Narrowboat AREandARE

From the 2009 & 2010 tantalising tales, traumas and stunning photographs of Barry (photographer) and Sandra (writer) from New Zealand aboard NB 'Northern Pride', to the stories of their 2013 return journey, purchase of 'AREandARE', progress on sustaining their live aboard continuous cruiser lifestyle, and Barry's quest to gain residency and 'Indefinite Leave to Remain' in UK ...

Thursday 12 August 2010

Newbury to Hungerford - and a very convivial evening

After two nights in Newbury it was time to move on - and fortuitously we'd missed having to travel on Tuesday when the heavens opened and didn't relent until the evening.  Wednesday was a perfect temperature for boating and lock working - mostly sunny but not too warm.

Driving through Newbury wasn't quite such a spectator sport as Reading, but you do travel through the town centre, under the lovely bridge where shoppers walk over along the High Street - so the canal is very much a part of the town.

P1310207

 

 

 

 

 

September's Canal Boat magazine - 'Pride and Joy' is the article about us - cool aye?!

 

 

 

 

 

P1310198  The canal in Newbury is full of all kinds of ducks - even pigeons are trying to get in on the act!

P1310221 Not just children out enjoying the canal-side ...

P1310224A there was even a fishermen in the town - and he was friendly!

P1310228A Looking through Newbury's stone built bridge to the lock

P1310239A

And a close up of the beautiful bridge in colour

P1310254A

P1310256

Driving under the bridge and straight into the lock

P1310257A Looking back at Newbury

P1310258

Informative board next to Newbury Lock

They certainly embrace the canal and the fact that it's contributed hugely to the town of today, though it was only by a concerted effort by a man called John Gould that the Kennet and Avon was saved from dereliction some years ago.  Twenty years after the final section of the canal was re-opened, it's under consultation to be reclassified as part of the 'cruising network' - apparently BW make no distinction with regards to maintenance whether it's classified as such or as a 'remainder' waterway, but by the state of many of the locks we've encountered to date I'd question this!

P1310267A Leaving the swing bridge and Newbury behind (until our return journey!)

P1310270

P1310272

    Crossing under the busy A34 & 'Kia ora' to the kiwi's from Taupo who we met along the way

P1310278-Panorama1A Waiting for one of the twelve locks of the day to empty

P1310282A

 

 

 

Another pretty journey in our parallel universe

 

 

 

P1310287A Hampstead Bridge and lock

There had been a widebeam boat (Rebecca) moored up behind us while we were in Newbury, and we'd chatted to the two brothers on board a couple of times (well I thought they were brothers but they turned out to be father and son).  They left an hour or so ahead of us on Tuesday but we caught them up at one of the locks.  Their boat is one of four that The Bruce Trust, a non-profit making company, have available to hire out to 'disabled, disadvantaged or elderly people'.

Dave and his crew are from Worthing, near to Brighton, and had the boat for a week.  Prior to hiring it Dave had to go on a weekend residential course to ensure he was capable of managing such a boat - he said he'd been a bit sceptical about it at first but afterwards was amazed at how much knowledge he'd gained and how helpful it was when travelling on the boat and working out it's internal intricacies.

We followed them for the remainder of the day, until we reached Hungerford which was our destination too.  I walked for much of the way, and did a bit of stretching yoga exercises at some of the locks (when I knew no-one was around!) as I must lose some weight.  It's been creeping on as we've been eating far too many naughty things like cakes, biscuits, chocolate and crisps, while not really doing much in the way of exercise!  We'll see how long it lasts ...

P1310288

P1310292

Catching up with WB Rebecca and crew

P1310300ALovely 'More wood' at Copse Lock! 

P1310306A Looks like we've turned back the clocks to a bygone era

P1310308A One gate shut, now walk over the lock gate to shut the other one, then open the paddles - all good exercise and so much more fun than a gym!

P1310311C Here's a rare sight!  Maybe we have literally gone back in time?

P1310319

P1310328

It's a trip boat from Kintbury (Kennet Horse Boat company) - awesome!

P1310323A I think the flowery shorts may give the game (and century) away!

P1310343A How about that for a rudder?  Very colourful old boat, great to see it being used

P1310339

P1310334A

This poor old lady got a bit stuck and had to negotiate a passage behind the horse without falling into the canal inches away!  Is that horse smiling?

P1310348A

A 2 hour trip from Kintbury to Dreweat's Lock, descend, leave, turn around, then ascend and back to Kintbury

P1310350A  Shepherd's Bridge - two boats coming at us so we had to hover for a while

P1310359A Almost time for us to go through

P1310366 A leafy glade approaching Kintbury - a busy canal today

P1310374

P1310378

The outskirts of Kintbury, and Kintbury Bridge and Lock

P1310381

P1310383

A couple of grand homes overlooking the canal in Kintbury

P1310385A A boat-ful of kids out on their summer holidays

P1310389A Looks like a snowy winters day at the lock - sadly we'll be gone before the snow comes (says Barry, not Sandra!)

P1310396

P1310397

There's some old locks and bridges on this canal

P1310399A And a variety of gate paddles

Elaine, Dave's wife, kindly invited us to dinner aboard their boat that evening and we most gratefully accepted - it's not often that we get to go on other people's boats and we'd never been inside a widebeam before.  Dave and his family seemed such lovely people too, so we thought it'd be very pleasant to get to know them better - and we were proved correct!  What a friendly, happy family they were - thank you all, we really enjoyed your company - and of course a bonus was we learnt a new card game 'UNO' - thanks Brad!

Despite the delightful company, we possibly foolishly suggested that we all played Barry's card game which may've been a little bit too complex for a larger group to learn whilst under the influence of Barry's boat brew (apart from Tom and Brad of course!)!

P1310405A Station Bridge, just outside Hungerford, where we topped up with water

P1310410A Coming into Hungerford under the bridge carrying the main road to Salisbury

P1310412A Mooring up for the night a short walk from the town centre

P1310425

 

 

So much more room in a widebeam

 

 

 

P1310427 Emma, Tom, Glen, Dave, Elaine, Brad and Sandra

P1310430A Brilliant evening light shines on Hungerford Town Bridge

We didn't get back to the boat until almost 0100hrs after a wonderful evening, so there may be a bit of a lie-in on Wednesday before a stroll into Hungerford to check it out ...

P1310183A

A rose by any other name!

No comments:

Post a Comment