On towards the Thames

So off we set again, our first lock is right in the middle of Newbury it follows its course with Victoria Park on one side and the old wharf on the other. Their is also a collection of old warehouses  and old stone buildings a relic of the old days.

The canal now runs through water meadows as it runs towards the rapidly expanding village of Thatcham, locks and swing bridges slow our progress, it's really makes a difference if the locks are in your favour but unfortunately today not one of them is. So it's stop the boat, get off fill the lock, open the gates, let the boat enter the lock shut the gate, open the other paddles to let the water out, open the gate move the boat out and then shut the gate.

Open countryside again as we carry on towards Woolhampton whith its tricky lock with a weir pushing the boat to one side and forward and then a swing bridge to hamper our progress .

We reach Aldermaston and decide to call it a day and moor up for the nightstand the same place as we moored on our trip a few weeks ago.

Keeping it short as our data plan for the Internet has been used so using my iPhone to upload this and will add pictures next week when my allowance kicks in .

Reluctany on to Newbury

Sunday we didn't move as we were on a 48hr mooring, luckily we made the push for Hungerford as one of the locks had to be closed so it could be repaired, the couple we shared the Caen Hill flight with let us know as they were stuck there, and no movement to at least Tuesday.

Anyway we left our mooring and stopped briefly to take on water, before on our way again, pretty woods on one side keep us company as we cruise a long, the river Kennet accompanies the canal past Dunmill lock  and we have a great view of Denford mill as we pass the village of Avington. 

The railway and the river are with us as we head to Kintbury, we were going to moor here but unable to do as no mooring space, it looks like the same boats are here as when we passed a couple of weeks ago, also a boat moored on the water point which is a no no.

As we leave Kintbury we come across a barge being towed by a Horse this is how the Narrowboats used to be powered in the old days , the horse was called Freddy.

So we carry on as we moan to ourselves about over stayers and head towards Newbury,this part of the canal is particularly attractive stretch, wooded rolling hills flank th waterway to the southas it passes through Drewetts Copse and Hamstead lock.

Then it's extensive water meadows and then we pass under the bridge of the bypass road then the canal has houses facing the canal and it's by here that we moor for the night.

Denise gives the boat a clean while I take a trip to the town centre  as part of our TV aerial had broken unfortunley we had to buy the whole aerial instead of the little part which we needed.

Back to the boat and we settle down for the night.

Off to Hungerford

Rain has been promised, but as we set off its dry, but very grey skies, we leave our mooring by the pumping station and the main rail line on our left is our companion for a while but again open countryside on our right hand side. fourteen locks we must negotiate today but not all together.

At our first lock unfortunately has a dead swan in it, so I pull it out of the water and put in the bushes by the side of the lock, after watching Bear Gryls on the television I did think of skin it and having it for Sunday lunch.

The villages of Great and Little Bedwyn are passed by still the Wilts railway line keeps us companion with its frequeny roar of high speed train flying pass. If you wold stop at Great Bedwyn  you could pay  the Stone Museum a visit, which include in its collection work from seven generations of stonemasons.

There are statues, tombstones, amusing plaques and a fossilised footprint of a dinosaur.

Froxfield is the next village to cruise by with is main feature The Somerset Hostpital founded by the Duchess of Somerset in 1694.

Then it's open country side and at Picketsfeild bridge the railway cross the canal and isn't seen again for a while, at Hungerford Marsh lock, right in the middle of the lock is a swing bridge, so not only have we got to operate the lock we must also swing the bridge out of the way so we can pass.

Then it a few more locks before we reach Hungerford , we thought that we would struggle to get a mooring but to our surprise it was quite empty. So we moor up have a bit of lunch and then off to the local Tescos to stock up before dinner and television.

On the note of the TV we been having problems tuning in the television and found out the aerial connection is broke so we had to resort to our old aerial  which worked fine.

No movement tomorrow as rain is promised.

A long day

Off we set again we take on water at the wharf in Devizes the canal now enter a long wooded cutting spanned by several elegant stone bridges, some are listed as ancient monuments. Houses with their well kept gardens that run to the canal edge  and the canal carries on to the landscape of the Wiltshire Wolds.

 Bishop  Cannings  church tower comes into view, and rolling hills climb steeply to the North while pastures fall away to the South. The canal is lock free following the co tours of the land, pass the village of All Cannings  and Honeystreet, with the 1812 white horse carving in the distant hill.

Next the villages Alton Priors, Woodsborough and Wilcot are passed by.

The countryside is very English with farmland and rolling countryside, next Pewsey with its wharf and canal side pub drift by as we aren't stopping for a while today, Wootton Rivers with it thatched cottages, then we start the first of our locks, four more before we reach Bruce tunnel, then we reach Crofton top lock then another six before we reach tonight's mooring spot, a lot later than we are usually moored up, but should mean that we will have an easier day tomorrow.

Lock after lock after lock and so on

Up early today and we and our fellow boater Stephen and Julie off the narrowboat Greyfisher wait for the lock keeper to unlock the bottom lock of the Caen Hill Flight.p

8.00 o'clock he unlock it and off we set, thats it for the next 29 locks, luckily for us all of the locks are in our favour, and we only meet three boats that are coming down. So we climb 234 ft in just over two miles, with the help of this marvelous piece of engineering.

Four hours later we are at the top, so we moor up for the night while our lock sharing friends carry on up the canal, as it dinner time I pop to the local Greggs bakery and get us a couple of pasties for lunch, then we get changed and go for walk around Devizes with a bit of shopping as well.

It's market day and the noise and hustle and bustle of the market are an assault on our senses after the quietness of the canal.

http://www.devizes.org.uk/

Devizes is a pretty market town, with wool being the dominating trade from the 14th to 18th century, brewing started in 1786 and the Brewers Wadworth  and co carry on the tradition today, where one can have a tour of the brewery, the Market cross recounts the story of Ruth Pierce whom the Almighty struck down dead after she lied about paying for some wheat.

We then head back to the boat to sit in the afternoon sun, as its promised that the weather is going to change for the worse tomorrow, hopefully not.

Back to the bottom of Caen hill locks

We were up early and the sun is shining again, a lock greets us first and once we are through this we are in Bradford Basin, again a long line of moored boats so we move a a slow tick over pace. We leave the residential area and once again in countryside, we have fine views over the Avon valley, to the west is the village of Hilperton, we have a few locks and heavy swing bridges to negotiate as we ascent to Devizes,

 the canal is crossed by the busy A350 more locks  and swing bridges before we reach the bottom of Caen Hill locks we operate another eight locks before we moor and where we are going to meet narrowboat Greyfisher and their crew Stephen and Julie,who we have arranged to share the next set of locks tomorrow. 

Passed Moored boats again

We leave last nights quite mooring it's sunny but a bit chilly,, we then stop to take on some water, and off we set again open countryside which turns into a thickly wooded stretch as it passes Claverton with its village, Manor House and it's pumping station which pumps water from the Avon to the canal.

Now a side cutting takes the canal towards Dundas Aqueduct, with its junction for the Somerset Coal Canal.

The Aqueduct crosses over the valley with its main railway line set below, and the pass the village of Limpy Stoke which is scattered over the valleys side, the navigation runs through thick woods clinging to steep banks until the countryside opens on its approach tomAvoncliff Aqueduct, here we squeeze pass another boat, but unfortunlay one of my fender holder fittings hit the side of the canal and comes off, lost in the still water of the canal.

Then we are on the approach to Bradford upon Avon, where we stop and moor up for the day and sit and w arch the energetic runners, cyclist and dog walkers go by while we sit and soak up the sun.

http://www.bradfordonavon.co.uk/

We are contacted by text by the couple who we shared the Caen hill locks with a few ago asking if we want to meet and share the locks again as we go up on Thursday, which we readily  agreed with, anything to make life easier