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Southern Oxford Summit.


Nightwatch

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A heads up for Southern Oxford Cruisers.

Chatting to a boater at the Marston Locks. He has been told by an engineer that the summit has recieved its final top up from the reservoir yesterday. So the General concenciosus is give a few days and it'll be closed.

 

Weather forecast is rain & thunder for most of the day Friday. That will be good. 

 

Dont shoot the messenger.

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Thanks for the info. We are approaching Napton heading towards Oxford. I was chatting to a CRT chap at Braunston this morning and asked specifically about the Southern Oxford. He hadn't heard anything about the Oxford but mentioned a closure of part of the BCN.

 

With all the hire boat companies in the area, to say nothing of the many private boaters, I would be surprised if CRT had already taken action that would limit navigation without advising so before hand. Such as the recent advance warning about closure of part of the L&L. 

I would certainly hope so, anyway!

 

I haven't received a notice from CRT regarding the Southern Oxford as of this time.

 

Ken

 

 

 

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Such a restriction would make life very difficult for the numerous boats heading for Cropredy for the Festival, though of course some will already have arrived. There does appear to be a day of very bad weather approaching, which should top the reservoirs up nicely.

1 minute ago, Tonka said:

And there is still the Cropredy Festival traffic to come yet

Our posts crossed!

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36 minutes ago, Athy said:

Such a restriction would make life very difficult for the numerous boats heading for Cropredy for the Festival, though of course some will already have arrived. There does appear to be a day of very bad weather approaching, which should top the reservoirs up nicely.

Our posts crossed!

I'd be gutted if it closed having sailed down from Lancaster for the festival! 

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6 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Sailed? That's very enterprising of you!

Sailed with a flat bottom and no rags! I'll be watching for any updates with interest, as it'll be the next winding hole for me if it closes.

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27 minutes ago, rgreg said:

Sailed with a flat bottom and no rags! I'll be watching for any updates with interest, as it'll be the next winding hole for me if it closes.

If you hadn't of sailed you would have got there before it closed

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2 hours ago, NB Ellisiana said:

Thanks for the info. We are approaching Napton heading towards Oxford. I was chatting to a CRT chap at Braunston this morning and asked specifically about the Southern Oxford. He hadn't heard anything about the Oxford but mentioned a closure of part of the BCN.

 

With all the hire boat companies in the area, to say nothing of the many private boaters, I would be surprised if CRT had already taken action that would limit navigation without advising so before hand. Such as the recent advance warning about closure of part of the L&L. 

I would certainly hope so, anyway!

 

I haven't received a notice from CRT regarding the Southern Oxford as of this time.

 

Ken

 

 

 

I hasten to add that this was from a boater having been told by a CRT engineer. The chap who told me was a decent enough guy who does the old work parties for the Recovery Group and gave the impression he was 'in the know' so to speak.

i haven't seen any notices from CRT either. We are off the summit now. It's going to muck up Cropredy festival if true.

Edited by Nightwatch
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There was water entering the summit at Marston Doles via, I guess, the back pumps. The timescale was I think decided by my informant and his wife so may not be gospel. The 'last top' seems reasonable. Yesterday there were CRT engineers in full hi viz suits complete with life jackets, iPads, hard hats the lot. Must have been roasting, unless the suits were refrigerated. 

 

 

1 minute ago, Athy said:

Blimey, have fires broken out on the summit?

An extremely efficient beater blocker.

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1 hour ago, Dave123 said:

But they haven't even had limited opening hours for Napton and Claydon locks yet...That's usually the first step before a complete clousure...

That is what they have done in two recent years, so you would think that would be what closure would initially be.  The locks at each end of the summit  in the past I believe were open for 3 hours each day, 10 to 1 I think, so that basically you had to spend a night on the summit and could not go up and back down the other side the same day.  The 23 hours when the locks were not being used allowed the back pumping to recover the water level lost during the 3 hour the locks were open.  In previous years that seemed to be sustainable.

 

I have an interest, as mid August would like to go down on to the Thames from Napton.

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21 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

So I sets off in March and mi route was stuffed by perepetual floods..........now it might be messed up by drought.................?

Can we blame you for all the problems. Come down to  Oxford and sit on the bottom with me and I will buy you a pint

  • Greenie 1
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4 minutes ago, MikeHing said:

Currently at the Pig Place heading south. Levels here are fine but the pound between Grants and Kings Sutton was a challenge. 

I had some of their pork chops on the barby again yesterday...............awesome as always.

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5 hours ago, john6767 said:

 

I have an interest, as mid August would like to go down on to the Thames from Napton.

Me too, I came down recently and am now on the Thames and will be needing to start back up the Oxford to Napton on 21 August. Plenty of time for the weather to change I suppose. Perhaps I'll either get red boards on the Thames or trapped by a closed Oxford. 

 

I think I'll just try to enjoy the next few weeks on the Thames and then worry about how I'm going to get the boat back to base if the drought is still on. At least I can get home easily from here if I need to.

Edited by Lily Rose
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14 hours ago, billS said:

There is still time to go via Brentford and Oxford.

I went that way last time I came by boat. I have to get back to Lancaster by the end of August so, if I can't get over the Oxford , I'll be turning and heading north.

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15 hours ago, john6767 said:

That is what they have done in two recent years, so you would think that would be what closure would initially be.  The locks at each end of the summit  in the past I believe were open for 3 hours each day, 10 to 1 I think, so that basically you had to spend a night on the summit and could not go up and back down the other side the same day.  The 23 hours when the locks were not being used allowed the back pumping to recover the water level lost during the 3 hour the locks were open.  In previous years that seemed to be sustainable.

 

I have an interest, as mid August would like to go down on to the Thames from Napton.

It also massively helps concentrating the boat movements together so it can be one up and one down

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16 hours ago, john6767 said:

That is what they have done in two recent years, so you would think that would be what closure would initially be.  The locks at each end of the summit  in the past I believe were open for 3 hours each day, 10 to 1 I think, so that basically you had to spend a night on the summit and could not go up and back down the other side the same day.  The 23 hours when the locks were not being used allowed the back pumping to recover the water level lost during the 3 hour the locks were open.  In previous years that seemed to be sustainable.

 

I have an interest, as mid August would like to go down on to the Thames from Napton.

But in them days there were 26 hours in a day. Now we are on daylight saving there are 24

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22 minutes ago, rgreg said:

I called CRT this morning and they said there are no plans, and have been no discussions, regarding closure of the Oxford summit.  So that's what I've been told; let's see what happens. 

Being uncharitable does "no plans" mean something akin to "we don't do planning" and wait for thing to happen -

OR (more hopefully) does it mean "we don't need to plan because we have plenty of water"

 

Discuss....

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