Farewell to Bath

After a month in the fair city of Bath it's time to move off and head back eastwards along the K&A. Winter works and rising river levels mean I'll have to skip the last few miles to Bristol but after a winter stranded on the Thames I'm not taking a chance this year.

I have really enjoyed my time in Bath, in particular the Thermal Spa and Tea rooms. I even had a trip up the Abbey tower which offers splendid views cross the city.

Looking down on the Abbey roof and Roman baths from the tower

Bell ringers room halfway up the tower

On Sunday my old work colleague Giselle came a board with her family for a trip along the Avon valley, over Dundas aqueduct to Avoncliffe.

The stretch between Dundas and Avoncliffe aqueducts was particularly stunning in the early winter sun.

The plan for the next week is to cruise back to Newbury where I'll hire a car for a weekend trip back to Yorkshire for my annual birthday/Christmas dinner with my children which I'm looking forward to very much.  After that I'll continue along the K&A to join the Thames at Reading and, river conditions permitting, head back up to the Oxford canal.

Time to return to the canal

After a fortnight the sunken boat has at long last been refloated and removed from the lock thus opening up the canal for navigation once again.  The only evidence left are a couple of marks on the edge of the cill where the stricken boat sat. For those not familiar with the lock structure the cill is basically the floor of the upper canal level which has to extend into the lock to support the gates.  These are under water when entering the lock from above and it is vital that you do not let the rear of the boat come to rest on the cill as it will cause the boat to sink as the bow lowers.

There are clear signs on the lock beams and a white marker on the lock sides but I'm afraid you can't make them idiot proof or indeed drunk proof. 

I have spent the last couple of weeks exploring the beautiful city of Bath including the Abbey, Thermae Spa and the famous Sally Lunn's tea rooms. The house is claimed to be the oldest in Bath.

Although now baked in a modern second floor kitchen the original cellar kitchen is maintained as a museum with the original fireplace and many traditional baking tools of the period.  The current house dates from 1482 but a section of floor has been excavated by archeologists and shows evidence of building on the site as early as 1150.

While the lock has been closed the recent heavy rain has caused the river to rise by around a foot and the flow to increase to around 6mph which makes boating a bit tricky.  We have had couple of dry days and the river conditions are improving so I may be able to return to the canal later today.  While I love Bath I'm looking forward to spending a little time exploring the canal between Bath and Bradford-on-Avon in a little more detail. 

To Bath and no further

After spending a couple of days in Bradford-on-Avon I continued along a beautiful 10 mile stretch of the Kennet & Avon canal through stunning wooded glades to Bath, or to be precise Bathampton on the outskirts.

I stayed moored up for a couple of days in Sydney Gardens just above the final flight of 6 locks which would take me down onto the river Avon and to the city of Bath itself.  The mooring offers splendid views back over the hills and is fairly quiet although the main rail line runs alongside the wall beside the towpath.

Visitor moorings at Bathampton

As the popular visitor moorings are limited to 48hrs I had to move on and set off down the flight of 6 locks including "Bath Deep Lock" which, at 19.5ft is the deepest on the canal system, on Saturday morning.  The canal passes through some rather ornate bridges and short tunnels as it passes through Sydney Gardens.

The deep lock is indeed very deep and I descended the wet slippy ladder with rope and windlass in hand very carefully Falling into the canal is embarrassing but relatively painless, falling onto a steel boat from 20 ft could prove terminal.

Having safely negotiated the deep lock I continued through the final lock to join the river just below the famous picruresque parabolic weir. 

After joining the river I moored up a few hundred yards downstream on the Bath visitors moorings. I had planned to continue on to Bristol after a few days exploring Bath but discovered that one of the intervening locks was now closed for maintenance until 19 Dec. I now faced the prospect of an extended stay in Bath or turning round and heading back.  The decision was made for me by a drunken stag party who managed to sink their hire boat in the lock flight I had just descended.  

As I write this blog the boat has been there for almost a fortnight and there is still no forecast as to when it will be removed.  On the one hand it has given me an excuse to overstay on the visitor moorings but as the recent heavy rain has caused the river levels to rise about a foot and the river is currently running at around 5 mph I would prefer to be on the canal. 

At least the mooring I'm on is pretty solid and handy for the city centre, unlike my winter on the Thames 2 years ago.  I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the Thermae Bath Spa hopping between warm baths, hot steam rooms and bubbling jacuzzis before a very invigorating massage. 

And I'm becoming a regular at the famous Sally Lunn tea rooms which I can highly recommend should you visit the fair city of Bath. 

I'm thoroughly enjoying exploring Bath with it's many little streets and have taken a day trip to Bristol where I met my old work colleague Giselle and her husband for lunch and a whistle stop tour of the city.  I'm looking forward to exploring further in late December if the river is navigable but for now I'm happy to sit tight in beautiful Bath. 

Caen Hill to Bradford-on-Avon

Well after much anticipation I finally reached Caen Hill flight.  The flight begins with a small group of 6, spread over half a mile, followed by the dramatic flight of 16 locks one after another and then a final 7 spread over a further mile or so making a total of 29 and dropping the boat some 237 feet.  The trip was delayed a day as the engine overheated causing me not a little concern. Thankfully it was just a leaking joint which I quickly repaired and she was soon running smoothly once again. However, it was now too late to tackle the flight before sunset. I set off around 7:30 the next morning, my body clock still running on British summer time, and quickly cleared the first group of six and arrived at the top of the iconic flight a little after 8:30. It really does appear that you are about to cruise off the edge of the world as the ground falls away in front of you.

The view is quite spectacular, this was taken from the 4th lock with a further 12 ahead.

Just under 4 hrs later around Noon I reached the foot of the main flight, they look much better looking back but of course I do have to make the return journey one day.

I moored up after completing the final 7 locks and took a well earned shower and and large G&T, I'm still treating that cold.

Tuesday morning arrived in a blaze of sunshine and the temperature quickly rose to an unseasonably warm 20c.  I was soon reduced to a T shirt and considering getting my shorts out.

I spent a leisurely morning cruising gently though more of the lovely countryside in this area which was benefiting from the bright sun bringing out the beautiful Autumn shades of reds and yellows. While I like to see the green shades of Spring marking the start of the warmer weather I must admit that I much prefer the fiery colours of Autumn.

And to make my day I finally managed to take a photo of a kingfisher after many years of trying.

Shortly after Noon I reached Bradford-on-Avon, my destination for the day.  I have not visited before and look forward to exploring for a day or two before moving ever Westward.

Devizes

After the long climb up the K&A I dropped through only one lock before enjoying a 12 mile lock free trip to Devizes.  The weather remained unseasonably warm and dry and the views over the vale of Pewsey were quite stunning.

The canal is crossed by this rather splendid bridge - much more ornate than the usual workmanlike simple brick built affairs.  Apparently this stretch was owned by Lady Susannah Wroughton who was not keen to see the canal cut through her land but eventually agreed after payment of £500 and the building of this ornate bridge.

A few miles from Devizes I passed the final swing bridge of the day. These can be hard to operate single handed but are much easier than the lift bridges on the Oxford canal. 

I moored up by the wharf in Devizes early on Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the day exploring the town and the canal side museum. The next stage of the journey is a rapid descent down the 29 locks of Caen Hill.  I decided to take a rest on Sunday and will head down the flight tomorrow. I've seen a couple of boats come up the flight today so hopefully the locks will be set in my favour.  

This afternoon I was treated to the sight of this beautiful steam powered launch. The boat has a small stem engine which drives the propeller and requires a minimum crew of two. One to look after the engine and one at the helm. 

On top of Kennet & Avon

After a rather damp afternoon I've reached the summit of the K&A. That is to say I've been going uphill so far and now face a relaxing 12 lock free miles to Devizes before reaching the Caen Hill flight to begin the descent to Bath and Bristol.

This canal has a reputation for being hard work and it is true. There are over 100 locks, averaging two per mile so far, and also a few swing bridges, some are powered but there remain several manual ones which are very heavy to push open. One was so bad I had to use a rope to pull it open with the boat.
That said the scenery more than makes up for the effort. I was a little unsure about doing the trip in late Autumn rather than summer but the colours are quite stunning and of course the canal is quieter out of season.

Autumn

I stopped overnight in Hungerford earlier in the week. A pretty little town where the main industry seems to be antique shops.

Running alongside the canal is the small river Dun which also bisects the town.

Beyond Hungerford the canal continues to rise gently through a mixture of woodland and open pasture.

At the Crofton flight if 6 locks is a pumping house containing the oldest working beam engine in the world. Unfortunately it was closed, one drawback of travelling out of season. For the uninitiated the pumping house is used to pump water from the bottom of the lock flight back up to the top to maintain the water supply at the higher level. Each boat passing through the flight will use several thousand gallons of water.

After reaching the top of the flight the canal passes through a short tunnel before emerging once again into a blaze of Autumn gold.

Shortly afterwards the rain arrived and I moored up in near the wonderfully named village of Wootton Rivers where I'm now snuggled up by the fire. The forecast for the weekend is good and I look forward to an easy lock free 12 miles to Devizes tomorrow before descending the Caen Hill flight on Sunday.
I'll leave you with a couple of shots of the beautiful tree lined summit.

A busy couple of weeks with friends and family.

I'm afraid the blog has taken a rest over the past couple of weeks as I've been travelling with company and been too busy enjoying the good company to get around to writing.

After rejoining the Grand Union I spent a couple of days cruising up to Calcutt just above Braunston where I met up with Pete Billings and his boat Hyperion. We spent three days trundling along the south Oxford canal stopping overnight at Fenny Compton and Cropredy. Needless to say both evenings involved eating out in the local pub followed by a night cap back aboard one boat or the other.

Pete Billings and Newfie aboard Hyperion

 The weather was changeable as one would expect in October but between squally showers the sun shone through to brighten the beautiful countryside traversed by this canal.

Solitary Tree

Pete turned around at Cropredy while I continued on toward Oxford.

Medical update:
Having jammed a splinter under my left thumb nail last week I realised the nail would not reattach and thus removed it.  I was just getting over this experience when a day later I managed to crush my right little finger between the 16 ton boat and a firmly anchored lift bridge just beyond Banbury. Needless to say my finger lost this battle and after my best first aid attempts I visited Banbury A&E with a blood soaked bandage. After a couple of hours I left A&E with a fresh bandage, also becoming blood soaked, and instructions to rest it and keep it dry.  I spent a couple of days recuperating before moving off to reach Oxford as I had arranged to meet my brother who was joining me for a week aboard.  This stretch passes by favourite canal side property - this beautiful cottage at Sommerton Deep Lock.

Sommerton Deep Lock

Dave joined me at Oxford and we spent the next week cruising gently down the Thames to Reading where we turned onto the Kennet and Avon canal and continued up to Newbury. The weather was kind and the trip involved regular visits to local hostelries to refuel.

Reading can be tricky to navigate as the river Kennet can run quite fast and Reading lock has a strong weir along side it. While Dave was preparing the lock I took my eye of the ball and the bows caught the flow from the weir resulting in a very rapid 180 degree turn.  I had to reverse into the lock and turn around again in the calmer water above. A salutary lesson to treat rivers with respect.

Dave left on Tuesday just as the tail end of the hurricane crossed the country. His flight to the IoM was a little interesting while I was treated to a rather lovely rainbow.

Rainbow

After sitting out the winds I set off again yesterday and and now making my way across the K&A towards Bristol.  Progress on this canal is slow due to the number of locks and swing bridges. Yesterday I covered only 9 miles in 6 hours but did pass 11 locks and 2 swing bridges. Today was a shorter 4 hrs covering 5 miles and 10 locks.  There are another 60 plus locks between me and Bristol including the famous Caen Hill flight 29 locks in 2 1/4 miles which I will reach in the next 2 or 3 days dependant on weather.

But I'm not complaining when the scenery is as beautiful as this.

Peaceful

Back on the Grand Union

After a very wet Saturday in Northampton the sun shone on Sunday and I headed off the river onto the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union canal through the first of 17 narrow locks.  These always come a surprise after the wide river locks and fitting a 6' 10" wide boat into a 7' lock is like threading a needle.  I quickly got my eye in and was soon making good progress up the flight.  The advantages of narrow locks are that they fill much more quickly and the smaller gates are much easier to operate.

Lock 1 of 17

Around 4 hours later I emerged from the top lock and onto the main GU heading north towards Braunston.  By late afternoon I had reached a quiet mooring spot a little south of Weedon and decided to call it a day.

Mooring littered with crab apples

Monday's weather was horrendous with heavy rain and gale force winds. I poked my head out briefly and decided staying put was the best plan. I'm in no hurry and see no point in getting soaked unless really necessary. Instead I spent the day catching up on little chores like cleaning the bathroom tiles.

This morning the forecast was better and I headed off toward the Buckby flight of 7 lock under an overcast sky with a chilly breeze. By the time I reached the locks the sun was popping out between clouds and the sky was looking brighter. The GU is a broad canal and the Buckby lock gates are particularly heavy making it hard work on my own. I was hoping to share the locks but no one else seemed to be moving in my direction.  Fortunately there were several boats coming down the flight so most of the locks were in my favour which helped a fairly quick transit.

Once up the flight the trip across the summit passes through lovely wooded sections before reaching Braunston tunnel.

GU

I'm not great fan of tunnels.  The novelty has worn off and they tend to be dark damp places where you need to keep your wits about you to avoid hitting the side or an oncoming boat.

Braunston tunnel entrance

 The tunnel is a little over a mile long and takes around 30 minutes to pass through. The end of the tunnel is a welcome sight but it does herald the arrival of the 6 lock Braunston flight.

Light at the end of the tunnel

I had a fairly simple trip down the locks which were all set in my favour due to the many boats heading south.  I noticed this lovely restored shepherds hut in a field alongside the canal. I always think of Tiffany Aching, one of Terry Pratchett's characters, when I see these.

Shepherds Hut

As I write this I'm moored outside the marina a Braunston where Mr Bunbury and I met 3 years ago. I can't believe how the time has flown by but I'm looking forward to spend many more years in his company.

Back Afloat

After a very enjoyable break on the Isle of Man I arrived back in Peterborough on Monday after a short flight to Liverpool and a long train journey. I had booked a small hire car for a couple of days but when I arrived I was given an Insignia estate which was only marginally shorter than the boat. Surprisingly, while it has such wonderful gadgets as rain sensing wipers, cruise control and automatic headlamps (which come on as you pass under bridges) it does not have parking sensors which seemed a major oversight in such a long car. Hopefully next time I book a small car I'll get one. After a couple of days rushing around sorting g out things for the house and boat I finally eased the good ship Bunbury out onto the river late on a beautifully sunny Wednesday morning and had an uneventful run up river to Irthlingborough where I stopped for the night. On Thursday I completed the remaining 18 miles and 16 locks to reach Northampton where the river joins the Grand Union canal.

I decided a rest day was in order and on Friday took the train to see the poppies at the Tower of London. The installation is impressive and although not yet complete still left one awestruck at just how big a number 800,000 is. I've bought one of the poppies but I'm not sure which one is mine.

As rain is forecast for today (Saturday) I stayed put and will move off tomorrow to tackle the 17 lock climb up to the GU canal.

On a medical note I managed to stick a large splinter of wood under my thumb nail yesterday and it is proving very painful when touched so the locks could be a challenge. I think I may lose the nail but I understand they normally grow back.

 

A trip to the Isle of Man

Good news. The good old boat passed her safety test with flying colours which, while not unexpected was nevertheless welcome. After the test I made my way up river to Oundle marina to moor up for a few weeks while I get ready for the next trip. On the way up I stopped overnight at the peaceful Ferry Meadows and unwisely joined my son Steve in the 5k parkrun. Only my second and improved by time by almost 2 minutes to 40:47, slightly annoyed as I wanted to break 40. My hard work was rewarded with a splendid sunset over the lake.

After Ferry Meadows I had a gentle cruise up to Fotheringhay where I realised that the river level was around a foot below normal making mooring a bit tricky as much if the bank was too shallow to get the boat in. The trees are showing a noticeable Autumnal tint.

Once at the marina I drove back to the house to remove some furniture before the new tenant moved in and dump some stuff in the garage that I no longer need on the boat. With the house sorted I headed off for a short break to visit my brother and family on the Isle of Man. It's the first time I've visited since they moved into their new home complete with stables and several acres of land for their horses. The setting is stunning surrounded by hills in beautiful countryside a few miles from Ramsey.

I'm really enjoying chilling here, spent the afternoon wandering around the fields with several horses and a couple of young springer spaniels for company. Very relaxing company.

I've been thinking about selling my car as its just sitting in the marina gathering dust and costing money to tax and insure. By coincidence Dave is looking for another car, a deal was struck and I'm now carless. This of course leaves me in the IoM without transport. I've booked a flight to Liverpool on Monday and then train back to Peterborough ready to rejoin Mr Bunbury.

I'll continue the story when I leave the marina and head back up the river to join the Grand Union canal.