An 'extra'ordinary day on the fascinating Kennet and Avon Canal

Our first full day on the Kennet and Avon on Sunday and we still didn't manage to get up and away terribly swiftly!  Jon, Ruby and crew from NB Guelrose left an hour or so before us and we didn't see them all again until we were mooring up in the evening.  We did manage to set off mid-morning though, without going to investigate anywhere on land - mainly due to there not being much to check out locally as far as we could make out.

Ruby and Jon getting ready to start their day's journey

We've seen this narrowboat a few times recently, and on Sunday it moored up alongside us. 

Wakanui is a Maori word meaning Waka (canoe or craft - pronounced 'woka') and nui (big - pronounced 'noo ee'). The present owners of this narrowboat must have got their pronunciation from an Australian as they described it "Wacka nui".

 

Looking back from our mooring to Burghfield Bridge and a happy fisherman

It was a day filled with an amazing variety of locks and lift-bridges, and of course after spending too much time on the boat passing through 'manned' locks it was a day of much-needed physical exercise! 

It was also a gorgeous sunny day, so along with the manual labour I may've sweated off a couple of pounds with a bit of luck - there's certainly some tough lock gates to negotiate, but we're already finding that it's well worth the effort.

Our first dilemma of the day was this direction sign - yes under there somewhere is an arrow pointing right to the lock, not left to the weir neither of which could be discerned from the junction

Then we came across a few normal looking locks like this ...

and then, unique to the Kennet and Avon, a strange turf-sided one like this (you're requested to leave the lock empty when you've passed through so that the foliage doesn't become sodden) ...

and beautiful scalloped shaped locks for no apparent reason than aesthetics

there were manually operated swing bridges galore

and electronic ones

as well as the odd lift bridge

plus towpath change over bridges

weirs to watch out for

and dangerous feed channels

some deep and feisty locks

as well as lots of Gongoozlers watching

but otherwise a very ordinary day!

We travelled just 8 miles, working our way through 9 locks, 6 swing bridges and one lift bridge during the day - quite a mammoth task, but that's going to be an almost daily adventure for a few weeks now!

Arriving at Woolhampton after 1800hrs, it was a bit challenging to find a mooring, but we did eventually settle on a rural spot not far from Old Woolhampton Lock, sufficient distance from the pub to prevent us from being tempted into spending any more money - we need to be much more frugal from now on if we're going to manage until the end of October!  Once again we had lots of nettles on the bank for company, but not as bad as our overnight stay in Goring, and we didn't need to leave the boat.

 

Barry got talking to a couple at one of the locks who've owned a narrowboat for 30 years, but it's still not quite finished for various reasons. They said the painting and blacking is due for completion next week, but it sounds as though they're not holding their breath in case they're disappointed once again!

 

 

Barry also finally managed to get around to placing a map of the waterways, including locks, winding holes, marinas, etc, onto our blog home page. This was kindly supplied by Tom Jones and his wife from Australia (no! not that Tom Jones - he's from Wales!) who sent it to us earlier in the year, just prior to us leaving New Zealand. Thanks Tom, it's been a handy tool on our travels.

On Tuesday we'll be heading to Newbury where we will explore and possibly stick around for a day.

Not really a flower photo, but I love the colour of these, found in many floral displays, if only I could remember what it's called ...

Leaving the Thames - Kennet and Avon here we come!

Writing the blog on Saturday, I was feeling a little negative as it takes hours for us to complete each post with all the photos and research (though admittedly some days I do more investigating than others!) and I was wondering if it was worth the hassle. However, we received two comments with such positive feedback it inspired me to continue - so thank you to Kim (though she may be biased as she's my daughter!), and to Doug, and everyone else who's written to us, for taking the time and trouble to put fingers to keyboard.

At times it feels as though we could be singing into the wind fruitlessly - though I do also remind myself that one of the main raisons d'être of the blog is to produce a record of the journeys and experiences we've had for the years to come when we don't have our beloved Northern Pride and won't know if we'll get a chance to be on Britain's waterways again. We've already self-published a few months of our journey last year (just for ourselves) and hope to complete the remainder in the future, and Barry's working on a coffee table book (or a series!) for possible future publication - I just have to do the writing!

Anyway, back to our journey!

I still didn't venture off the boat Saturday morning, though Barry had a check of the area to see if there was anything worth risking life and limb for by negotiating the curve of the tree trunk (see below)! I was relieved to hear there was little to be found, so we left fairly early. The Landowner knocked on the boat just after 0700hrs, when luckily Barry was up working on his photos so we graciously handed over the £5 mooring fee - ah well, we've only had to pay £9 all together in our 15 days on Thames, so not too bad considering (and we don't mind paying when we've had a notice informing us it'll happen!).

Our mooring near Mapledurham Lock - tied between two trees - only exit at the bow

The name of the boat moored in front of us looked foreign but it had a 'London' sign on it - there were only two people on board this massive vessel but unfortunately they left before we had a chance to talk with them. It must be tough to get a mooring for such a boat!

The views front front and rear - oops!, bow & stern - first thing this morning

Wouldn't wish to be searching for a mooring for this vessel!

Take away the big boat, add a few formation flying geese, and it's not a bad scene

Two majestic old ladies from another era - though far more pleasing on the eye than the modern cruisers

Another flock of geese off to their morning meeting in a field somewhere

 

 

 

 

Seen on a boat behind 'The African Queen'

 

 

 

 

The old mill at Mapledurham, sadly not accessible - without paying

It was the last day of our Thames license so we planned to get to the 24 hour Tesco's store in Reading and then a sharp right turn onto the Kennet and Avon Canal - there's one more 'manned' Environment Agency lock and then it's back to the more sublime, but un-manned canal.

A more tropical boat house looking a little out of place on The Thames

This monstrosity seemed to have every rich toy conceivable including jet ski, pool, cruiser and of course a helicopter! The people who 'have it all' - wonder if they're happy?

Approaching Reading - one loaf or two?

Lots of passenger pleasure boats to be found for a trip up the river

Reading Bridge

A preponderance of modern apartments along the river at Reading

Wicked staircases/lifts on the side of these buildings

Still plenty of greenery to be seen

There was a 'fire and rescue' boat just exiting Blake's Lock, the final lock on the Thames (which was unmanned - must've been on their tea-break!), and one of the crew said to us and another narrowboat behind "you'll be needing keys on the next locks, do you have any?" Bless him!

Puff the magic water dragon, lives by the sea - Caversham lock, final one really on the Thames

Chock a block in the lock!

There's a long pontoon to moor up a short walk from Tesco's, though nothing to advertise the fact as far as we could see. It took longer than expected to shop as it always does when I have to find what I need in the huge stores - otherwise I end up buying things I never knew I needed and have nowhere to store it all! It's good to have such a variety though once in a while. Returning to the boat we were having a deluge ...

Nice weather for ducks!

Possibly an idyllic home in the summer; however come winter ...

Turning off The Thames to the river Kennet, towards Reading centre

Arriving at the official commencement of 'The Kennet and Avon Canal'

I'm sure these bridges were only designed for horse and carts?

The city centre was buzzing with people - bands playing and activities everywhere

Zorb balls in the pool - looks like great water fun without getting wet

Complete with a beach and related themes - The Oracle Beach 2010

Sandra entertaining the crowds with her narrowboat driving skills demonstration - look one hand!

The crowds go wild with excitement

But Sandra keeps her cool, calm demeanour

We shared Blake's Lock with another narrowboat that's from Hopwas, not far from where Northern Pride was moored while we were back in NZ. It's a lovely boat called 'Guelrose' and had recently had another 10 feet added to it to make it a seventy footer - our poor boat looked miniscule in comparison - but the colours were similar.

At the next lock, Jon from Guelrose didn't get picked up as he thought he could walk along the towpath now we were back on the canals - but that turned out not to be the case so I picked him up and he had a ride with us to Fobney Lock - he and Barry chatted like long-lost friends at the bow!

Barry and Jon at the bow

Jon and his family are on the boat for a week, though it's owned by his parents who also keep a blog click here to read it. Having been around boats all his life, Jon was a mine of useful information as he and Barry chatted, and he loves the Kennet and Avon which is reassuring to hear after all the negativity we've been given about it previously!

As we tied up waiting for Fobney lock, I noticed their boat number (I know ours off by heart as I have to give it every time I pay for diesel) - there's was 46576, one number after ours which is 46575! How likely is that to happen?! They may have been built side-by-side in 1989.

Jon's crew (left to right) Ruby, Charlie and Chloe (and their friend!)

Waiting for yet another lock - there's heaps on them along this canal

In case anyone was doubting - here's the proof!

It's certainly good to be back on the canals again - there's a different, more 'comfortable' somehow ambience than the rivers, especially the Thames, lovely as it is.

We eventually moored up right outside a pub called 'The Cunning Man' what a strange name! Seeing as we were so close it'd be rude not to pop in for a drink, so we ventured out late (it's cheaper that way!) but found it still full of diners with no real 'pub' atmosphere, and of course by then it was too cool to sit outside, so we only stayed for one drink - not a problem considering our precarious financial state!

Moored up by the pub

Bright and cheery yellow flowers