Mon. 25th - Beal to Wallingford

President last went down to the upper Thames on the Brindley run, when FoP took the statue of James Brindley from St Katharine's Dock up the tidal Thames to Richmond and then up to Oxford before completing the journey up Brindley's "Grand Cross" to Etruria. Many miles have passed under the boat since that event and a complete rebuild.

The boat had reached Beale Park with just a moderate amount of difficulty with shallow water, and now the challenge was to get her back home to Dudley . Richard Thomas and his crew had done sterling work raising money and now the new crew took over - or at least part of it. David Powell & Colin Grantham had arrived from Essex, Malcolm from Scotland, but Dave Stott and Roger Prior were arriving later in the day.

David Powell had recently qualified as an engineer ( after about 16 years as a member of FoP ! ), so he took charge of the steam plant and Malcolm reacquainted himself with the 'elm of President after a 10 year rest from Josher steering, Colin taking charge of the lines and tea making, the boats were breasted up and set off up the Thames and an appointment at Goring Lock with Dave Stott & Roger Prior.

Mechanically the steam plant and engine were behaving magnificently, but a troublesome vibration was coming from somewhere in the transmission system. We wondered if we would even make Goring, so David kept the revolutions down and we travelled the short distance in no time.

The lock keeper kindly allowed us to stay on the lock moorings for a short while to enable Dave and Roger to load their kit and we were soon away. We planned to stop at Wallingford for the night and after a lovely cruise on the deep waters of the Thames we managed to get a mooring close to the Wallingford Bridge . We didn't have the luxury of a chief cook, so went ashore for a meal and a few ales.

Tues. 26th Wallingford to Oxford

The engineer was up early to tend the boiler, and we had steam up in plenty of time for a 08:00 departure. We had a wonderful days boating on deep water, with the boats breasted up and plenty of amusements as several "Capt. Birdseye " characters on their Gin Palaces overtook us.

We were delayed by a queue at Abingdon Lock and then stopped for lunch and water above the lock. We wanted to reach Oxford for the night if at all possible, so we pressed on and arrived by 18:00 . Just before we moored - we were greeted by a shout from the bank; it turned out to be our good friend David Suchett who was there for filming of one of his latest TV programmes.

We found a mooring ( or so we thought ) opposite the Oxford College boat houses, so Malcolm took the boat alongside only to find the water depth insufficient close in to the bank. It's at times like this when one finds out one's friends. A boater in a narrowboat about 100 feet away saw our plight and came to invite us to breast the boats up alongside them for the night. Oxford is always a favourite mooring, and we went for a short stroll along to the bridge and the nearby pub; some things never seem to change.

Weds. 27th Oxford to Thrupp

This crew don't like late finishes, so were grateful that Dave again got up early to light the fire in the boiler at 06:00 . So we were away by 08:00 - but regrettably this time the effort was in vain. We had got to the Sheepwash channel when President went hard aground on a mud bank !. We were mid channel, and despite endless efforts on our own and with the help of two passing boats we still couldn't get President off. So David decided to go back to the EA offices. About an hour later - we heard the deep throbbing of a powerful boat. It was the EA's contractors tug. Within minutes they had a line aboard President, took up the slack and they had us off the mud.

We were going up the Dukes cut so we carried on up the Thames for a few more miles. At noon we finally reached the shallow waters of the Oxford canal. After the wide and relatively deep water of the Thames, it took us a few miles to get ourselves reacquainted with the cut. The crew were steering both President and Kildare now on short straps and as sometimes happens things went a little wrong and a bridge got in the way ! President went through ok, if too far from the towpath so Kildare's bow was on the wrong side and the high cratch hit the bridge, causing a slight amount of damage. We decided that we should moor up early to re erect the cratch but before we could there was more drama.

We were approaching Thrupp, and Dave came out of the engine hole to tell Roger that this was the spot where Granada filmed "The Wench is Dead" - the Morse detective programme. The gunwale was just not wide enough and a little wet so Dave's boot slipped off the edge and before he knew it, our engineer was floundering in the water!. Luckily, no harm was done and Dave was quickly back on board. But we were all getting tired, so when we passed Thrupp village it was decided we should tie up.

The cloths on Kildare were quickly removed, and we reassembled the cratch and planks. A good clean up for all the crew and we walked the short distance to The Boat pub where a few pints of Green King IPA were enjoyed with a very good dinner. The local boat club officers were very helpful and allowed us to stay on their moorings overnight.

Thurs. 28th - Thrupp to Twyford Wharf

We kept seeing the same boats making their way north, but it was by no means busy considering we had come from the National at Beale. The BW lengthmen had met us to see that we were OK, and they warned that there were queues ahead. At first we didn't see the evidence to support these stories - but eventually we arrived at Somerton Deep Lock to find a queue of about 10 boats. It took 90 minutes to clear the lock, but then progress was fine with the exception of the occasional grounding on shallows.

The Oxford canal is renowned for it winding nature, and we had plenty of practise of tight turns. Malcolm had lots of fun on the elm of Kildare, After many hundreds of hours on the back end of a motor boat, it was a real joy to experience the almost silent passage of the butty, whilst having a good view of President ahead. The Captain seemed surprised that he didn't seem overly anxious to steer President. Colin spent most of his time on the butty too, and a common interest in railways meant there was plenty to talk about. The close proximity of the galley was an added bonus, many cups of tea being consumed, not forgetting the needs of the crew on President.

We ran out of daylight today, and moored at Twyford Wharf at 20:45 . No pubs around, and although we had emergency rations on board, David's cousin came to the rescue and arrived just after we had moored. They set of for the local fish and chippy and whilst we did the end of day chores they returned with a good supper. No pub tonight, but a few glasses of red wine were enjoyed, followed by an early night.

Fri. 29th - Twyford Wharf to Fenny Compton

Another early start at 07:15 but not as early as planned. We had hoped to spend the previous night at Cropredy, but the queue at Deep Lock scuppered that plan. Banbury was reached about 09:00 . The crew split up, some going off for essential supplies, and the others to work the boats through the bridges and locks. The canalside scene has changed dramatically here, and Tom Rolt would no doubt be very disapproving; this being the scene of "Cressy's" refit. But at least the shops are now close to the cut and the towpath all tidied up and looking more secure for an overnights stay.

We had been fortunate with the weather so far, but by the time we reached Cropredy the dark clouds rolled overhead. But the rain held off for a very important ceremony. It was David Powell's birthday, so the crew managed to get candles from the local shop and a birthday cake was duly presented to the captain.

Setting off soon after, just as we approached the lock the rain started. It always seems to rain just as the crew need to get off to work locks !. True to form - it stopped shortly after we left.

We reached Clayton bottom lock by about 16:00, and good progress was made. Just as we were entering the penultimate lock a figure on pushbike rushed down the towpath towards the boats. It turned out to be Eugene Baston of British Waterways HQ. They were doing a training video, and seeing us they seized the opportunity to film how to pass a large traditional narrow boat. So watch out for the video at boat shows in 2004. We weren't held up for long, it was after all a good opportunity for some good publicity, and we were on our way and out of the top lock by 17:00 .

Now on the top pound - we were aiming for Fenny Compton and fortunately the water was on the weir still. Nevertheless, we had a few problems at one or two bends. A couple of boats had caught up with us, and seemed just a little agitated that we were holding them up. We let them pass, but we were to see them again tomorrow.

We made Fenny Compton by 19:00, and moored just by the marina. The brisk walk to the Wharf Inn was rewarded with a very good meal and some excellent ales. Here we met some boating friends and exchanged tales of our trips up from Beale.

Sat. 30th - Fenny Compton to Braunston

Up early again - and off by 7:15 . We passed one or two boats that we had first met at Somerton Deep, and a few faces on board looked a little glum that we had got in front again !. But it was a beautiful sunny morning and we had a good start with 3 miles done in the first hour. This is the famous winding summit section and always charming. The water level was high, and we kept in the channel so we had a wonderful run. Plenty of tight turns kept the steerers alert and Bob fed and watered the rest of us.

Not surprisingly, we found a short queue at the top of Marston Doles. We were with same boats that had passed us earlier in the trip. Once clear of Marston bottom lock Malcolm set off lockwheeling again. The trusty bike had stood up well to the trip. Arriving at Napton top ( Adkin's lock ) there was plenty of time to enjoy what must be one of the most idyllic scenes on the canals, it was made even more so by the arrival of President's steam plant chugging away.

By now the crew were working together like clockwork - the two Dave's on President, with Roger and Colin on Kildare. Short work was made of the Napton flight, and then the final run home along the Braunston pound. We had made good time and few real problems.

Our grateful thanks to all the waterway staff who were really most helpful. The EA staff at Oxford for the tow off the mud bank and BW for the high water levels on the Oxford canal weirs. If President can get over the Oxford then most other boats around today most certainly will. But just in case BW are reading this, there are many places where a dredger could clear a better channel and getting into the bank to moor is problematic in many places.

Malcolm Nixon