Lechlade itself is a lovely
Cotswold town. We found a superb mooring spot adjacent to
the marina away from most of the other boats who moored before the bridge. The water here
is crystal clear here. You can spend hours looking down your weed hatch as fish swim by.
Better than TV! Allow a good morning to wander through the antique shops. Plenty of shops,
we particularly liked the butchers (lovely homemade sausages), the bakers (17 ingredients
in the delicious seeded loaf!) and the off-license/coffee shop opposite which had a
massive selection of bottled real ales.
As for pubs, our favourites were the Royal Oak
(Arkells Bitter, 3B), the Crown (Wells Bombardier, Fullers London Pride) and the
Red Lion
(Arkells 3B) where we had an excellent meal. We took our boat to the round house before
turning back. Between Oxford and Lechlade there are few, if any shops but there is a useful shop at
Oxford Cruisers.
Plenty of good pubs with good beer...
Head of the River, South of Osney lock (Fullers),a mooring space for one narrowboat,
Watermans Arms, above Osney lock (Morland IPA, Original),
Trout, Wolvercote (Bass, Hancocks), Famous idyllic inn. VERY busy.
Ferryman, Babcock Hythe, (Greene king IPA, Abbott),
Rose Revived and the Maybush, Newbridge (Morland Original),
Trout, Tadpole Bridge (Archers, Morland Orginal, Fullers London Pride and a guest), My
favourite Thames pub, excellent and interesting ale. Superb food,
Swan, Radcot (Morland Original), Good ale and pub but spoilt by a loud Tannoy announcing
food ready. We did notice the licensee of the Maybush had removed his "no mooring for
narrowboats" sign after I asked if he was anti-narrowboat. "No", he said,
"I just can't fit as many of them in as cruisers".
We've taken both locks (Isis and King's) to the Thames from the Oxford canal but the
former is by far the prettier. We've always found the lock-keepers helpful and friendly
except one occasion when we came across a miserable chap at Osney lock. The locks are all
immaculately maintained and manned though you can operate these easy locks out of hours.
Don't forget to turn off your engine once tied up in the lock. For water make sure you
realise there is a different symbol for a tap and a tap with a hose!
A good mooring spot
is opposite the Watermans Arms which serves a decent pint of Morland IPA and Original.
There is good access to the town from the Botley road here. Going South of Oxford, we like the Head of the River which is a very popular Fullers
pub (serving the full range). There is but one mooring spot but we always manage to get in
for a pint and a decent lunch. Apart from the excellent mooring spot on the park, we
weren't that impressed with Abingdon. The shops and pubs were very ordinary though the
Old
Anchor (Morland) was our favourite.
Clifton Hampton is a good place to stop. The olde
worlde Barley Mow a very smart and comfortable inn. Theakston BB, Courage Best and
Directors in good condition. Restaurant quality food. Wallingford didn't do much for us.
The Boat House (Bass) was pretty ordinary. The Beetle and Wedge near Moulsford is a VERY smart restaurant serving
Adnams. Not too expensive considering the superb quality of the food. A special
place to dine. Booking advised.
Goring was one of favourite places on the river. The only
disadvantage being the high level of mooring. A wonderful delicatessen next door to the
Londis. Good food and beer at the John Barleycorn (Brakspear) but the Catherine Wheel is
even better serving Brakspear Mild, Bitter, Special, Old and seasonal ale all in top
condition. A wonderful, friendly old inn but the ale is pricey. If you want to visit
Reading stop on the Thames as there is no mooring on the Kennet and Avon. Going
south, a
stop at Sonning is recommended. Plenty of mooring spots with the posh boats below the lock
near the bridge. The Bull is an excellent picturesque inn next to the church. Fine food,
Gales GB and Butser ale.