Canal Stroll
Oops, missed a day there -- we had a good 4th of July weekend, and thus not much computer work got done. :-D I actually made some great progress on my equipment for the equestrian games -- will have to blog about that after the trip posts are finished.
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Sunday morning nothing was scheduled. Standing around after breakfast we latched onto a group that was going walking. On our way back to town - the route we'd traveled about a 1000 times so far - I waived down those in front to tell them I wanted to pop down this tow path a bit. We'd passed it many times and I kept noting that we should check it out when the chance arose.
Really, my intent was to just tell them Dave and I were doing this and to find out how would we catch up after? But they all decided to follow us. Andy kinda just stared at me when I returned with the group. "I can't help it - it's in my NATURE to organize, Andy!" He laughed.
And - it ended up being a great walk! We went a mile or so down the canal:
Hopping off the canal we ended up in a cute residential area. John had brought with him a map (smart man) and we discovered we weren't far from University Parks - so we went there.
Even found a Cricket Match going on.
We were generally headed towards the punting boat house since the Cherwell river boarded one edge of the park - but were not able to find a tow path that paralleled the river once we'd reached the boundary of the park. So we back tracked a bit into town and wandered to find lunch. Not just to find lunch, but that could accommodate all of us. I was definitely on the way to recommending we split into smaller groups, when someone found just what we needed, of all places at a cafe in St Mary's Cathedral. Chi had called me just on our way - she was able to come to Oxford just for the day and had just arrived on the bus. She met up with us at St. Mary's.
Bob, Chi, Helen, Marleen, Sylvain, Linda, Ing, Sonja, Me, Dave.
And then... of course... we went Punting! Tomorrow, before the new post goes up I'll move the Punting one into chronological order.
~~~~~~~~~
Sunday morning nothing was scheduled. Standing around after breakfast we latched onto a group that was going walking. On our way back to town - the route we'd traveled about a 1000 times so far - I waived down those in front to tell them I wanted to pop down this tow path a bit. We'd passed it many times and I kept noting that we should check it out when the chance arose.
Really, my intent was to just tell them Dave and I were doing this and to find out how would we catch up after? But they all decided to follow us. Andy kinda just stared at me when I returned with the group. "I can't help it - it's in my NATURE to organize, Andy!" He laughed.
And - it ended up being a great walk! We went a mile or so down the canal:
Hopping off the canal we ended up in a cute residential area. John had brought with him a map (smart man) and we discovered we weren't far from University Parks - so we went there.
Even found a Cricket Match going on.
We were generally headed towards the punting boat house since the Cherwell river boarded one edge of the park - but were not able to find a tow path that paralleled the river once we'd reached the boundary of the park. So we back tracked a bit into town and wandered to find lunch. Not just to find lunch, but that could accommodate all of us. I was definitely on the way to recommending we split into smaller groups, when someone found just what we needed, of all places at a cafe in St Mary's Cathedral. Chi had called me just on our way - she was able to come to Oxford just for the day and had just arrived on the bus. She met up with us at St. Mary's.
Bob, Chi, Helen, Marleen, Sylvain, Linda, Ing, Sonja, Me, Dave.
And then... of course... we went Punting! Tomorrow, before the new post goes up I'll move the Punting one into chronological order.
posted by Monica at Sun Pony |
11:00 AM
6 Comments:
The canals are interesting - obviously man made? What was their original purpose and do they still use them for that purpose today?
~Lydia
AH! There is an extensive network of canals all over the UK. They were used for transportation. Many still have the 'tow paths' that run along side of them, that the donkeys walked along towing barges. Now the tow paths make excellent walking paths.
We have a similar canal system in Illinois; it's called the I&M Canal. Its original intent was to link the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River; via mules pulling barges along a parallel path (so very similar - interesting). The I&M Canal construction began in 1836. Wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_and_Michigan_Canal
They've now made them in to fantastic walking and biking paths.
Do you recall when the UK Canals were constructed?
~Lydia
Well, now, no I had no Idea. We'd taken a narrow boar on the Shropshire Union Canal back in 2002. Googled it, and found that 'the Shroppie' system was amalgamated in 1846, the oldest portion of that canal being from 1772...
Um, that should be narrow boat...
Okay, so obviously the canals in Oxford would be constructed much earlier and the one in IL most likely built in a similar manner.
And taking a narrow boar would be much more fun, and imagine the pictures of that! :-D
~Lydia
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