After a fairly uneventful couple of days we are now in Abingdon. The river has been very quiet, only seeing three or four boats travelling downstream all day. We were amazed when we arrived in Wallingford yesterday evening to find just two other boats moored, both La Boats (hire boats) one of which left shortly after we arrived. The other motored off early in the morning which left us on our own 'billy no mates'. in conversation with one lock keeper Sid discovered that the usual flow of boats through the lock on the early May Bank holiday weekend was around a hundred. This year it was just thirty.
The Abingdon moorings were a little busier but far from overcrowded. We always have fond memories of our Norwegian friends, Bente and Erik when visiting this delightful town. Back in 2018 they had a mishap whilst mooring their boat and fortunately we were on hand to help. We then crossed paths on several occasions and have kept in Facebook contact since.
An observation we have made during our journey has been the increased number of wide beam boats on the lower end of the Grand Union Canal and on the Thames since we last cruised these waters. Obviously an indication of the housing problem.
It is amazing that we have been blessed by such beautiful weather during our cruise of the Thames Ring. WE have had some chilly evenings and mornings with a cool north or northeasterly wind blowing but by mid day under blue skies it warms up very nicely. The sun is due to shine for the rest of our days on the water, which is great for us but not so great for the farmers.
Next stop Oxford.
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