to a lot of winding holes; for years unless the level was well up you could only get round at the one near our mooring (Stoke Hammond) if you had an empty water tank so the bows ran right up the bank. I don't recall the one at Napton being shallow but they can silt up very quickly if they're not used much (there's an 'unofficial' one that I know of, every time I pass it I wind twice to try and keep it open).

 

Have people noticed the tendency for notices to appear at winding points, stating a maximum length which is much less than their actual size? For years 70-foot boats have been winding happily and suddenly there's a sign saying "20 metres max" or less. Maybe this goes with the stupid policy of including mooring rings on the new piling opposite the winding holes, which seems to have been adopted in some areas.

 

Allan