A Diversion on the Wey Navigation

It has been sometime since our last posting on this blog largely due to the fact that we have had the pleasure of meeting lots of friends over the last few days and so have not been keeping up to date on blogging duties.

We are now back on the Thames after three days going part way up the Wey Navigation to meet friends round Woking where we used to live.

At the last posting we had come onto the Thames at Reading and had reached Sonning. To start this posting here is a picture of the lovely sweet peas that Jeremy and Maggie brought us:

From Sonning on Friday we came downstream to Henley where life on the river was very different to when we came through last year.  This time it was only a few days after the famous Regatta and a few amateur races were still taking place on the same course upstream of Henley Bridge.  The river was divided down the middle with a line of posts so that the racing took place on the right and normal traffic was confined to the left half of the river:

Here is Henley Church and the bridge over the river.

Above the bridge normal traffic had to keep left with cruisers and other boats moored all the way down the middle of the river.

Note the new solar panel on Leo's roof, which we installed during the winter.

This photo shows the divide down the middle of the river with rowers racing on the far side.












Below Henley we came to Hambleden Lock and Weir.  This is very pretty.

Hambleden Weir with the old mill behind

We had lunch below Hurley Lock in a wide stretch of river with thousands of tiny fish in the shallows as this picture of Helen's foot shows:

We did some shopping in Marlow and then passed under the lovely suspension bridge which is identical to one over the Danube in Budapest.

Marlow Church and Bridge

Friday night we spent just below Marlow in a gap in the trees which proved to be exactly the same length as Leo.  On Saturday we carried on down to Runnymede with a long gap in the middle of the day when it was very hot spent lazing and visiting Boveney Church:

At the boatyard at Bray we passed the royal barge which took part in last year's Jubilee Pageant.

 Boveney Church is tiny and dates back to the twelfth century.  It was used by boatmen frequenting the wharf nearby.  The key was held by the lock keeper at nearby Boveney Lock.  The main benefit of visiting the church on a day when the temperature was well above 30 degrees was the cool interior. 

The only way to cool off on Saturday was to go in the river and here is Helen enjoying a swim off the boat. Yes, Ian did go in too.

When the temperature finally started to fall, we carried on through Windsor, dodging the little yellow motor boats.  We carried on quite late to find a mooring at Runnymede which looked nice but proved to be quite noisy with car and plane traffic.






Sunday, like Saturday, was very busy on the river:

Packing in the boats at Penton Hook Lock, below Staines

Rather than shoot past the end of the River Wey and miss seeing quite a few friends living round Woking, we decided to buy a 3 day licence for the Wey Navigation which, being owned by the National Trust, is not covered by our Gold Licence.

The Wey Navigation is one of the oldest canals in the country dating from 1653.  When it was built the Thames had no locks and was about 2 feet higher at Shepperton where the Wey joins it.  When the locks were built on the Thames it was necessary to put in a lower pound to the first lock on the Wey to lift boats sufficiently to pass over the cill on the first Wey lock - called Thames Lock.  Here is the lower pound with its huge gate.

This photo is looking from the lower pound towards the main lock under the footbridge.  Fortunately this confusing lock is made much easier by the presence of a lock keeper.








On Sunday night we moored just above Thames Lock and enjoyed the company of Norman, Barbara and George who cycled to us.  On Monday we carried on to Pyrford to meet Rosemary (who, like Helen, was a school admin officer) and her husband Roger for lunch at the Anchor.

Here is the bridge over the Wey at, where else but Weybridge.  The navigation does not go under the bridge but turns sharp right into the lock.

The navigation goes past these posts and turns under the much lower bridge into Town Lock.

 Coxes Lock is to the left of this photo and part of the magnificent mill (now turned into flats) is to the right.  You can just see the stream that comes out of the mill pond in the middle which makes steering into the lock quite a challenge!

You can tell its hot when the ducklings are hiding in the shade, though mum does not appear to mind the sun.











After an enjoyable lunch, joined by cycling friend, Chris, we carried on a few miles upstream and found a shady spot under trees above Walsham Gates.  In the morning on Tuesday we set off to a further lunch appointment at the New Inn at Send with Joan (who Helen used to work with) and her friend Brian.  After lunch we managed a cruise up to just below Bowers Lock and back to the New Inn.

Joan and Brian at the helm together

In the evening we met yet more friends at the New Inn - Graham (who Ian used to work with) and Carole, Annette and Sandra from the Woking Cyclists.  After all this socialising we came back down the Wey today and back onto the Thames:

Idyllic scenery at Papercourt Lock

This boat called  MSC Frodsham is a replica of one which was used to carry coal out of the mines on the Bridgewater Canal near Wigan.  We're not sure how it came to be on the Wey Navigation.

Approaching Weybridge Town Lock with the Church in the background.

And finally here we are emerging onto the Thames at Shepperton.













We've really enjoyed our few days on the River Wey, not only for the pleasure of the company of so many friends but also it is a lovely scenic river and well worth the effort of including in a water journey.  The wildlife was also interesting, particularly the grass snake and the toad we saw swimming in the river and the tern, red kite, and bronze dragonflies flying over us.

Tonight we are moored on the old course of the Thames to the North of Desborough Island close to Shepperton.  Fortunately there were trees for shade and we had another swim in the river this afternoon to cool off.  Tomorrow we aim to reach Kingston and on Friday we'll have a short section on the tidal Thames from Teddington to Brentford to take us onto the Grand Union Canal.  And so into London.

Cruising the Thames Again

After four weeks on the Kennet and Avon we are now back on the Thames and tonight we're moored just downstream of Sonning.

It is worth reflecting on our experience of the K&A.  The Canal is all pleasantly rural with some fine views from the summit level and around Bath and Bradford on Avon.  At the Bath end the locks down to the Avon and the wonderful aqueducts of Dundas and Avoncliffe were well worth seeing and the Caen Hill Locks are truly spectacular.  On the downside, the canalside moorings are inadequate for the number of boats travelling and mooring other than on special visitor moorings is often impossible.  The sides of the canal are usually heavily overgrown with reeds and would be much better trimmed on the towpath side.  This really would help all users of the canal, not just boaters.  Dredging the canal closer to the edges would also help boats.

Enough for general comments, back to our trip.  We enjoyed our second stay in Newbury and left there on Tuesday morning.

This picture shows a narrowboat trip boat coming into Newbury Lock.  Below the lock is a Fullers Pub, 'Lock Stock' which has tables by the waterside.  We ate there on Monday evening.

Here we are on our way down the K&A following Alf who was a single hander.  Normally we find locking with a single hander means more work for us, but Alf was great, putting in just as much effort as us  in working the locks.






We stayed overnight at Woolhampton just above the lock below which the Kennet flows fiercely in from the right.  Amazingly moored right in front of us was the boat, Whistler, which we looked to buy at the same time we considered buying Leo.  Our two boats were moored side by side in Pyrford Marina.  We have met Jan and Graham from Whistler before and it was good to see them again.

Here is Whistler - moored in front of us

 On Wednesday we welcomed our friends Jeremy and Maggie onboard after enjoying lunch together at the Butt Inn close by Aldermaston Wharf.

Jeremy and Maggie onboard Leo

We took Jeremy and Maggie through the Aldermaston Lift Bridge and then a few more locks to Tyle Mill where we stopped for tea before they walked back to their car.  Then it was onward for us to Theale where we spent Wednesday evening.  We had a short bike ride here around some of the lakes in the Kennet Valley.  These old gravel pits now form wonderful sites for wildlife or fishing or sailing.  We had read that Theale Church was built in imitation of Salisbury Cathedral so we went to take a look.  While we couldn't see the resemblance it is certainly an imposing church, quite unlike a typical parish church.

Theale Parish Church

Today we've come down the remaining locks and through the centre of Reading.  En route we came through the second of the turf locks on the K&A.  These have an iron grid that keeps the boat in place in the centre but the water spills over onto the sloping sides:

Here you can see the iron structure next to Leo and the water spilling over into the surrounding vegetation.

This view is looking back into the empty lock.  We were sharing with another couple, Dave and Alison on Free Spirit.









In Reading we met Sally who Ian used to work with and gave her a ride through Reading and out onto the Thames.  Sally ordered an egg sandwich at the pub we visited at the bottom end of the Kennet and was surprised to find a fried egg sandwich on her plate.

After allowing Sally to go back to work we carried on down the Thames and after mooring downstream from Sonning we walked back to look round the village.  Sonning is a lovely village but unfortunately is strangled by loads of traffic on a tiny road trying to get to the bridge to cross the Thames.

Approaching Sonning Bridge - through the central arch with priority over those coming upstream.

This is the view from the downstream side of the bridge.  We've tried to find out the story about the postbox on the bridge pillar but without success.  We'd just love to see the postman collect the letters!!

Here is a view of one of the side streets in Sonning, with as few cars as I could manage.  It did strike us that the village would be so much prettier and comfortable without all the cars.








In the next few days we'll be carrying on downstream via Henley and Windsor eventually to Brentford to connect with the Grand Union Canal.

Reaquainted with the Kennet

Tonight we are back in Newbury, this time moored above the lock to try to get some shade on the boat.  Today has been extraordinarily hot.  It's fine having a solar panel which you want to place in bright sun to charge the batteries, but today it would be unbearable to be moored in the sun, so we've sacrificed replenishing the batteries for a bit of personal comfort.

Since the last posting we have been making our way back East from Devizes and yesterday and today we've had the pleasure of a visit from our daughter, Lucy.  From Devizes there is a 15 mile lock free pound with distant views of the 'Wiltshire Wolds'.

Distant views of Wiltshire Hills from the summit pound of the canal.

Walker's Hill White Horse, one of many white horses in this area.












Coming into the delightfully named Honeystreet we got stuck behind this hotel boat:

This, as you can see, is a widebeam boat of generous proportions and goes extraordinarily slowly to the extent that from time to time we had to slip Leo into neutral because we simply could not go that slowly.  Fortunately they decided to moor at Honeystreet so that we could return to our normal 3 mph.




On Saturday Lucy joined us and we came down the locks from Crofton towards Hungerford.

This is Little Bedwyn and the scene matches a painting we saw at Devizes with two steam engines passing under the footbridge by the canal.

Here is Lucy trying to gain a few feet to get a photo.

 It really as been hot the last couple of days and this was our attempt to use umbrellas as parasols.  It did help cut down the heat.

You've probably heard of or seen turf roofs for houses or outbuildings.  But we had certainly never seen one on a narrowboat before.









We spent the night in Hungerford with a meal at a nice Italian restaurant called Primavera.  In the churchyard at Hungerford is this amazing Tumble Stile (also called a Clattering Stile):

Here is the stile in its closed position.  Each horizontal is pivoted and the weights on the left hold them all level.

To open the stile you simply push down and then step over the low part.  Once you release the stile it springs back with the weight of the wooden blocks on the left and makes a delightful 'clattering' noise, hence its name.






Here are a few more sights along our way today:

An idyllic scene taken through a lock gate as Ian went down in the lock.

At first this looked like someone with a VW van in their back garden.  However look more closely!

Unfortunately this picture is not as sharp as I would have liked, but it does show a Red Kite of which we've seen a number round here.









Tomorrow Ian has to have a day off boating, going to a Naughty Boys Course (a Speed Awareness Course for those caught on radar traps - not on Leo!), but on Tuesday we will carry on our Easterly cruising towards Reading where we will rejoin the Thames.  We hope to meet some more friends round Reading before we continue towards London.

Back to Devizes, heading East this time

There has been a bit of a gap in our updates but this has mainly been because we have had guests and we don't like to be too rude in spending the time on the internet instead of talking to friends.

The previous blog was in Bristol and we spent two nights there in the Floating Harbour opposite the SS Great Britain. On Saturday morning we walked around some of the places we used to know as students in the 1970's and climbed the Cabot Tower for the views.

The Cabot Tower was built in 1897 to celebrate 400 years since John Cabot set out to discover America.  The tower sits on top of Brandon Hill and has lovely views over the city in all directions.

Here is the view down to the harbour.  You can see the SS Great Britain with its masts and Leo is just out of sight on the nearer side of the water.

Bristol is celebrating Nick Park's animation work by having a number of large 'Gromits' around the city. Here is a lovely golden Gromit outside the Victoria Rooms:

 

On Saturday afternoon we welcomed our friend Gordon onboard for a tour of the Harbour. Gordon brought some fine sunshine with him too.

Here is Gordon with Helen enjoying the sunshine on the back of Leo

And here is the Clifton Suspension Bridge seen from the Cumberland Basin on our tour of the Floating Harbour.  The railings in the foreground are on the gates of the entrance lock from the tidal River Avon.  We reversed right up to the lock gates to get this view.

 Sunday morning we left Bristol with our friends John and Ali on Triskaideka and got all the way back to Bath where we moored down on the River Avon. In the evening all four of us went out for a nice meal at Carluccio's. On Monday morning our friend William joined us for a few days. William had a wish to climb the Caen Hill flight and that was an offer too good to refuse. We decided to repeat our experience of backing up into the arms of the Pulteney weir and so both Leo and Triskaideka now feature in the photos of lots of tourists. After that diversion we went back up the Bath locks and, having left John and Ali at the top, we carried on to Bradford on Avon on Monday evening.

Here is John at the helm of Triskaideka backing up close to the Pulteney Weir with the famous bridge behind.

This old chap and his dog insisted I take their picture.  They were watching the boats go by at the bottom lock.

This heron with his neck sunk down into his chest was enjoying sitting on a boat by the canal in the lock flight.  He seemed more interested in the boats than in any fish he could catch.

  

And here Ian and William enjoy a well earned beer on a bench by the boat at Bradford on Avon.

With William we had a second meal at the Dandy Lion and on Tuesday we headed on, stopping for diesel at The Boatyard at Hilperton where we were pleased to report to Spencer and Victoria that the new engine mounts were fine and that the diesel leak had been successfully cured. A few locks at Semington and Seend allowed us to limber up for Wednesday's efforts. We teamed up with a friendly group of Dutch folk on a hired boat coming up the Seend flight. 

With some friendly Dutch narrowboaters in the Seend Locks.

 

We moored for the night where we had stayed before some 3 locks up the Devizes locks. William and Ian walked up the flight in the evening for a pint at the Black Horse on the edge of Devizes. Today we've come up the 26 locks to Devizes. We've done it this time without another boat to share with, but life was made easier not only by virtue of William's assistance but also because of a couple of CRT volunteers and an Australian chap who wished to help. 

Ian fished this grass snake out of one of the Caen Hill locks.  Unfortunately it was dead as it was a fine specimen over 2 feet long.

Looking down the Caen Hill Flight - distant views towards Bath - the flight climbs 230 feet up the hill

 

We had teas at the cafe at the top of the main flight and later we visited the town museum which included some relics from excavation of Iron and Bronze Age barrows. Many of these showed exceptional craftsmanship and artistry.

In the next few days we will be working our way back to Reading to rejoin the Thames.