Day's Lock Campingsite
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Five Go Mad Camping in Oxfordshire

As camp sites go, Day's Lock is tiny. It's an island in the Thames southeast of Abingdon, about 300 metres long by 100 wide (if that) and mostly covered with trees. Add the lock keeper's cottage with its garden and a toilet/shower block and you can see why five Ealing cyclists took up almost half of it last weekend. Access is via a tiny bridge on one side and only a footbridge the other, and there's the faintly surreal experience of glimpsing boats passing close by through the trees on both sides. Angela and Catherine take credit for discovering the place and arrived first on Friday afternoon. Tom, Martin and I arrived later and put up our tents as the sun was going down. Lots of trains stop at Didcot and the ride to Little Wittenham is an easy 7 km; mostly along an off-road cycle track. (Thank you Sustrans route 5.) Tents were all up at sunset so we sat round the stove with a welcome brew, and I could show off my jolly useful new head torch. As the resident engineer I also got to build a refrigerator out of a saucepan of water and a J cloth. Next day, after scrambled eggs, our ride took us past the lock itself, filling with narrowboats, then ancient earthworks and through several small villages with many fine old buildings. We kept to the minor roads and bridleways that crisscross the area, and rediscovered how much quiet countryside lies within easy reach of London for those willing to look. "That's Sunday lunch sorted," said Angela as we passed the Manoir aux Quatre Saisons. We got mud on our shoes, found that the river is too deep to ford at Chippinghurst Manor farm and there isn't a bridge. Never mind, the detour was a delight and we saw hawks circling above the woods looking for lunch. We found ours in a pub devoted to cricket and sat outside in the sunshine. We managed a tea stop near home but they'd run out of scones, dash it, so we stocked up on food and wine at the supermarket in Dorchester (no, not that one) for the evening dinner. A sunset, good company, couscous with tomatoes and onion, salad, fruit and a lively little Chilean red. What more could anyone want?

Less overnight rain perhaps. One of the tents (not my 18-year-old one says smug DJL) wasn't quite waterproof but a hot breakfast cures much and we had a pleasant walk up the local landmark Sinodun Hills for striking views all round over the green plain of Oxfordshire to the Chiltern escarpment in the east. The wild plums tasted good - must take a plastic bag next time - but the blackberries need another few weeks yet. Back home to strike camp and head off to the station, all the while thinking "we must do this again."

See OS map 164 grid reference 568 934. A pitch costs £7 per night. Tel 01865 407768 or see website http://thames.me.uk/. On stopping trains from Ealing Broadway there is free cycle carriage but the fast trains from Paddington have space for six cycles only and it's best to book ahead.

Thanks to Angela and Catherine for finding the place, making the booking and remembering the corkscrew.