Now we're stuck!

I have no pictures of the floods of the 20th. I was too busy to get any. If you want to see why the Oxford Canal is closed south of Banbury and is under a severe flood warning north of Banbury go to Banbury Guardian . The local paper has done a wonderful job collecting photographs and updating the galleries.

British Waterways have given advice not to move any boat unless it is absolutely necessary. Our summer cruise, which has been in the planning for months is obviously in jeopardy. More rain is expected in the next few days and with the ground absolutely waterlogged more flooding is very probable. I might have been overheard at lunchtime today suggesting booking into a high rise Hilton Hotel somewhere a long way away for a few days! At least we could swim in the spa pool. Our local Spiceball baths are flooded out and there is talk that they will never reopen.

Our favorite watering hole, the GF Club is also flood damaged as is Tooley's boatyard. The water coming down the canal, instead of the River Cherwell, did a lot of the damage this time. The river rose later to flood the railway station and the canal below the lock. The river and the canal mingled as one at Cropredy and the boats had to be retrained from floating over the towpath.

So there we are. Stuck in the middle. Unable to go south and advised not to go north. Maybe it's time to do some more work on the boat. It better be inside work though with the rain forcast to catch us on Thursday or Friday.