A very big thank you to my backers who have topped £1,100 and inspired me to a major step today in rowing terms. The Thames is still running fast but perfectly manageably, I am getting more and more at home in Clementine and the weather was nice. So I set out from Wolvercote, just above Godstow Lock, at 9.40am and rowed all the way to Osney Lock, arriving at 10.25. That's 2.43 miles in 45 minutes and I was back at Wolvercote an hour later. The combined distance of 4.86 miles is just longer than the 4.79 miles from Godstow to Iffley, the next lock after Osney, and I felt perfectly ready for more. So this bodes well for the actual trip in September, specially as that will be downstream all the way.

I detail these figures because my first outings near and eventually on the swollen Thames two weeks ago had me slightly quailing at the sheer length of the whole trip. Now I am fortified. And the actual experience was delightful; Port Meadow is famously full of beauty and interest - see pictures below by a friend, David Buchan, (I don't yet dare take a camera) - but the narrower stretch through woods, allotments and eventually streets to Osney was lovely too. And the river mariner is such a privileged position to enjoy it. Thank you VERY much again to all who support and/or spend time on this.