Walk 21/2007 – Willoughby and Hillmorton

Sunday 7th October 2007

Our walk started in the most pretty village of Willoughby and comprised mainly of field paths and the canal towpath alongside the North Oxford Canal. There were lengthy stretches of canal walking which were peaceful and picturesque; as well as the hedgerows bursting with blackberries and some roes hips there was active canal boat life with beautiful barges decorated in vibrant and attractive colours passing by. The waterway was very busy and seems to invite a variable crowd of boaters ranging from those taking a tranquil river trip on a lazy Sunday afternoon to those having a lively boat party in the celebration of a significant anniversary or birthday! Also of interest to us was a herd of drinking cows who were taking some risks to bend their necks relatively low down into the canal for a long drink of water. Several swan families glided along the canal too, enjoying their journeys, but of particular note was the male swan that as he drank appeared to also launch into song.

Hillmorton locks was once an important canal centre and the locks provided some interest as we observed the negotiation of three locks by a number of barges, there were queues of boats and some commanders conducted their transfer from lock to lock more peacefully than others!

Although 11–miles our walk was not greatly strenuous as it was all on the flat. The group decided that the walk was not one of the best as it was not very rural in parts and went through the built up neighbourhood of Hillmorton. It was felt that there was not enough variety and too much of the same single file walking along the canal, in addition we had to keep our heads down to negotiate the narrow and unkempt path way with sticking out boulders as potential hazards and some wet mud patches. The fact that we could not always take in the surrounding views unless we stopped, together with walking behind one another for some time was deemed not a very sociable walk.

During the last lap of the walk the group were very happy to harvest some sloes from the hedgerows and we can now look forward to some Sloe Gin for New Year. Our walk concluded with a welcome drink at the delightful thatched ‘Rose and Thorn’ pub in the village of Willoughby.

Report – Cathy

Walk rating – below average

Willoughby, where we started.	The passing boats provided some interest as we walked alongthe tow path.
We stood on a bridge watching the queue for the locks.	Swans and boats.
Hillmorton top lock.	We came across this interesting way to decorate a bridge.
For some reason Cathy demanded a picture of a cow drinking.	Cathy tries to avoid the mud. Christina and Graham are more concerned with something in the reeds.