Monday 1st to Sunday 7th June 2009
Monday
The start of our journey this week took us from Wootton Rivers to Great Bedwyn. Remembering what happened to us last time we were here we were extra careful not to slip, trip or fall, we hadn’t time for broken bones.
On the way we saw some fabulous stretches of woods and water and when the light was right it was a pleasure to snap away with the old Brownie camera.
The sun has brought out the water weeds since we passed through here in April. Great wadges of the stuff looking like carpet underlay floated just below the surface looking for boat propellers.
Making the most of the sunshine we ate out on deck, sampling bottles of this and that and eating cinders from the barbeque. Discovered that apple skins float but melon skins sink.
Sitting there taking in the surroundings I marvelled at how clean and green nature was and how utterly filthy our boat had become. Guilt prompted an attack with a bucket and sponge but a four foot section of roof was enough to tell me this would take hours. I left it at that and vowed to do better another day.
Tuesday
Putting Gt.Bedwyn lock behind us we motored towards Hungerford at a steady pace.
Pitching tents above the town’s lock we set off on foot for the new Tesco’s in the centre of town. Not impressed, the car park is too big, the shop is too small and low on product range and the prices are the highest we’ve seen in a long time. I still think the little high street Co-op could give them a run for their money if they really wanted to. On the bright side it shone like never before and we cooked outside again. V and Jo did us proud with the food and I managed to shrink the meat on the BBQ without turning everything black.
Can’t help noticing there are fewer boats on the move these days. We occasionally meet a boat at a lock but there are very few travelling t’other way and that’s one of the reasons I’ve marked the K&A highly as a good cruise. Of course that may change in a month’s time when the silly season starts but I’d recommend spring and early summer for no stress, to see things at their best.
Here’s something you don’t see every day, it’s a swing road-bridge over a lock.
Wednesday gave us a later start than usual because we weren’t going far. Kintbury is a lovely place to stop and as it happens we were treated to the sights of a horse drawn boat. There’s no sound apart from a steady clip-clop as Neddy pulls his boat of sightseers a mile or two up then back again.
On the way down to Kintbury V spotted a water vole sitting at the water’s edge, my first sighting in 3+ years. As if that wasn’t exciting enough we watched a crayfish play on a lock gate behind us as the water dropped through the bottom paddles.
We’ve heard so much about these creatures so it was lovely to see one out for a stroll. We’ve also heard that they are responsible for wrecking the canal bank by burrowing below the water line and I’m amazed at the quantity of holes in some parts where the river joins and leaves the canal sections, sometimes as frequent as every six inches along several yards of the mud bank.
Oh, we also saw nuthatches running up and down the trees. Mike says they might have been tree creepers except TCs don’t run down trees, only up, that’s how you know the difference. I’m certainly learning stuff this year, but how long I can remember it is anyone’s guess, V says I’ve only got an attention span of 5 minutes.
Something that did get my attention was a group of portrait painters setting up camp at Dunn Mill lock. How shall I paint you, asked one lady, but all I had on my mind was how many old ladies would I knock over if I had to jump on the bank with my ropes.
Had another go at washing the boat and managed to do one whole side this time. Slapped on the baby oil to keep away the wrinkles and got it to shine like a new pin.
Thursday took us to Newbury and my obligatory walk around town. There was a small market which could have been the same one we’d seen in Hungerford in April, just books, bird food and jewellery.
Bought a Willie Nelson CD for two-fifty and discovered I already had most of the songs on the other CD back at the boat, dooohhh. At least it wasn’t a con – like being full of Russ Conway.
If you have a spare minute in Newbury then visit the museum because that’s all you’ll need. There’s more floor space given to the reception area than the exhibits. Perhaps there’s a proper museum somewhere in town but I didn’t see any directions.
Mike and Jo invited us round for evening drinky-poos. Got the Rummikub game out and most of us won a game before the stars rose in the sky and we all began nodding off.
The trick is to be discrete about picking up ‘dropped’ tiles at the end of the game otherwise some players take your winning very badly.
Friday saw us sneak out of town before curtains were drawn. It felt naughty going through the lock and under the bridges with no one looking.
Apart from one old lady feeding the ducks and an office worker in a smart suit no one saw us go.
We pulled in at Greenham Canal Service for diesel (77p, self declared split) and I would have taken a bag of coal but it cost over £11 a bag. When I declined I was warned that prices will rise 30% in July. What? 30% on top of £11 something? Then we shall mostly be burning wood or go cold next winter.
Progress was slow after Newbury, two Dutch barges clogged the way, one still sat firmly on the mud under the railway bridge while blue shirts tugged ropes and shouted. Seeing a gap appear on one side of the boat we dashed past before she swung back across the canal.
We later heard that the owners were most unimpressed with the Kennet & Avon and wouldn’t be returning. I wouldn’t be here with a boat that big either, as long as it stayed a ‘remainder’ waterway.
We were the first boats at Thatcham so we tucked ourselves tidily at one end of the moorings, as far from the level crossing lights and klaxon as we could get. But they soon started piling in and by 4pm we were full with boats. One came in lashed to another and was dumped on the side for repairs. I’m afraid I got involved because I just happened to have an adjustable spanner but it was a case of the blind leading the blind as three of us tried to find the diesel blockage on a Shanks engine.
It got dark and it rained so we threw in the towel and disappeared into the dry, muttering something about returning tomorrow if anyone had any good ideas.
Saturday morning, early, we were creeping away from the mooring when heads appeared on the broken boat. Darn it, we’ve been spotted. Using vague sign language and silently mouthing words to convey our apologies we were quickly swept along by the river and disappeared out of sight under the bridge. Thinking that was it we relaxed believing we’d never see them again but they caught us up and we were relieved to see smiles and a thumbs up. Passing each other again and again as you do, we found we had become good friends as we hurled greetings back and forth, always sorry that the river carried us away so quickly.
Woolhampton was our destination and both boats managed to fit the last stretch of empty moorings above the lock.
Visitors came, in the shape of Roger and Babs, and after talking boats for an hour we joined Mike and Jo where we talked boats some more. It’s amazing how much there is to say about boats. I guess it’s like women visiting antenatal classes, babies, babies and more babies. Boats and babies have similarities too, they both need washing, they demand attention, and they both ruin your finances.
Because we’d been travelling every day we decided to have an early night and a lie-in. I drifted off to sleep thinking about a cup of tea in bed, a cooked breakfast and a lazy day catching up on boat jobs.
Sunday 7th June 2009
There was a knock knock on the boat at 7.20am. Who could that be, we’ve paid our licence haven’t we?
It’s Mike from Sarah-Kate – “Didn’t know whether to wake you or not but the water level is so low we might not be able to move, there might be a breach”.
I can tell you I was out like a shot, engine started and ropes cut, pushing Balmaha off the sticky mud into the narrow channel of water left in the centre of the canal. Someone had reported they’d seen water flowing back towards the lock above so we could soon be dry and stuck for who knows how long. Heads popped up from one or two other boats as we slithered down to the lock and shut the gates behind us. One guy with his boat pointing the wrong way looked distinctly worried about his fate but being third in line all he could do was reverse to the lock and wait his turn. We were out and free, pulses returning to normal as we joined the river below and swerved past the open swing bridge next to the pub. Unnerved, unwashed and unfed we were terribly relieved to be back in deep water.
At Aldermaston we passed on the bad news to a hire boat instructor taking his clients through their first lock but he didn’t seem the slightest perturbed, it’s a regular thing, said he, anglers fill their fishing lakes twice a month from the canal and BW come out to ‘rescue’ the stranded boaters by filling the pound from the lock above. It’s a nuisance but no one seems to have worked out a simple cure, like let water in as it’s going out. I suppose the anglers are desperate to keep fishing during the close season and if their gravel pits lose water they must fill them, never mind what it does to boats.
A short cruise downstream we pulled over at the field above Tyle Mill Lock.
More visitors in the shape of daughters for both boats. Cows came along and frightened the girls, which was fun, but otherwise it was a calm sunny day.
We fed Kass and caught up on her news, some of it very interesting, and released her when she looked like she’d stopped talking.
I slept with one eye open, focussed on the water level outside but nothing went wrong this time.
Almost three quarters of our way back to the start of the K&A this is beginning to feel like the end of the adventure. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, apart from a few breakages, and we’ve been blessed with brilliant company in Mike and Jo on Sarah-Kate. Two boats together have made things easier but I can’t say the water or the locks have been at all off-putting. Sure, there are many broken bits, more than you’d see on non-remainder waterways, but the towpath along the whole length is the best I’ve ever seen. I have been surprised at how few boats there are, not counting Bradford on Avon to Bath, but that could be due to the time of year. The scenery is as others have told us, stunning, well worth the journey from Leicester.
Now all that lies ahead is a couple of mornings cruising into the sun and to find the way out.
Would I do it again? You bet. But next time I might start at Sharpness and travel one way, from west to east.
