Newbury to Bradford Upon Avon

Newbury to Bradford Upon Avon

Its been a busy week since last report done. We are still in the company of Allan and Annie Cox. He's a bad influence!! We were talked into going for a pie and a pint at the local pub at lunch time.. the ale was excellent but when we looked at the menu, it was so expensive (again) we passed and returned to the boats to make our own lunch, £14.99 for a beef burger..???….. no way!! ….that would have been nearly £60.00 for the four of us.

The Ocado delivery sent some quarter pounders on our last supplies order and they taste wonderful. 10 minutes cooking time with onions, as they say the jobs a 'gud un'.

Also we are better off with the money in our pocket than theirs.

With the bosun (Jenny) doing all the planning on a day to day basis, we know roughly what to expect regarding locks and any obstacles, ie weirs etc. We have two books that give the directions and tell you where the water points, sewage disposal points and towns are.

We are, one week later, still running with Allan and Annie. They are also going to Bristol so it make sense running together, it makes so much difference with the wide locks, half the work and not so much bouncing about in the locks themselves. We are managing about 9 locks a day and four hours cruising. There are 107 locks on the Kennet and Avon. Next week we have a flight of 21 in one hit ..the Caen Hill flight, lifting (or dropping dependant on which way you going) some 130 ft. Not for the faint hearted.

We can’t get over how quiet the canal is. Not many people moving in either direction. Its been a routine run with no real problems from Woolhampton down to Pewsy. Monday last was May bank holiday and there was a raft race being held over some few miles of canal. We debated whether to hold off because of it or sail straight through..we sailed straight through.. great laugh. . lots of youngsters enjoying themselves, some boats sank, but it was a laugh. Shouting out too them as we passed. 

Newbury Festival

Annie and Allan are like us and like to moor before the other people start to look for places, normally about 2 pm, we have a routine sorted out. Tie off bow and stern. Jenny takes the two dogs for a squat or leg-lift.. I grease the stern gland (that’s where the propshaft goes though the back into the water) it stops water entering the engine room. Remove the tiller then tune in the TV..by that time I'm ready for my afternoon kip. Then 5pm its G&T time or glass of beer and debrief on one or others boat.

While talking the other night the question of age came up. Jenny said her birthday is in October..so’s mine said Annie …  Jenny said the date..so’s mine said Annie..and believe it or not they were born in the same year !!       yes said both ..not sure of the exact time but they are claiming to be twins separated at birth. Yes !! they are as mad as we are ..in a nice way.

Sadly we saw a full grown deer float past us in a part of the cut through some trees. Must have fallen in during the night and was unable to get out. Being a wide canal with wide locks there are a lot more wide beam boats on here. Must be lovely to live on but very restricted to where you can go. We love to move about.

Spanish Grand Prix and afterwards onto Devizes for a couple of days rest before the 21 lock marathon.

We always said . . if it rains….we stop...however when we started on our way on the Monday it was a gentle drizzle. . we would be brave and just put up with it.

By lunch time the drizzle had stopped.. it turned to rain, followed by heavy rain !! followed by thunder and lighting !! followed by HAIL !! ….doh !!

We were dressed in welly’s, waterproof trousers and a good waterproof mac we were ok .. Quick chorus of singing in the rain and good company made the day go quite quickly and we had a few laughs. 

Carly was not happy in the rain but wont go inside.

When we moored up at Devizes Wharf I dropped into the museum there. We have seen lots of WW 2 pill boxes also big pointed concrete mounds (which we hadn’t a clue what they are / were.)

In the second world war as we were awaiting the German invasion a defence line of pillboxes was placed in a line roughly from Bristol to Dover some 1000 plus were constructed. As a last defence.. manned by ‘dads army’. ..The home guard.

The big piles of concrete are what they call the ‘dragons teeth’ designed to stop or overturn any enemy tanks. Some are now listed buildings and covered by preservation orders. When on private land some are put to use as garden sheds or storage.

The Kennet and Avon canal is really a link of various rivers by man made trenches. When we arrived at Pewsey Wharf, and old barge depot where grain, and lots of other commodities were moved to and trans shipped to various destinations. Allan went off too check out the old steam pump house which moves water about on flight what goes down must come up, as water doesn’t flow up hill, it needs assistance. What did I do? You may ask..

I toddled off to bed. I’m still struggling with energy levels, some days I'm OK, others I need to sleep in the afternoon. In the evening we went for a very pleasant meal in the converted barns and stabling areas. A good ‘real ale’ and very good company before the Caen Flight.

Steam pumping station

The canal has to rise some 130 feet to go over the peak. There are some 7 locks leading up to the main flight and another few after but its a long long day what ever way you look at it.

Jenny and Anne work really well together, sharing locks is so good, not only conserving water but conserving energy. Once the boats are in the lock, one of the girls would go ahead and prep the next lock. If we are lucky we meet another boat coming up the flight.

We did have a bit of a scary moment in one of the locks. We got wedged.

Before we did the flight we both topped up with water at the service area.

Normally when you arrive at these places there is enough room to moor unless, you get a selfish boater who moors there thus reducing the area.

I pull up first because I was in front and Forget Me Not drew along side. Fenders down and we laid together as we topped the tanks and disposed of the waste and rubbish.

20 minutes saw us back on our way again.

At the next lock, Allan went in first, I slid in along side, the girls opened the locks and we started to move. Not very far sadly.

All of a sudden the boat started to tilt.. I shouted to the paddle operator to stop the flow of water.!! . . . .we were wedged together.

Moving off quickly we had forgotten to stow the fenders. These are six inch go cart tyres.

As we moved, the walls of the lock forced us together, normally a tight fit but, with tyres down, an impossible fit.

Luckily enough, We sussed it quickly and re floated the boats and an indecent was avoided. Sadly a few inexperienced skippers don’t realise until its to late, resulting in sunken boats in locks. There are quite a few each year.

Caen flight

The end of the day resulted in a well earned few drinks on the last landing mooring at the bottom of the Caen fight. The sun was out, so was the gin and tonic. Chairs out and a lovely unwind. Early evening meal and an early night. Next morning we decided to have a day off and fully recover, however Allan and Annie needed to push on because of family commitments meetings planned. Sadly we waved goodbye to our companions of nearly 10 days. 

We had a day off and moved on the next day. We soon found another solo boaters and linked up for a few locks.

The last few locks on our own till we arrived at Bradford on Avon. Time for a big shop at S’bugs,top up the bar and wine cellar. Also have a look around. Its the Green Man festival here this weekend we have never seen so many Morris Men / Dancers in one place.

Nearly every pub, shopping area, village green had people dancing and performing. 

Bradford Upon Avon Green Man Festival

We left the dogs on board because Jake doesn't do crowds or cars, Carly is OK, but as Jakes getting older he’s a bit more temperamental. He, like me, gets very tired, quickly.

The next place we are off too is Bath for a few days and then plan how we tackle Bristol. As it is a tidal area we need to increase our boat insurance. Three days are planned then we are on our return trip. Its gone quicker than I though it would. Great fun ...met some lovely people, spent more money than planned, but that's life.

Over to Jenny for some pictures and bits to be added ..

TTFN XXX 

Continuing our travels.

Oxford to Newbury

Well its been 14 days since I tickled the keyboard on the laptop. On leaving the Jolly Boatman pub we have had a slow movement to Oxford. We left the Boatman disappointed (sad face imoji if I had one) the Abbott Ale had gone off...so had to make do with something else..Dohh!! such is life.

A slow meander into the next major town which was Oxford. As many people know I spent a lot of time throwing 44 ton HGV’s about for a living, on and off. I have travelled to most parts of the UK via the wonderful road system we have. The times I would cross over the canal system on the various motorways with a longing eye, watching the water going under the bridge, the occasional narrow boat or working boat passing on its way to...who knows where. I must admit I was envious. I don't do envy normally, but the freedom used to call me even then. I never dreamed a retirement dream would come to fruition.

Mind you I had the reverse happen the other day ..saw a driver climbing into his cab.. something I'll never do again..one last time would be good, King of the Road..

Approaching Oxford we were passing a park with a 48 hour mooring area so we stopped and made use of it. Lovely area, lots of kids laughing and enjoying the warm sun. There was a pub just over the road and we had a chance to sample the local brew. Very good but very expensive, compared to home.

Mooring, Infinity in distance

Outside pub....

After checking the map it transpired we were only a short walk into the city centre, as the dogs don’t do traffic, well Jake that is. He has always lived in the country and is not used to cars. He flips and gets very distressed, so we left them at home to guard the boat.

It was a 20 minute walk approx into the old area of Oxford. I wanted to have a look at a hotel I held interviews at when I was a regional sales manager for a national company.

The Randolph Hotel as seen on the TV in Morse and other programs.

Approaching the river bridge, I happened to look down into the river and there was a lady's head in the water ??...what was going on??

I shouted to see if she was OK ..silly question on reflection.. she ignored first time I asked if she wanted help ?? to which she shook her head.

Then I realised what she was up to as she took her glasses of rolled over on to her face.

I believe she was building up the courage to take her own life.

She blew all the air out of her lungs, we were joined by a young lad, by then.

I phoned 999 ...police... fire... and ambulance please. The lad was about to dive in and help her but, I told him not too, you don’t know what is under the water.

While on holiday once we say a man drowned. But another man who went in to help him perished as well. Shopping trolleys weeds or other thing that can incapacitate you.

Luckily enough the lady didn’t breath in under water.

Police arrived first and did a sterling job, They found her name from a handbag on the side seat, with the help of a life belt they managed to persuade her to come to the bank and taken to the awaiting ambulance. The local paper next day said she was physically OK. I just wonder for her mental condition. Hope she gets the help she needed. 

Services arrived and blocked off main road

A wander through the old part of the city..a costa coffee and look about ..sadly my energies gauge clock up empty so a taxi ride back to the boat and an afternoon kip and all was well again.

Leaving Oxford we were soon going to have a completely different environment to cope with. The wonderful River Thames. To say we were both a bit apprehensive for the first few hours was an understatement. The canals are approximately 30 ft wide and about 4 foot deep. The river is a bit different..ten times wider and how deep ?? don’t know.

Also a current. Not fast moving, but enough to let you know its there.

Old Infinity is quite happy with her engine running at usual 2000 revs per minute. Checking with sat nav that's about 3 mph.

On the river...it felt as if we had stopped ..

Up to 2300 and we were off..up to ...wow...5mph !! also into the wind.

Dropping down though Abingdon on Thames, we had a few days and did a bit of shopping and tested a local pub. We are members of a few boaters sites on face-book. ‘Narrowboat Users Group’, ‘Canal Market Place’. We made a few friends on there.. cyber and real.

Another site we are on is Canal Photography. Jenny was looking thorough the pages for that day...believe it or not ...there was a photo of Infinity on the today's pictures moored where we were, taken from the other side of the river. Small world. He was a local photographer out for his daily shoot. 

He has his uses ….

One thing that we couldn't get over was the amount of wartime pill boxes that we could see..many hidden under the hedges and tree but some out in the open. One is quite prominent on a small island along with an, well what looked like an anti aircraft placement behind it, Some were on private land and had been incorporated into peoples gardens.

I did suggest to Jenny we might do some magnet fishing to try out our new magnet, we thought better of it.. knowing our luck we would find a ww 2 Uxb and be stuck here for hours.

How some people are expected to live in some conditions as we cruise past their residences, and in the 21st century is unbelievable.

Some of the house appear to be very big...at least 5 or 6 bedrooms !! Some have huge gardens going down to the riverside. Many had gardeners working on highly manicured stripey lawns, trees and flowers everywhere.

There were quite a few who had big boathouses with sea going cruisers in them !!…

One has a thatched roof with a big balcony on it and a BBQ area. A few had huge green houses with swimming pools in them.

Personally I don't think is fair expecting people to live like this. .they must be worried sick wondering where the next fifty grand is coming from to pay for it all. 

Before we turned on to the Kennet and Avon canal we were happily chugging along at 5 mph and somebody, well a few people, wanted to go faster ...infact they over took us..on the wrong side they weren't even looking where they were going !! 6 of them in a racing boat ...going like the clappers !!

We had sailed into a boat race...a mixed one for all comers by the look of it, some single handed and all the way to way to a full complement. Both male and female. I've never seen so many lovely young ladies with wet tee shirts in one place !!

Made an old man very happy..I gave them a lovely smile ..only realised I didn't have my dentures in...it must have looked more like a demented goofy grin ..Oh well that's life. 

We pulled into Woolhampton and found a good mooring place, we were getting low on supplies and there was a pub here. .surprise surprise I hear you say..no its NOT one long pub crawl.

We are finding it hard work collecting supplies from the local supermarkets if they are not right on the canal side so an Ocado delivery was ordered.

I also contacted an old friend who lives in the area..we met in 1965 when we were apprentices in the motor trade. Bob Smith.. he and his wife came over from Frimley for the evening and we had a lovely meal and a catch up..it was four years since we had met, but its funny with some friends, you might not have been together for many years but the minute you sit down the years disappear.

Ocado delivered ...when Jenny checked it off there was a box missing ..my Guinness..two bottles of red wine and peanuts ..I can’t fault the customer service, one hassle free phone call sorted in 5 mins. Plus a £5.00 credit note added to our account for any inconvenience caused.

Next morning were off again, just about to have breakfast and another boat pulled in in front of us. Jenny made a comment as they came in ..they were just stopping for breakfast. We finished ours and started the engine up the skipper came up and asked if we could link up and travel together. That’s what we have been looking for !!...yippee !!

Doing the big double locks is hard work on your own. Allan and Annie are about our age and appear to have the same sense of humour. Yesterday was a good day half the work for Jenny on the locks. Moored at Newbury tonight. Alan is a CAMRA man... no not a photographer. CAMpain for Real Ale CAMRA.. guess what ?? we are off to check out the local real ale pub later.

That's it for now...over to Jenny for editing and photos...TTFN as they say.