MV Matilda

Working with the Volunteer task force helping Luke to tidy the lock edges and filling towpath potholes! Rain began at 11.00 but tea at the lock Keepers Cafe helped!

Literary Society is held monthly at Devizes Books 7.00pm. The theme today was Cats.

Our journey from Devizes Wharf to Caen Hill Marina stated at 10.00am. Helped by Carole & James at the very first lock of the day. This was lock number 50.

Then Simon had brought along Chris to help both experienced boaters. We also had help from Volunteers Nigel and John. Thank you all. The help was greatly appreciated.

There are 6 locks before the main flight. This is the top of the main flight

The flight runs from lock 44 to 29. We were happy to reach 29!

And just 7 more to reach Caen Hill Marina

 

We arrived at 4.40pm.  A total of six hours forty minutes. We were all exhausted!

Many thanks to Vanessa who then took me to M & S to buy a Dine in for £10 dinner!

 

 

 

Passing Devizes Marina

and Kingsmanor Wharf a former home. The Alder tree was a birthday present for Tony back in the 90s. It’s grown!

Passing under Bridge 137 next to Rosemundy Cottage

Devizes Wharf where we moored for less than 72 hours.

A few of Devizes Attractions  Wadworths brewery and the Market Place

 

the Little Brittox and Maryport Street

 

Sidmouth Street

The famous Devizes Books and Paul at Walter Rose the award winning Butchers and wide range of shops

  

Our lovely teddy bear shop. The bears are in WW1 costume. There are bear making classes.

The Ginnel  Note The Wardrobe

And not forgetting The Crammer with its swans and stones from the towns of Mayenne & Waiblingen

On Friday evenings in summer 1994 we would try to return home at a reasonable hour, put sleeping bags and red wine aboard Blue Samba and head off for the weekend. Twenty minutes later we would reach Horton Bridge and go for supper in the Pub. Saturday morning we would sail down to the Barge at Honeystreet for lunch, then continue to Ladys Bridge where we would moor up for the night. Sunday, we would make the leisurely return trip minus the stops at the pub. Thursday night we moored up at Ladys Bridge and watched the sun go down and the rain begin!

Friday morning was perfect but the rain began just before midday.

View across to Alton Barnes White Horse

Hire boats at Honeystreet

The Barge Inn and Crop Circle Centre

Narrow channels through the reeds and what was this digger up to? A Land and Water van was parked nearby.

 

We moored at the Bridge at Horton in time for a late lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A final walk around Crofton revealed this wonderful egg house. Sadly no eggs inside!

And a nice thank you for those of us who did adopt ………

Bruce tunnel was dry and not 502 yards long You can see the exit before you enter so avoiding a collision!

 

Burbage Wharf

Low water at Wootton Rivers meant we couldn’t moor

So it was on to Pewswy Wharf

The Waterfront Bistro

The Village of Pewsey is half a mile or so to walk and it’s carnival time.

Carnival preparations

The village church and Alfred

North Street with Marshalls Bakery on the right (delicious iced buns!) and High Street 1950

The Heritage Museum (no bones or stones) and The Shed

And the reason Pewsey is a desirable place to live is its direct line to Paddington

Now can you find Pewsey?

 

 

We made an early start to take advatage of a sunny morning, A slight  delay occured as the bow was aground in shallow moorings. A bit of pushing with the pole and a touch of reverse finally got Matilda moving. We filled up with water as we needed to do our laundry en route. Church lock with its damaged paddle took a considerable time to fill but helped by a couple of canoeists developing their portage skills. Hope to see them in the DW race next Easter!

We have sailed under 100 bridges since joining the K & A

Once near Crofton, surprisingly there was space to moor. In fact, there are 6-7 excellent moorings. As today was Heritage Open Day we really expected more boats to be here. So on to see the Crofton Beam Engines.

Crofton’s chimney is a local landmark

 

1812  Boulton & Watt and 1846 Harvey of Hayle

 

The original custom made spanners are still used today.

The clock came  from Honeystreet and is at least 200 years older than anything else in the Museum. It takes 28 minutes for the hand to travel from 12 to 6 and 32 to reach 12. So not too accurate!

The water used to enter this tank and then flow along the leat to the summit

Today there is an electric pump and a pipe to get water to the summit. If you want to find out more then there is a steaming day 23 & 24  September or look at their website:

www.croftonbeamengines.org

After sheltering from a sudden downpour we commenced our  vertical wet walk via Wilton Water up to Wilton Windmill.

Baking suggestion once you have purchased your windmill ground flour:

Views from the roman road that leads back to the canal.

 

Hungerford Marsh Lock had a gate open but as we progressed we noticed the water level had fallen. Many of the lock gates were leaking and it was very shallow.

 

You can see the watermark indicating the normal level

I walked 7.61 miles checking each lock had sufficient water. Happily we met a CRT guy who knew we were on our way and had let enough water down. Apparently the lock gate at Little Bedwyn had been left open overnight.

Naturally after all this excitement we wanted to moor up at Great Bedwyn. The Visitor moorings held 6 boats so along with 6 others we moored, with difficulty and helped by the next boaters, amongst the reeds before the visitor moorings. Walking the plank takes on a whole new meaning!

As it seemed a little brighter we walked into the Village. This is the post office. Note the gatepost and the enlarged view. What fountain?

 

There were headstones against the wall of the post office and this notice. I liked “thoroughly cleaned the moon”

Village homes

 

This is a lively village

But what we liked most was this notice

Should all GP surgeries do this?

From the bridge one way lies the station and the other the wharf with the Bruce Trust boats

And this is the first lock we face tomorrow Church Lock No 64 with a damaged paddle. It is being repaired on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

Hungerford is a very nice little town with a station and a large Tesco! It has a classic wide high street with cafes, baker, butcher, pubs etc.

If you enjoy antiques then visit Hungerford. The Antiques centre on High Street

And just across the road

And on the corner of Bridge Street and A4 is Great Grooms

This painting caught Tony’s eye

I spotted the cigarette cards just like ones I inherited from my Mother, with a price tag of £495.00. Can’t remember what I did with them………

These rooms were akin to visiting a stately home. More treasures than the National Trust!  Just full of beautiful objects. We managed to curb our retail therapy impulse!

 

Tony liked this too

The Bear Hotel is very comfortable. We stayed here for mu birthday many years ago and the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night and the hotel was evacuated!  Next day we were told the Fire Brigade had found no fire but several spiders within the alarm system!

Rooms alongside the River Dun which then runs behind the Methodist Chapel garden

 

And under the road to the War Memorial

Can you spot the Trout?

And the Kennet and Avon canal crosses the High Street

 

We came across the horse drawn boat on our way to Kintbury. The passengers had stepped off to watch the lock operation.  We followed it to Kintbury.

Restoration and charming map

 

Excellent moorings at Kintbury

The village itself is very smart with every sort of cottage and mansion. It has a bookshop, butcher, baker and general store/Post Office and gardening business.

 

The footpath has a turnstile

The Church is very interesting with its connection to the Austen family.

 

Read this carefully and spot the spelling mistake

  

Village quilt

Booklet giving details of all the men from the village who lost their lives in World War 1

This is the vicarage, but sadly not the one Jane Austen stayed in. That was demolished to make way for something more modern.

 

Vandalism

Just had to catch up with Monty (weight 1 ton) and his boat. He can pull 50 tons but the boat was considerably less that this even with a full complement of passengers.

 

 

 

 

On the advice of the local shopkeeper we set off walking to the Fete at Audley Inglewood.  A very kind motorist Will Kerley stopped and offered us a lift there. As it was hot we really appreciated it. Our thanks to him. Audley Inglewood is a luxury retirement village. I could see myself there in about ten years time but would need a bit of help from the lottery! Front and back views of the original house.

 

Beautifully maintained gardens and new homes

 

Good advice???

 

 

 

Narrow channel through reeds. Fortunately we didn’t meet any other boats.

 

Entering Newbury we saw our very first shopping trolley in the canal!

Approaching the very narrow Newbury bridge and lock

 

And of course, there was a hire boat leaving the lock. Notice I am holding the boat on the wooden railings which I then had to climb over to reach the tow path and lock

No space to moor so we carried on to Guyers lock about a 25 minute walk back to the town centre. The following day we walked back to Newbury to follow the town trail. Tom Tom registered 10,457 steps so we met our daily target.

The scenic bit

The waterside park in the rain

Action to save the canal in the early fifties

The Museum – the inside is excellent and we met ladies from the Spinning Weaving & Dyeing group. We voted for our favourite article. I rather liked a mohair scarf but Tony voted for the farm. I came away with a half made friendship bracelet!!!

 

The town

 

And just beyond my favourite foodstore!

The Greenham Trust have a planned list of events but unfortunately none whilst we were there. On 8 & 9 September it’s Greenham: one hundred years of war and peace. www.greenhamtrust.com