The Kennet & Avon Canal
From Lock 1 on the River Avon to Lock 104, Reading's gateway to the Thames
..... and all the way back to the Thames - Monday 8th July 2013
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| Back we go along the River Avon, beautiful around here hey! |
We start of going back through the three locks, Saltford lock was our
last lock for today. We even found my stripey rainbow mug I left at one of the locks on our
way down earlier!
We decided as we loved the spot on the meadow so much
we would moor there again!
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| Snuggled back in our little spot on the river Avon |
So we tucked ourselves in again, set up the fishing
brolley for Jack, chairs, blankets, cusions, music and drinks and sun cream and
stayed here another two days! Brill.
Lots of walking, swimming, eating and drinking,
relaxing and of course sun bathing. There's always lots of sun bathing to do!
We didn't really want to leave here. I think the peace
and quiet of a beautiful spot on the river was making it difficult to make the
decision to go back to the mayhem of what's to come.
So reluctantly we set off on our way, it was Wednesday 10th July, we needed to move again, we were running out of food! And we needed to fill up with water.
And we've got other places to find, just around the corner .....
We stopped just before the aqueduct at a place called
Claverton Pumping Station.
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| We stopped at Claverton Pumping Station, home of the Warleigh Weir |
When we stopped and tied the boat up we could hear
the sounds of swimming, laughing, kids and lots of water! We discovered we were also at a
place called Warleigh Weir, a locals swimming and picnic spot! Brilliant! And
beautiful.
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| The sounds coming from the weir stream were too tempting to ignore |
We wasted no time going to explore, it was lovely. We wandered
through picnic areas and dogs having fun, cow pats and BBQs and then we spotted
the weir.
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| We got Jack down the bottom of the waterfall, he had such fun! So did we! |
Fantastic place to paddle, swim, jump and stand under the flow of the
water fall as it slams against your back! We loved it, Jack was in the water
running and jumping about, we even got him down the weir through the water!
Great fun!
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| Just before the sharp left hand turn over the Dundas Aqueduct |
We moved on the next day through Dundas, over the
aqueduct and into the tree lined banks of the canal, onto the Avoncliffe Aqueduct, and on our way towards Bradford on Avon.
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| The 'not quite so impressive as Dundas' Avoncliffe Aqueduct |
No
volunteer lock keepers here today although there were 4 here when we came down!
Through crowded Bradford and out again into the sticks, stunning views
everywhere.
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| Mayhem as boats are everywhere |
We stop at Hilperton Marina for diesel, only 80ppl
here! Cheapest yet! So we filled up, bought a few other bits from the chandlery
and went on our way again.
At Semmington 24hr mooring was where we stopped for
the night, nice place with rings and space for Jacks blanket on the grass too!
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| Semmington 24hr moorings. Where the man is standing on the towpath is where the proposed new route for the Wilts & Berks canal will join with the K & A canal |
We found some brilliant walks for Jack with great views down to the canal.
Paul
caught the monster he was after, well, a few big fish he caught he was pleased
with! Best fishing yet, apparently!
The next day we went through the jinxed locks of Seend
where anything can happen and frequently does! This time we were on our way up the Seend flight of 5
locks with another boat when we spotted C&RT workers at the flight. They
were pinning notices on the lock gates instructing boaters to go through the
locks one boat at a time. Apparently a couple of times boats had got stuck as
they left the locks and they had to winch them out. So single file we went on.
A couple of swing bridges later and we were at Sells
Green 24hr mooring, this was our place for the night.
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| Sells Green 24 hr mooring |
It was yet another
scorcher so Jack was having regular dunks in the canal, it was a late walk for
him too because of the heat, but we had a great walk over hills and past an
alpaca farm.
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| We admire the stunning views as we climb the hills around the canal, Jack's not bothered! |
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| We look down on the canal and the swingbridge and across the hills and valleys |
On Saturday 13th July we set off for our start of
Devises return. We just do the first two of the 29 locks, and pull over in a
nice spot in the lock pound.
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| Our mooring spot at the start of Devises flight. Paul surveys for huge carp, Jack's just happy he's got some shade.... |
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| .... and settles down to relax |
It's a scorcher again and Paul spotted some big
fish in this area on our way down. So early finish for us and we chill out in
the glorious sunshine. Paul hadn't caught the carp he was after by the time the
fishing bailiff came and checked permits, of course Paul didn't have one! So he
had to pack up!
Sunday was our big day. We got up early, 6.15am, got
through the remaining 5 locks before the 16 locks in the flight before 8am!
There was a hire boat waiting for someone to go up the flight with them, and we
were the lucky ones.
We all left by 8am, first ones up the flight. The
locks were all set ready for us, the hire boaters who were from Enfield (family
boating holiday cost them £2000 for 5 people to hire the boat for the week!)
were all on the ball and we got up the 16 locks in 2 hours 15 mins, having to
pass two pairs of boats and one on its own on their way down.
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| Sun just going down, we're safely tied up at the 24hr mooring at the top of the flight of 16, we'll do the rest tomorrow! |
There was a space at the 24 hr moorings at the top of
the 16 locks so we pulled over and decided to stop here for the day and the
night. We had a lovely day watching the boats go up and down the flight, and
there was a beautiful sunset at night. We went to the Black Horse pub at the top of the locks for dinner, good filling cheap pub grub.
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| Full up on good pub grub |
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| We watched the sun go down as it gave the whole of the flight an amazing pink glow |
On Monday we set off early again. It was supposed to
be cooler this morning but phew! It's another scorcher! We went up the last 7
of the 29 locks on our own, all against us, arriving in Devises early enough to
get a mooring spot.
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| Our little spot for the night at Devises |
We went to Sainsburys and the pet shop to stock up on dog
food. I got a hair cut for £12, and Paul got some maggots! We lazed in the
sunshine the rest of the day, Jack having regular swims in the canal. We had some great dog walks through the woods and
along the grassy hilly meadows.
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| We went walking with Jack over the meadows .... |
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| ... and posed for a photo on a log! |
We left Devises early on Tuesday. We've got a good
day's cruise ahead of us, the sun's shining again and we've got no locks to do!
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| Leaving Devises early was a good idea, very quiet, and not quite so hot! |
We leave Devises and head off into the countryside again, past Honey Street and
the Vale of the White Horse, the wooded and open canal of Wiltshire, contrasting with the narrow, reedy parts, and the wide open waters of 'Widewater', this canal has everything.
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| The narrow reedy channel ...... |
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| ... made passing any boats tricky |
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| Beautiful, but very overgrown for a canal |
Three hours later we reached Woodborough Hill. Amazing
hills to our left so we pulled over in a lovely spot tucked in the reeds, nice
little area to get on and off, so quiet and peaceful. We could see the white horse in the distance, hills all around.
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| The white horse on the hills |
We stayed there for two nights, sat in the glorious
sunshine, no one to disturb us.
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| Beautiful and quiet, a lovely place to stop for a couple of days |
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| Just us on a lovely stretch of the canal |
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| Looking up at Woodborough Hill..... can we make it? |
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On our way down from Woodborough Hill, yes, we made it!
|
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| Pickles Hill, this one's next |
We walked loads, conquering Woodborough Hill
and the even taller Pickles Hill with the Triangulation Point at the top.
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| We both made it to the top..... |
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| ... so did Jack |
We left on Thursday morning in glorious sunshine, again. After cruising 5 miles and battling with a huge swarms of horseflies around Pewsey we got to the first of the 4 locks at Wooton Rivers and managed to team up with a boat. Together we went through the remaining 3 locks, onwards to Bruce's Tunnel and to the flight of 7 Crofton Locks. Great, got through quickly with lots of help and moored up at the 48 hr moorings by
the Crofton Pumping Station.
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| Back at Crofton 48 hr moorings, the pumping station across the canal |
We stayed an extra night here too. We got the clippers
out and gave Jack a much needed hair cut, took ages as the clippers were
already blunt, so when I finished they went in the bin. He was so good, even
falling asleep and snoring while I was cutting away!
The walks were great, we knew our way round these
fields and the sun still keeps on shining! Phew! 30 degrees in the shade today!
I even managed to get a visit in to the local GP at Great Bedwyn as something came up that needed sorting, and was amazed at the ease of going to a doctor as a Temporary Resident. I phoned up the local surgery and an hour later I was sitting in the surgery, filled out a form and was seen by a lovely lady doctor! Just like that!
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| The Old School Surgery in Great Bedwyn really was in an old school building! |
We left the next day, Saturday, by 7.30 am. We've got
a lot to do today, 5 and a half miles, 13 locks and all locks tough and huge,
gates wouldn't budge, broken paddles, old leaky locks. It was a tough day but
we arrived at Hungerford 24 hr town moorings by 12.30, so we relaxed and
explored and Jack ran and played in the shallow streams of Hungerford Marshes.
Jack is having so much fun!
Sunday we left early too, again by 7.30 am. We've got
the toughest of all the locks to do today, including the Hungerford Town lock,
due to be repaired Nov 2013. Terrible leaky broken lock. Tough.
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| Beautiful countryside as we carry on our journey to Newbury |
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| Waiting at the lock mooring for our turn |
We were on our
own all day, no boats around, hardly any boats moving, all but 2 locks were
against us. Destination Newbury.... 11 locks, 8.5 miles.
We arrived at the
Newbury West Mills 24 hr mooring and got the last spot! Very busy in Newbury,
boats and people everywhere. After shopping and dog walking we chilled out in
the sun and ate dinner overlooking the canal from the beer garden of the Lock,
Stock and Barrel pub.
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| Looking back at Newbury Lock, the stream coming from the right, and the main river coming from the left |
Monday we moved from the mooring spot, through the
swing bridge and through Town lock.
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| Newbury Bridge was nowhere near the roller coaster ride of a few weeks ago |
We had a much less bumpy ride under Newbury
bridge and pulled over by the launderette bridge.
Clothes washed and dried, new bottle of gas from the
marina, we set off again through the second Newbury lock and pulled over under
the bridge to Tescos.
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| The second Newbury Lock, river comes in the canal from the right now |
With a quick visit to the supermarket, we were on our way
again out of Newbury, through a couple of locks and after a mile or so we
arrived at Widemead lock, a lovely mooring spot on the non towpath side,
peaceful, shady for Jack, private.
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| Our private spot beside Widemead Lock....or so we thought |
Until about 5.30 pm that is, until a large
group of older school kids descended on us. They filled the lock up, diving,
shouting, swearing, I've never heard such foul language that was coming from
them before! They refused to get out of the lock when a boat needed to use it,
swimming around as the paddles were opened. That can be fatal, as we all know.
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| .... and we went out walking and then the clouds clashed! |
We didnt feel safe leaving the boat unattended so I
took Jack out and Paul stayed at home. But not long after the forecasted
thunder and lightening came, I headed home and so did the teens, or at least
they went to find someone else to terrorise! So we had a peaceful night after all!
Tuesday was forecast thunder and lightening and hail
storms again. So we waited for them to pass, but it was still dry and bright at
10 am, so we set off anyway.
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| We set off even though the weather was set to be storms |
We had more luck with locks today. We met several
hire boats all coming towards us, so the locks were all full up for us, ready
for us to empty.
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| The 'turf sided' Monkey Marsh Lock, one of only two still in use on the system now. And we know why! Aagh! |
We had help at a couple of locks, including Monkey Marsh lock, from bystanders and made good
progress to Woolhampton 48 hr moorings, our destination for today.
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| On our way to Woolhampton, this huge boat was moored right on a blind corner! |
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| Our place for the night on the 48 hr moorings |
We reached
Woolhampton in a couple of hours, only 5 locks and 4 miles today. The dreaded
lock and bridge awaits us tomorrow but the river flow is slower than when we
came up so all looks fine today. We found great walks around gravel pits, as
overgrown as all of England seems to be! But fun to explore.
Wednesday was cooler, we left about 8 am to go through
the lock. That's not the problem here. After the lock there's a really strong
river that fows directly into the path of the lock exit. you then have to get
into the flow of the river and round a corner and through a skew bridge at a
weird angle and then try to stop on the landing stage going at quite a speed
downstream!
It all goes well tho, Paul is on the road stopping the
traffic with the bridge open and I cruise on through and get the boat stopped.
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| Looking back after going through Woolhampton lock and skew swingbridge. Safe on the landing stage now! |
Great, that's that done. Paul walks the two miles to
Aldermaston lock with Jack along the towpath.
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| Jack and Paul enjoying a walk along the towpath |
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| One of the footpath bridges across the K&A canal on the way to Aldermaston |
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| Going under Aldermaston hydrolic lift bridge |
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| Towney Lock, torrential flow in as the lock fills up for us to enter |
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| We wait as a boat goes through Garston Lock, the other 'turf sided' lock. Its a tricky one |
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| The view from the helm, it stinks in here! |
It's lock/swingbridge/lock/swingbridge all the way now, 3 in every mile from now on all the way to Burfield Cunning Man, the pub we've arranged to meet my lovely friend Amanda and her hubby Mel.
We arrived
pretty knackered at Burfield by 2.15 and found a space right outside the pub.
Nice quiet country pub, great food full bellys all round, great company and it
was their treat to Paul for his birthday!
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| It was soooo lovely to see Amanda and Mel, they are such good friends..... aaahh! |
We had a lovely night, walked the
dogs and said our goodbyes once again.
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| Leaving the mooring at The Cunning Man, Burghfield |
We set off early on Thursday, again. Through Southcote
Lock and onwards to Fobney lock. Paul was walking Jack and setting the locks.
We got to Fobney lock by 8.30 am, purposely early so we don't have any problems
with the local travellers who've set up camp nearby. It was always a problem
here, lots of evidence of trouble, and I've been there when the kids are
swimming in the lock. Not a nice place to be. It's still got a bad reputation
and you can see why.
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| What a mess this lock is in. Not one to go through on a sunny Sunday afternoon! |
So we went through, too early for the youths but a
real tough lock to do. The river comes in from the right and a weir stream comes in
from under the landing stage from the left. Tricky!
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| There's a little tiny gap between the trees to get through, you have to look very carefully to find it tho'! |
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| Some of the houses and gardens that line this part of the canal |
Now onto Reading, narrow and twisty overgrown with
trees we make our way to County lock, the one before the Oracle shopping
centre.
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| The pretty entrance to County Lock, falls just 2' |
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| Green for Go! We set off through the traffic lights section.... |
Theres traffic light signals here, we press the button and the lights
turn green and we go through the narrow section of The Oracle Shopping Centre.
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| ... going into the traffic light controlled section... |
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| ....... past the entrance in to the shopping centre and cafe's to the left.... keep going |
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| ....... we've got 12 minutes to get through here before the traffic lights change |
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| .... scars on the left side of this bridge show where boats have clunked into it in fast flow conditions |
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| ....... and we make it to the other side before the lights change.... |
The river pushes
you round the bends here but we soon reach the other end of the traffic light
section and we're coming up to Blakes lock, our entry back onto the Thames.
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| Leaving Blakes Lock, our last on the Kennet & Avon canal.... |
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| .....under the last bridge of the Kennett & Avon canal and onto the Thames once again |
A sharp left turn and we pull up outside Tescos.
Its back on the wide river for us now, big plastic
boats, several narrow boats moored up but we sneak a place in the trees again
and head off to shop.
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| Our little spot in the trees while we stop to shop |
.... and our journey up the Thames begins again.
This time from Reading to Lechlade, the furthest you can get on a narrow boat on the River Thames.
Watch out for more updates.
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