MV Matilda

As you can see from the photo above the train line and canal follow the same route towards Newbury. So, the suspension of train services this week has meant a very tranquil journey to Hungerford.  The only train running is at Great Bedwyn village shop!

We saw the very first ducklings and one of them was bright yellow. This made us wonder why ducks are always yellow in illustrations and films.   Was Walt Disney responsible?  Let us know your thoughts……..

This is Marsh Wren and the lovely couple who so kindly helped with the locks from Great Bedwyn to Hungerford.   Their flight to Portugal was cancelled so the K & A beckoned instead.  They have my very grateful thanks.

We caught up with friend Claire who works in Hungerford.

Hungerford itself has a lovely High Street and many antique shops to browse, kitchen shop and bookshop.  It really ought to be a Waitrose town but has Tesco and small Co-op!

It has a lovely common that we walked yesterday, a well preserved WW2 Pill box and a milestone on the A4. The cafe in the centre selling amazing garden ornaments is to be preferred to Costa at the garden centre opposite!

  

We are keenly watching the reports from the Canal & River Trust regarding the flooding of the River Kennet which joins the K & A canal. Normally it has very little water and almost dries up during the summer months but yesterday we went to inspect, and it was flowing rapidly.

 

                                    Water flowing over the top lock gates

It’s raining again today. The CRT are advising caution if continuing but this morning the lovely Wessex Rose Hotel boat passed us, and she is a similar size to Matilda so if she can make it so should we!  Confidence restored!

Last glimpse of Caen Hill Marina Monday 16th

Ascending Caen Hill flight almost there!

 

Grateful thanks to our helpers and to Nigel and John volunteer lock keepers. We look forward to seeing you in September!

We bid Devizes “Au revoir” last Thursday morning

Moored at All Cannings Visitor Moorings.

 

We had to return to Devizes unexpectedly as I had forgotton my summer clothes – in store at Zelf!  The drivers of the Salisbury Red buses were so helpful. Ian phoned his colleague Andy to make sure he picked us up at the Travel Lodge stop and then Andy dropped us off at the canal. Excellent service and  I emailed Salisbury Reds to compliment the drivers and suggest they received a bonus!

Friday we moored at Wootton Rivers,  a very pretty village. We had been unable to moor here  last September as there was a shortage of water.

  

And a very smart idea

The history

 

NB a virgate is 30 acres

As we progressed  we noticed a great deal of tree pruning had taken place and the reeds had been cut back which we were very pleased to see. It makes life so much easier when you meet another boat!

Continued through Bruce tunnel to begin the descent to Crofton. Quite pleased with the reflection in this photo!

A minor hazard en route

Moored up at Crofton close by the scenic Wilton Water and opposite the pumping station yesterday afternoon, after opening 9 sets of lock gates. We walked over to the pumping station cafe for a late lunch. The way is via a tunnel under the railway. A bit frightening if a train comes along!

Terrific storm last night. Thunder began just after nine. We were woken by torrential rain and thunder at 2.45am . Today has been a cleaning and tidying day, Tomorrow we move on to Great Bedwyn – if there is  space in the Visitor Moorings.

Celebrating the birthday of my sister Ruth at Coombe Abbey Hotel. Our rooms was the middle bay window.  Victorian Gothic!

  

  

Friday evening birthday dinner

Saturday was a trip down Memory Lane for Tony. He studied at the “new” Coventry University and became involved in Canal restoration.

   

Hawksbury Junction – the meeting of the Coventry Canal and the Oxford Canal. The Coventry Canal Basin where he used to have boat rallies. The BBC were there interviewing passers by and asking for suggestions to revitalise the area. Needless to say Tony was in his element telling Coventry about his exploits 40 plus years ago!

  

The Cathedral and opposite University and Museum. As you know we can never pass up a museum!  Airfix models and Lady Godiva – a winning combination!

 

And also people Tony used to know form his canal days enshrined in oil.

 

Then a dash across town to see Spon Street with its Watch museum and Weavers cottages

  

The weavers cottages were so small the girls in the family, all of them spinsters, used to sleep on this platform hence the saying “to be left on the shelf” if they were unmarried.

Saturday night we attended a medieval banquet and were persuaded to dress for the occasion!

 

  

                                              The Baron & his wench!

The entertainers!  An excellent evening!  And many thanks to Rachel & Gary for organising it.

 

 

 

Massimo and his wife Shania are the new owners of the former Francos. Lovely food and welcome. They even remembered our favourite pud which has never featured on the menu!

We have been making regular visits to Newport to check on father in law Lionels progress since he was discharged from Poole Hospital. Rachael looks after him with help from carers morning and evening, and the District Nurse visits daily.

We organised a Quiz Night at the Marina and set some difficult challenges…….

Round 3 On the water

1 Which Englishman made the second round the world voyage?

2 Who led the ill fated Antarctic Expedition in 1902?

3 Where can you visit Queen Mary?

4 In which Ocean was the Marie Celeste found drifting?

5 Who wrote the children’s novel Swallows and Amazons?

6 In addition to an anchor what other piece of equipment is a boat required to have before venturing on tidal water?

7 Who was the engineer responsible for the construction of the K & A canal?

8 How many gallons of water a day does the Foxhangers back pump raise?

9 The 29 locks have a rise of how much in 2 miles?

10 Who played the leading roles in the 1997 film Titanic?

11 What local person links the Titanic with Devizes?

12 In what year did the Labour Party announce the de-commissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia?

If you managed 10/12 Well done!

Helping to clear Belvedere woods after the town Council appealed for helpers. The woods surround the towns beautiful cemetery and the banks are covered in snowdrops.  The biggest challenge was heaving the supermarket trolley over the iron railings for the truck to pick up!

  

Sarah with the truck

Joan Zita Sarah & Tim exhausted!

 

 

Roger & Nina come for a cuppa

One sunny day we explored the canal looking for the junction of the Wilts & Berks canal and Semington Village. The church has the most beautiful Book of Remembrance of those local servicemen who died in WW1

    

     

A few bright although cold days, meant we could make use of our solar panels We kept a record of the temperature on 28 February. There was ice on the Marina

7.30 am -2.8*   9.00am -1.1*  12.30pm 2.2*   3.30pm 1.3*    5.30pm 1.8*   7.00pm -2.9*

We woke at 7.30am on March 1 to -3.4* to light snow but very strong wind

Braved the snow on March 2 to drive to Portsmouth for my birthday. The A350 was closed at Warminster so we followed the A37 and M27. The Land Rover had no problem with drifting snow.

We spent Saturday and most of Sunday at the Historic Dockyard. As we didn’t see all the attractions we plan to go again for Tony’s birthday. My favourite ship The Warrior

The Victory & M33

   

Mary Rose

 

Dancing friends came to visit after our very good reunion lunch at The Westbrook Inn. We met about 1996 at Ivy Lane School hall in Chippenham.  Some of us still dance!

    

Quaffing fizzy then attempting the Conga!!!

Knitted tea cosies in Make Do & Mend shop Devizes My favourite is from row second left.

REME have taken over the old RAF Lyneham base and have opened an excellent museum

 

Birth Certificate 1942                                        Finding your REME ancestor

  

Sherman tank conversion

  

This corner explains how the British Army got the VW car plant working again.

  

After refreshment at the cafe we walked the town trail at Calne and found it fascinating. We took so many photos… Here are just a few…

The church and its amazing Mike Rawle who has so much church and local knowledge

                          Bowood hosted many scientists. Calne calls itself a “discovery” town

The Pigs.  The Harris bacon factory was established here. Apparently pigs from Ireland were landed in Bristol and walked to Calne!   The Pigs are just one feature of the towns’ art trail. Below is the lovely library.

The park gates and Calne canal. The canal was an arm of the Wilts & Berks canal

 

The Coach Stop

Today 18 March Snow at 8.00am

  

Midday and our two swans seem to have two eggs

We were going to visit and Open Garden this afternoon……………

More exciting adventures to come………

 

A quiet start to 2018. The engine was serviced and we took down the xmas lights.

We began ballroom dancing again trying to remember the steps to Rumba One!!!.

Tony visited the Model Railway Show in Calne

   

We wandered around Melksham one morning and discovered an old and very pretty area around the church adjoining the conservation area.

       

Volunteering still occupies Thursdays repairing paths and chopping down saplings proves very exciting!

     

    

An aerial view of Caen Hill Marina.  Matilda is moored on the right beyond the car park, backing on to the grass and canal.                 A January morning lots of solar power!

 

I spent half term with Grandsons Eli & Isaac in Carlow Ireland

Friends visiting

 

We spent a considerable time in Poole as Tony’s father was re-admitted to hospital now he is recuperating in Newport.

And of course, we have kept up with local events. – proposed car parking charges in the Market Place!!!

 

Most of November and December was spent in Poole where Father in Law was in hospital. Between hospital visiting we managed to walk along the front and admire the Sunseekers being built and visit the excellent museum.

Poole Museum and retro kitchen display

We also returned overnight to attend Devizes Family History Society and move Matilda from one side of the Marina to another. We are now moored close to the entrance and backing on to the K & A canal.

Iced over

We have entered the best decorated boat competition but other owners have really gone to town with decorations and lighting. Our lights are very modest in comparison

Some decoraed boats

 

As our normal Christmas plan for spending time with Father in Law was not going to happen we managed to get a last minute booking at a very nice hotel in Derbyshire. Lovely room, excellent food (although the hearty portions are too much!), and friendly service.

Christmas Day we walked around the village and then drove up to Castleton to see the lights that we learnt about via Countryfile.

Boxing Day we got up early and drove to Matlock to view the Raft Race. Great fun! Lots of flour and water!

 

And over the weir

27th we visited Chatsworth House where this years Christmas decoration theme was Charles Dickens. It was well worth the visit. Superb staging.

Every department of staff made a welcome wreath. This was made by the gardeners. Can you spot the clues?

Fagin and Miss Haversham:

 

And a strange portrait……

Then we caught up with Ruth & David in Poynton and returned in time for the Marina New Year’s Eve party so a good end to 2017

 

 

There’s never a dull moment in Devizes!

We arrived in time for the last public consultation on the Wharf Area and were glad to have the opportunity to add our thoughts on its future development.

I managed two cinema visits to see Judi Dench as Victoria and the Christopher Robin film.

We have joined the Towpath Task Force and volunteer every Thursday. We have edged and weeded locks, painted picnic benches, and filled in potholes.

 

  

We attended the Wiltshire Museum AGM met up with friends and came across this item about Queen Matilda.

We attended two MacMillan coffee mornings one here at the Marina and one at the Museum.

Devizes books Literary evening are always an unmissable event. September was on the theme of Cats and October as you would expect was a Spooky evening.

We attended a lecture on Passchendaele at Devizes Books and listened to a hilarious talk by Rosemary Hawthorne at the Assembly Rooms, entitled “Did Jane Austen wear Knickers?”

Avebury Manor put on a Apple event. It was very well attended but we found it a little underwhelming.

The 16th was the 30th anniversary of the “big storm.”  Here the sun was red and the sky yellow! Very bizarre!

Probably the most exciting afternoon was attending the Titanic Auction. A letter was being auctioned with an estimate of £60,000 to £80,000. We went to view on Friday afternoon and inevitably got chatting to Alan Aldridge (as yet no relation) and his wife.

Panels showing previous saleroom exhibits

The Titanic memorial wall

We were a little surprised to see the letter featured on the BBC News at Six on Friday night.  Good national publicity for Aldridges and Devizes.

We had front row seats for the auction. The cup and saucer and dish I wanted both were way above my £25.00 limit!

The tension heightened as the letter came up for auction. There were Internet bidders and three phone bidders as well as collectors in the room. There was a pause at £80,000 then a telephone bidder came in at £100,000 and the hammer came down!

Alan offered this flag to Tony but as Tony explained it was bigger than our boat!

 

 

Pronounced Kir coo bree

Having received my Fathers record in WW2 I am following in his footsteps.He was posted to Catterick Camp and from there in February 1944 aged 19, was sent to the MOD training area near Kircudbright. It is known as the “Artists town” for obvious reasons, and today it has a number of art galleries selling paintings and craftwork.

The harbour and marina

 

The museum interior and garden

 

Main Street and the castle

The MOD still uses the land today from here to Dundrennan

Dundrennan Range is a weapons testing range on the Solway Firth, near Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, in south west Scotland. It is part of the Kirkcudbright Training Area, 4,700 acres (19 km2) of farming land acquired by the British Army in 1942 to train forces for the invasion of mainland Europe. The area includes a 15 x 19-mile (31 km) sea danger area. The range takes its name from the nearby village of Dundrennan.

We had chosen the right weekend to visit as the ranges were not in use – no red flags were flying.

                   

From the guard at todays military HQ we were directed to the site of the wartime camp. Deep in the woods at Netherlaw there were a couple of dilapidated buildings left. We walked down to the beach.

 

And then to the village of Dundrennan

. 

A very satisfying few days in beautiful countryside. Well worth a second visit.

 

 

On our way to visit my sister we stopped off at the secret bunker somewhere in Cheshire. It proved a very interesting visit.

The missiles ready to be loaded

What to do……..

The effects

The ops room and how to communicate to an important person

   

Country Comes to Town

A Wiltshire Wildlife annual event in the Market Place. Even better this year! And a chance to catch up with people again.