Heading West - nearly into Wiltshire

We've now climbed up the valley of the River Kennet through Newbury to Hungerford where we're moored tonight after an easy morning's cruise.

On Thursday we had a long day (well longer than we normally do) of 10 miles and 12 locks, but also 8 swing or lifting bridges.  Here are some of the bridges:

This is Padworth Swing Bridge which is electrically driven on a road with a fair bit of traffic,

And this is Aldermaston Lift Bridge on the A340 so allowing a boat through stops lots of traffic.  There is undoubtedly a sense of power in being able to do this, but we always look carefully first to  make sure there are no emergency vehicles coming.  There is a fierce current through the bridge and up to the lock just above.

Finally here is Oxlease Swing Bridge.  This is a manually operated swing bridge on a footpath.  The number of swing bridges on this part of the K&A reminded us of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal last year.








A succession of locks spaced a mile or so apart then brought us into Newbury where we spent Thursday night.  Here are a couple of them:

This one is called Monkey Marsh lock and is the second of the two 'turf' locks on this canal.  The iron structure makes sure the boat stays in the deep part of the lock but the water spills over to the earth sides of the lock.

And here is Greenham Lock which was very pretty.  Under the bridge to the right comes the river current which comes through a marina basin.  The cross current does not help navigation into the lock!







We found a quiet mooring just out of the town of Newbury and above this lock.  It was quite late by the time we stopped so we didn't fancy cooking and instead went to an Italian restaurant in town.  Very pleasant and made a change from usual pub fare or eating on board.

The river current through Newbury, given that we've had little rain for a fortnight, was quite surprising and as well as fighting the current you have to go between two streams coming in from left and right to land safely in Newbury Lock.  A tricky move this which we managed quite successfully on Friday morning:

Here we are following Perelka who we've teamed up with for the present.  Despite high revs on the engine we were being overtaken by grannies and toddlers on this stretch.  The pretty bridge is the High Street in Newbury and beyond it is the river junction and the lock.

Here we are coming into the lock.  Leo has been swept to the left by the river current and I am now trying to get back straight to enter the lock.  The left gate is not yet open but as usual Ron (on Perelka) and I have a cunning plan so that Perelka can zip leftwards and Leo will come in through the same gate.





Coming away from Newbury we came across a horse boat used for trips along this part of the canal.  At first all we could see was a large broad-beamed boat slewed across the canal and a big heavy horse dancing around on the towpath.  In fact the trip boat, 'Kennet Valley' was turning round (or winding as we say) and the horse, 'Freddie', was new to the job and a bit skittish.

Here is Kennet Valley with a full complement of passengers leaving the lock pulled by Freddie.  We were surprised how quickly she reached full speed.

Here is a view back when we later overtook the trip boat showing Freddie on the towpath with the horseman and a long tow rope back to the barge.

And finally here is Freddie.  Isn't he lovely?

In truth that day he seemed very happy to pose for pictures but less keen to do his job of pulling the barge.













Friday evening we moored in Kintbury in the sunshine:

Having tea on arrival - notice the washing which dried really well

Today we've just come a short distance to Hungerford.  We have a lovely mooring right in the centre of town and moored just as the heavens opened and it poured down.  We have spent the afternoon touring the antique and junk shops.  The Hungerford Arcade has loads of tiny stalls of all sorts of antiques.

Moored by the bridge in Hungerford

Main street to the North of the Canal

Interesting ironwork bridge across to a house by the canal

Looking up the High Street

Tomorrow we begin the final ascent to the summit of the canal though it will probably take us a couple of days to reach it.  We are 20 locks and 8 miles from the top which is 452 feet above sea level.  Still tomorrow we will be some way up.  We want to visit the Crofton Beam Engine near the top which was used to pump water up to the short (two and a half mile) summit pound.

We're on the Kennet and Avon

After nearly two weeks enjoying the Thames we turned today at Reading and began our climb up the Kennet and Avon Canal towards Bath and Bristol.  So let me bring you up to date.

On Monday morning we walked into Dorchester and visited the Abbey which is huge, more like a cathedral than the parish church of a small village.

Inside Dorchester Abbey

Gravestone in the Abbey

We were very taken with the story set out on this gravestone.  I hope you can read it well enough in this copy.


















Once back on Leo we carried on downstream through Goring Lock to Beale Park just outside Pangbourne.

Approaching Goring Lock

 

And we passed this most unusual summerhouse by the river. Fine for cold days but must be like a greenhouse in the summer sun.








We decided that Beale Park (a wild animal park) was really for kids so we decided against a visit and instead walked a little further from the river on Tuesday morning to Basildon Park where we had a most interesting tour of this National Trust house.  Basildon was built in the 18th century but restored from a dilapidated condition in the 1950s.

Basildon Park

Restored dining room ceiling

Now do you remember this house from the film of Pride and Prejudice?  The one with Keira Knightley.




























From here we travelled just a few miles to moor just upstream of Caversham Bridge and last night we met our friend Miriam for a lovely meal nearby.

This morning we set off for our last day on the Thames through Reading to turn onto the River Kennet being the first part of the Kennet and Avon Canal.  Here are some last shots of life on the big river:

Nice big barge - how's that for a tiller?

Gosling procession

The first part up through the centre of Reading was interesting and not a little exciting given that the current against us on the River Kennet was pretty powerful and threw the boat off course a few times.

Bronze Fisherman by the Kennet

High Bridge, Reading

Going right through the middle of Reading

To County Lock with the weir to its right

This section is controlled by traffic lights so that only one boat at a time is allowed through.  The shame is that you are not allowed to moor either so the centre of Reading does not really benefit from the boats passing through as do many other cities.  It seems a shame and leaves the river looking a bit dead.





















Once through Reading the K&A has some surprises, mostly due to the force of the current but there are also some strange locks.

This is Garston Lock.  Like many locks it was originally turf lined without the stone walls that later replaced the turf.  Here they have left the turf sides but lined the navigable part with a curious steel and timber structure.

And this is Shenfield Lock.  We think this was also a turf lock which has been lined with this curious wavy brick wall.  We shared locks this afternoon with a rather nice 40 foot narrowboat called 'Perelka' which is Polish for 'little pearl', crewed by a nice couple called Ron and Anna.  We both appreciated the extra help particularly with Tyle Hill Lock where a swing bridge on a busy road comes just before a lock.

The swing bridges this afternoon reminded us of our time last year on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.










So we are looking forward to discovering what other surprises the Kennet and Avon  has in store for us over the next few days.  Looking at our guide book shows that we climb gradually first along the valley of the Kennet and then on a pure canal with no river sections up to Newbury and Hungerford before reaching the summit level on the Wiltshire Downs.  We can't wait.

Heading for Reading

Having now seen the Upper Thames at last and really enjoyed our time there, we are now South of Abingdon and heading for Reading where we aim to join the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Thursday we moored below the Farmoor Reservoirs which are huge and we walked round the smaller one which was still a good two and a half miles.  There were sailing boats and sailboards on the larger reservoir and birdhides on the smaller one.

Sailboards on Farmoor Reservoir

On Friday we finally came back to the end of the Duke's Cut where we had started on the Thames just over a week before.  From King's Lock near here the City of Oxford gets ever closer and we moored in the centre just below the very low Osney Bridge which keeps the larger boats off the upper River.

Coming to King's Lock - note the new solar panel added last winter

Godstow Bridge - also pretty low

Large wide open river below Godstow Lock

We spent a day in Oxford and even went to the cinema to see "The Great Gatsby".  We wouldn't highly recommend the film but it did make a change to do something different.  We also visited the Ashmolean Museum which we would recommend and the stuffed aubergines in the restaurant there were pretty good too.  Here are a couple of unusual pictures of Oxford:

The Folly

The Bridge over the river to the South of the City is called Folly Bridge.  We reckon this building which stands next to the Bridge on an island in the river probably gave its name to the bridge.  It has curious statues and battlements all over it.

Anthony Gormley statue

Last year in Liverpool we visited the Anthony Gormley statues on the beach at Crosby.  Called 'Another Place' this consists of a good many representations of a naked Gormley made of iron standing in the sea.  Here is another one up on top of a building in Broad Street in Oxford.













We left Oxford on Saturday afternoon and had a pleasant afternoon cruise to Abingdon where we used some excellent moorings above the lock.  Being Saturday afternoon the river below Oxford was full of boats:

Rowers littering the river below Oxford

And a Steamer coming up behind us

Our way lay past the lovely Sandford Lock, the deepest upstream of Teddington, with the pub beside the lock.

King's Arms and Sandford Lock

This morning we had a good look round Abingdon.  The old Market Hall was restored last year and is now an interesting museum.  You can pay a small sum also to go out on the roof for excellent views of the town and the surrounding countryside.

View from Market Hall

Here you can see the bridge over the river on the left and the huge forbidding town Gaol in the middle.  This is now being converted into apartments!  In the distance is Didcot Power Station which has now been decommissioned and is due to be demolished.

View from Market Hall

And here is the view of the old Abbey Gateway with St Nicholas Church to its left.  The Abbey built in the 7th century was where the tall trees are now.

St Helen's Church

St Helen's Church is a most unusual one.  The church has five aisles and is wider than it is long.  The Victorians  tried with some success to make the different aisles built at different times look like a coherent building.  The church also has some impressive 13th century paintings.







This afternoon we have headed downstream and just above Day's Lock we found a Leo sized hole between trees to moor for the night.  We aim to walk over to Dorchester this evening.  Dorchester was at one time the capital of Wessex and later of Mercia, but is now a small village.  In the next few days we will be continuing downstream to Reading to pick up the Kennet and Avon Canal to head West.

Retracing our steps

In the last few days we've reached the limit of navigation on the Thames at Inglesham (just beyond Lechlade) and started back down the Upper Thames.  Because of the wonderful weather we've been taking our time and doing more sightseeing off the boat than usual.

On Sunday we welcomed our friend Judith from Canada with Maurice and Carolyn from Kenilworth.

Judith, Carolyn, Ian (concentrating hard) and Maurice

All of us at Lechlade

We picked up our guests at Radcot and set off for a short day's cruising to Lechlade:

This is the old bridge dating back to 1267 at Radcot over a side channel

Radcot bridge - this one is newer at 1787 and we went under this one

St John's Lock - lots of tourists out on a nice Sunday

The spire in the background in this photo is of St Lawrence Church at Lechlade, a mile or more away.

Old Father Thames

This statue used to be located at the actual source of the river, but due to vandalism it has been moved to St John's Lock, the first on the river.








Another friend Gordon joined us in the evening at Lechlade and we enjoyed an evening meal together at the New Inn where we even had a private room as there were few diners on a Sunday evening.

After we said goodbye to our guests we decided to stay an extra day in Lechlade and on Monday we had an enjoyable walk around the area drawing on advice from a helpful assistant at the Library. As well as exploring Lechlade and doing some much needed shopping we walked to Inglesham which has an interesting church and is close to the navigable limit for narrowboats (canoes can go further) and to the start of the old Thames and Severn Canal, an ambitious restoration project.

The main street at Lechlade - a very pretty Cotswold town

Medieval wall paintings in Inglesham Church

Inglesham Roundhouse

The Roundhouse was once the house of the lock keeper for the first lock on the Thames and Severn Canal.  The canal goes straight on past the weeping willow tree whereas the Thames comes from the left of the picture.  You can just see the first canal bridge through the trees.

NB 'Noggin' turning by the Roundhouse

This narrowboat was 65 foot long and so we watched with interest how they managed the turn at the end of the navigable Thames.  It is a difficult turn made worse with a large sandbank on the South side.  Having seen them turn successfully we decided we would attempt it with our 57 foot boat the following day.





On Tuesday we cruised back to Radcot where we had arranged to meet more friends Steve and Margaret for an evening meal at the Swan by the bridge.  It was lovely to see them again a year after we met them while cruising through Oxford last year.

Another reason for mooring again at Radcot was to visit Kelmscott Manor the country retreat in the late 19th century of William Morris.  Unfortunately this is only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, another reason for our leisurely pace.  We really enjoyed our visit here today:

Kelmscott Manor

Kelmscott Manor was built in 1600 and extended in 1667 and has been little altered since.  Morris rented the property and his family bought it after his death in 1896.  It is full of the famous fabrics and furniture and art of Morris and of Rossetti who shared the house and his wife!

Medlar Tree in the garden

A relief on cottages in the village, showing Morris under a tree

Kelmscott Church - where Morris is buried

Pews in the church - I think these are reversible seats from a tram!

Tonight we are moored a few miles downstream from Radcot in a delightfully rural spot alongside a buttercup meadow.  We have been watching curlews and swifts in the fields and fish rising from the river to catch the mayflies that make the mistake of falling in the river.  In the next few days we will be making our way downstream first back to Oxford and then down to Abingdon and Reading.