Unfriendly Bradford-on-Avon again.. But NP makes the front page!

Lowes Swing Bridge (157) to Bradford-on-Avon, K&A Canal 6 miles 2 locks

Last time we were here the lady in the Post Office annoyingly managed to ‘lose’ our mail for days and days.  After complaining bitterly it suddenly turned up on a shelf..

Today I needed to see the doc so I phoned ahead to Bradford-on-Avon.  I have been a bit under the weather of late you see, and realise that my immune system perhaps needs some antibiotics to ward off the nasties so I can enjoy walking again instead of having aching limbs as soon as I try to do anything..

“No sorry we have no appointments available for visitors or temporary patients today” “How about tomorrow then?” “Nope temporary patients can only book an appointment on the day, not future days.  You could try tomorrow but we have doctors off sick at the moment so I doubt whether there will be any appointments”.. another surgery “No sorry we have no appointments for visitors or temporary patients until the end of next week”…. jeeeeeezzzzz I only want to see a doc.. then “Go to a NHS Walk in Centre”.. “But I live on a narrowboat, where is there one of those?”… “Errr don’t know try Bristol..goodbye”

Really annoying… so I am off to the NHS dropout Walk in Centre in Bath tomorrow to see a nurse.. I don’t know if she is able to help, but I have to start somewhere!

We pulled the pins this morning on a day not as good as yesterday but it was still warm and enjoyable, and crossed the aqueduct at Semington…

See what I mean about the dual carriageway?.. then down the two locks to Semington Bridge where the Wilts and Berks Canal used to leave the K&A on it’s way to Abingdon on the Thames.. there is hope that one day this abandoned canal might be restored.. all that is left this end is this….

And at the other end on the Thames is this….

This is Abingdon.. all that needs to be done is the 52 miles in the middle to join the two up!

We popped into Hilperton Marina to fill with diesel, it is 57p a litre, making it a tad cheaper than Devizes, and here we had quite a surprise.. the recent issue of Towpath Talk was on the shelf and there right on the front page was No Problem!….

No Problem has never been featured in a mag before let alone on the front page.. dead chuffed we are.. if you see one on your travels, No Problem is the third boat in on the left, and you can just about see me standing on the back.  I was waiting there for 12 noon when everyone sounded their horns making as much noise as possible across the wharf at Devizes during the protest to the Defra cuts earlier in March.  Next to us is Moore2Life, and there are the two boats supporting the big banner!

I have just noticed something in that photo, my tablecloth is the wrong way round.. I usually have the pattern facing the other way!.. I bet Vic changed it!! It will get changed back in the morning!

I read in the Towpath Telegraph this evening that British Waterways has made a dam at Kate Bush’s broken mill weir so that they can re-open the canal again on 16^th March.. well that is good news.. the bad news for BW is that to actually fix this weir the estimate is now £250,000… a far cry from the £100,000 it first thought.  This weir collapsed during flood conditions and it was only because Kate Bush looked into history that it was discovered that BW’s responsibility for it dates back to 1834 when the canal company which owned the K&A canal at that time sold off the land to the mill owner, but retained responsibility for the weir.. Now BW have to pick up the tab on that one..

It will help to get boats moving a bit.. but I noticed that there are many Thames locks showing as a later re-opening (March 30th I think) than the winter stoppage programs showed.. I suppose that is due to the bad weather conditions and flooding.. so it is going to be a bit of a struggle getting out of here.. Mind you we still have a bit more refitting to do on NP2 to keep us busy as we trickle back to Reading in a couple of weeks time..