It was an early start, as per advice from an ex-Thames lockeeper that we'd chatted with earlier in the week, we locked down from the Oxford Canal into Sheepwash channel
and turned left on to the Thames.
Its all very grand, even the lock keepers cottages are in a different league
We happened upon a very English event, the Queen's Swan Keeper and 19 other men and a supply of 'tea' (made with dark rum and milk), take to the river in the third week of July to ceremonially mark the swans.
This tradition dates from the 12th C when swans were an important source of food. There are about 1200 swans on the Thames these days. Yum.Lock keepers are a varied, but all somewhat strange breed. When there's not much to do they can indulge in tending to the lockside garden, here's one of our favourites.
There are lots of grand houses, like this one
can't help but wonder what their flood damage insurance premiums are like.
We're allowed to moor up anywhere on the towpath side as long as we don't block the navigation channel, so we've found ourselves a verdant little place to spend the night.
where I trust we'll sleep well, night night folks.
