Somerton Deep, Oxford Canal
It was the 14th of June 2011. I know this as I started keeping a daily journal from the moment I moved onto a boat. (No inclination to do so before boat-world, besides life was recorded in work diaries in tedious detail).
It was a perfect day for boating - sunshine, small white clouds, bright blue sky. Every window and side hatch onboard thrown open to the warm summer air - glorious!
It was the very first time I had taken my new (to me) boat out entirely single handed.
I approached Somerton Deep Lock from the bottom (so named for being the deepest lock on the Oxford Canal at 12 feet) and I admired the lock cottage perched above. It has always fascinated me. It has a black windowless wall that faces the canal. I was told it was painted like this originally during the Second World War to disguise the canal from bombers overhead. Is that true? The cottage itself has no electricity supply and no road access. Owners rely on a small boat to reach the nearest road over half a mile away.
Isolated, off grid, small and delightfully charming. No surprise it appeals!
Lost in my thoughts, I pulled into the lock lay-by … when, as if by magic, one of the side hatch doors gave up the fight to hold on to its rusty hinges and dropped into the canal with a splash. I was lucky to have seen it happen - nonetheless I stared in disbelief. A quick phone call to a friend (always phone friends in these situations) brought back the only possible advice: “You’ll have to get in.”
I tied up, changed into my best bikini, took a deep breath, and got in. The water was colder, darker and deeper than I expected. I nearly gave up until a fellow boater lent me a magnet (by now there was an audience). I finally located the heavy steel clad door and wrestled it to the water surface; pushing it up into a pair of helping hands by now reaching down from my front deck.
A quick shower (ever mindful of Viles disease) and I continued my journey. Any anxiety about managing this deep lock on my own happily banished with elation from success at retrieving my door!
My very first single handed trip on my very own boat now utterly unforgettable!
Craftybird going through Somerton Deep earlier this year