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.