Day out in London while Vic is at Pewsey...

Moored Pewsey, Kennet & Avon Canal

Woohoo.. what a fabulous day I have had today down in London! Not been back too long, so just a very quicky tonight from me. Met daughter Wendie and g'daughter Kiera at Oxford Circus and quickly scooted round to Hamleys.. WOW! I thought Kiera's eyes were going to pop out of her head..

Then into the Steak House for lunch, before taking our seats for the most fabulous show I have seen in ages.... Sound of Music, and Connie was on stage today too!

Thanks to Paul and Alex for the comments about the blog feed, I will sort that in the next few days, I have no idea what has gone wrong, wish I hadn't upgraded the blogger program, but now I have I can't go back.... normal service will resume when I can, along with answering emails and comments.. I am off to dream... Doh a Deer.. The Hills are Alive... Tra la la - La la.... zzzzz

Honey Street and All Cannings then back to Pewsey

Honey Street to Pewsey, Kennet & Avon Canal, 9 miles 0 locks

I really enjoyed my pint out last night in the Barge Inn at Honey Street. This is one of my most favourite pubs on the whole system, and Lucy loves it too, they always have a great welcome for her when we visit.. she just simply loves going out in the evening, just as much as I do I think!

Well what a contrast to yesterday.. After the heavy rain last night we woke to a georgous day, not a cloud in the sky, so after breakfast it was off out with Lucy, and along with Ann and jack russell Molly we set off across the fields...

This is a white horse carved out of the chalk in 1812. It is a copy of the one at Cherhill, in fact there are 13 of these white horses in Wiltshire, 8 of them are visible, the others having disappeard under he turf. There is a very interesting page called the wiltshire white horses which has a link to each of them.

After a bite to eat at lunch time we pulled the pins and headed west saying goodbye to Honey Street for now.. We had to go west for 2 and half miles to be able to turn back to Pewsey, there isn't anywhere before that to get No Problem turned.

It was after the swing bridge the turning point and Chas and Ann held it open while we turned and went back through. They are continuing, on their narrowboat Moore2Life, to Devizes Marina to have some work done. We turned back to Pewsey because I am off to London tomorrow to see Sound of Music at the London Palladium with daughter Wendie and granddaughter Kiera. There is a train from Pewsey directly to Paddington station.. I just can't wait, it is going to be a great day out!

The leaves are nearly all off the trees now, but in some sheltered places there are still some superb autumnal scenes such as this one near Ladies Bridge, this in complete contrast to yesterdays picture of much the same place on a rainy winters day...

Arrivng back at Pewsey there was no room at all on the visitor moorings, and we had to moor once again beside a very muddy towpath. One thing did make me angry tonight too is that there is a British Waterways sign saying "Winter Mooring", naming the boat and the length.. just past the visitor moorings, so we had to leave that free and moor further away, but the boat named on the sign is actually moored on the visitor moorings proper.. tis no wonder we can't get into these village moorings along the canal!

So we had to do an extra 5 miles today than the direct route from Honey Street, that was fine though the weather was lovely and I managed to have time to bake a loaf of bread on the way.. making some soup too when we moored up.. well I have to keep Vic well looked after while I enjoy my day trip!

Oh dear, formatting gone mad

OK, so my post this evening is formatted all wrong.. This is me posting directly in blogger. My normal writing program blogjet will not work with the new blogger beta which I have changed to. Sorry about the format, I will have a play around with that post and see if I can get it a bit more readable. I don't have any smilie thingies either, I shall have to find some of those!

Mud, mud, glorious mud at Honey Street!

Ladies Bridge to Honey Street, Kennet & Avon Canal, 2 miles 0 locks

Before pulling the pins this morning I decided to have a wander over this glorious countryside around here. Well the sun was shining, and although there was a bit of a wind, it wasn't cold.

But Oh dear mud, just everywhere goodness me we sure must have had some rain. But I was pleased to have taken the gps with me, there were no footpath signposts anywhere, it seemed that walkers were probably not welcome!

Stiles were broken down, and in one place it was impossible to clamber over an electric fence to cross a field on a perfectly legal and allowed footpath.. No worry though, finding alternative routes is fairly easy even if you have to go through the farmers yard. If a footpath is blocked then the law says that I can find an alternative to get round the blockage, so through the farmyard it was!

When I got back Vic had taken some timber from the roof, we need some cut up that's for sure.. and he had the chainsaw at the ready. I had also made some soup for lunch earlier and left it on the wood burner to do, so before doing the wood I liquidised that so it would be ready for lunch.

With the wood stacked inside and the soup duly eaten and licked from the bowls we readied to set off for Honey Street.. then the rain came down!.. Typical!

I promised a pic of where we are at the moment, I should have done that this morning, now the day was dank.. but you don't have many dank pics to look at, so here is what it is like on the waterways on a wet winter day..

And here is Ladies Bridge, not a good day for this one, but it is very ornate..

But of course we have our back canopy up at the moment, so rain doesn't really effect us as we are going along. We do turn the windscreen up and over out of the way so I can see 100%.. it is only when the rain is driving from straight ahead that we get wet. Onward then to George Gibson at Honey Street and a top up with diesel.

The last time No Problem tied up to his lovely wharf was in December 2003 so my log book said.. then I paid him 35p a litre, today I paid 60p a litre, and for sure I will probably be paying higher before I leave the K&A next year. And so to one of my most favourite spots on this canal, Honey Street..

A lovely name and a lovely place. We are moored right outside The Barge tonight, and yet again the towpaths are just a quagmire of mud around here, but we are moored on the nice 24hr visitor moorings at Honey Street.. which means that there will be no mud between me and a couple of pints when we walk out later..

On to Ladies Bridge near Honey Street

Pewsey to Ladies Bridge nr Honey Street, Kennet and Aon Canal, 2 miles 0 locks

This morning was spent still hemmed in across the canal, so a lazy morning for us.  I took Lucy for a short walk in between the sharp showers.  But just after 12 noon boat engines began to start up around me, and boats were slowly untied from each other accross the cut. 

Finally released, we wandered off westward saying our goodbuys to our fellow protesters.   If anybody would like the pics on my Pewsey Protest page, please help yourself to them, just right click and save.. don’t forget their are bigger ones if you click on the ones you like.  Derek I do not have any idea how to use flikr.. have replied to your comment!

Well done to Pewsey Wharf Boat Club for all their efforts in organising this particular blockage.

It’s lovely where we have moored this eveing, a very wide bit on the Kennet & Avon canal.. back in the 1700s a certain Lady Susannah Wroughton owned the land where this canal was to pass through, and she would only let it through if a big huge wide bit was dug and landscaped for her, plus she demanded an ornamental bridge over the canal.. known as Ladies Bridge.. She also got £500 as a present!.. Lovely area this, I will take a pic in the morning..

More pics from Pewsey

Well the canal did get totally blocked for a couple of hours, although one boat insisted on going through.. he was made to wait for a least a short time!

No Problem can be seen in among the other narrowboats..

I have done a page full of pics.. you can click on the first one to get a gallery of larger ones.. great day today, I have heard it on BBC Radio Two news each hour, lets hope the government take note..

Pics from today, Click Here

Save Our Waterways at Pewsey

Moored blocking passage on the Kennet and Avon Canal, Pewsey

It’s getting rather full here at Pewsey, lots of boats are arriving.  It’s 11.15am, and the organisers are directing the placing of boats.

The guy in the bottom of the pic is from South West Tele I think.. OK more pics and news later, I am off out to protest amd try do my bit to Save Our Waterways!

Ready for our say at Pewsey!

Wootton Rivers to Pewsey, Kennet & Avon Canal, 1 lock 2 or so miles

I enjoyed Malborough yesterday, a lovely market town it is, and there was plenty of time to have a good ‘ol look around.  The bus leaves just after 10.15 in the morning from outside the pub in Wootton Rivers and comes back at about 1pm.. such a sleepy village there is only that bus during the day, although I think a bus comes back about 5 in the afternoon. 

It was great to chat to a young local lad who is the main thatcher for this area.. I asked him if it was ‘in the family’ all the thatching.. “Nope, I was a dunce at school, got no qualifications.. just wanted my freedom really.  Got a job in a factory, didn’t like it and went to work for a thatcher… Now I do most of the thatching around Malborough”.. In fact he went on to tell me that he has an full order book, but is taking orders now for the autumn of 2009!!

He made me smile as I went to board the bus.. says I to him “Well good luck to you and your family.. got any kids?”  “Nah” says he, “We are enjoying practicing at the moment!”  Ha!

I do love to chat to locals when I can.. not in the towns, but in the villages.. the English Village always seems to have time to chat to strangers who want to know about their communities.

Last night was good.. Chas and Ann of NB Moore2Life came over and we had dinner and a few bevvies.. and a game of Mindtrap.. that was a laugh too, and we didn’t get to bed till gone midnight.. but up bright and early this morning to pull the pins and move down to Pewsey to collect Vic’s birthday cards from the family and to get near to our weekend destination to block the canal at Pewsey in protest at the DEFRA cuts, see the Save Our Waterways Site, and also sign the petition online.. we need all the support we can get.. no waterways, no blogs!!

A bit of a walk to the Post Office it is from the bridge just short of Pewsey… well we can get the dot in the sky for the tele from here.. can’t get it at Pewsey because of the trees.. Eastenders was an hour long ‘must watch’ for Vic tonight, apparently that Pauline Fowler is about to die… so he watched that.. “She isn’t dead yet” he proclaimed after it finished!  I was busying myself doing posters to stick on the windows for tomorrows protest.. “”TREASURERY REFUSES TO COME UP WITH THE MONEY TO RESCUE DEFRA’S MISTAKES” and the like!

Sorry no pics tonight it was raining today… still is too!

Happy Birthday Vic.. 68 today at Wootton Rivers!

Moored Wootton Rivers, Kennet and Avon Canal

A very quick blog from me to say thanks from Vic to all the good wishes today.  He has had a great day and a great evening, party time is still going on here.. I will try and do a blog tomorrow.. but right now, must get back to the party……. *hic*!!

We must try save our waterways!

I was interested in a comment by Gillian..

Have you seen the e-petition set up by Save Our Waterways? http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveOurWaterways/

You know there is an awful lot being done to petition and protest at the cuts being made to British Waterways from the government.. I have not mentioned it on the blog yet, but this weekend hopefully there will be a lot of news about it on everyone’s local tele, and on the national television I hope.  There is lots of information from various sites, one of those sites it Mike Stevens’s site Save Our Waterways site.

This e-petition site looks good, and thanks Gillian, I will sign that, and I hope a lot of you who read the blog will support us and maybe sign it too.  The reason for the petition..

Our inland waterways are a unique national asset that provide an important contribution to the quality of life for millions of our citizens. According to British Waterways, there were 300 million individual visits to the canals in 2005 and we are deeply concerned that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has seen fit to reduce British Waterways’ grant by some £60 million over the next 5 years and that of the Environment Agency by over £20 million in this financial year. We believe that these cuts will have a devastating effect upon the well-being of inland waterways and put at risk many urban regeneration projects.

It would of course be better if everyone wrote to their local MP, but signing the petition looks easy.. hey give it a go.. For sure there will be huge, no massive cuts to the work thats done on the waterways in the future because of the funding cuts.. sad, very sad.  Even on this canal, The Kennet and Avon, so much money was put into it to get it restored and open, now I wonder if it will stay open.. it is not in the best of states as it is..

We are taking No Problem to Pewsey at the weekend to join a protest there that is being organised.. just one of many all around the waterways… Do have a look at Mike’s site..

Waiting for rain at Wootton Rivers

Moored Wootton Rivers, K&A Canal

I waited and waited for the rain today… it didn’t turn up, so I decided to go out walking.. but of course, as soon as I left down it came, and with that I decided that I wasn’t in the mood anymore, just didn’t feel like a soaking today.

I did a few bits on the computer today, and phoned the coal boat, but that is at Seend, the other side of Devizes and the Caen Hil Flight of locks. Andy will not be back with in this area until the end of December.  We had hoped to buy our coal from him, but not at this time, I will find a local supplier and ask it to be dropped off at a bridge or some other access point. 

The T Mobile connection that I now have has not been good around these parts, but Orange seem OK, so I have paid my £1.00 for the day to use the internet with no limits to the amount I download or upload, so I am happy enough with that.  Yesterday I was almost at a point of chucking the computer into the canal!!

So nothing much to report today really, I am off to Marlborough tomorrow to have a look around.  I remember going there last time we were in the area, it’s a nice town.

Oh and it’s Vic’s birthday tomorrow too!..   Party time in the evening me thinks!!

Visitor moorings?? Not a lot at Wooton Rivers

Gt Bedwyn to Wootton Rivers, Kennet & Avon Canal, 5 miles 10 locks

It is getting increasingly difficult to get reception for the internet in this remote area on the K&A, I am having to be really patient!  ‘Tis not only this blog, but the pics and location information that has to be put up on ftp to the server.. no worry, if it posts then fine, if not then it will post when it can.  I see last night’s blog posted at gone midnight, so that is on todays!!

I am cross you know.. tis very muddy out here.. British Waterways have left the edges of this canal completely rough.. all mud and reeds it is, and it is making things very uncomfortable with all this rain.  I do hate yukkie ropes!.. But when we arrive at the villages we find that most of the visitor moorings are taken up by British Waterways Winter Moorings.. and narrowboats are moored in the prime positions for the winter months.  I am cross when I think back that BW wanted us continuous cruisers to pay a whopping 2 and a half times higher for our boating licence.. I feel at the moment as we are very lowly and uncared about boaters.  We have to put up with winter in the mud, while BW take the visitor moorings for the mooring of boats.  These boats are not even being lived on.. they are just boats abandoned for the winter months by owners who cruise the system in the summer.  Ah well..

But what more could I ask for than to travel the waterways at this time of year.. for all my moaning about the mud, I have to admit it is all well worth it, more especially when you travel the waterway with the most wonderful autumn colours…

So today roles were reversed and Ann and I locked No Problem and Moore2Life through the locks to the summit level of this canal.. I enjoyed being out on the towpath doing the locks, sometimes it can be quite boring just steering the boat you know.. and it was up through the Crofton Flight to the top, then through the tunnel…

I didn’t mind this one.. I can see the end, but I still needed the lights on.. oh yes nearly forgot.. I have got a feeling that my collie dog Lucy is a bit of a mystery dog.. Lucy runs along the towpath most of the day while we cruise, You can see her getting a drink in the first photo, and I noticed back around Thatcham that she jumped on the boat after a lock, I wondered why, then remembered that the next bridge was a main road and also a turnover bridge, which means that the towpath changes from one side to the other.. I thought it was just a coincidence that she got on the boat herself.  Then she did it again somewhere else.. I began to think that maybe this wasn’t a coincidence, then today I remembered that I had to get her on the boat after the last lock at Crofton because there are no more bridges for her to jump aboard before the tunnel..

“Where is Lucy, she needs to be aboard” I called to Vic as he exited the lock.. “She is onboard”.. I couldn’t believe it!!  How on earth does she remember?  It’s not coincidence she is remembering after 3 years away from this canal.. scarey stuff!

I like Wootton Rivers, a village full of lovely thatched cottages.. we will stay a while and let this stormy weather pass that is due to hit us in the next couple of days before moving on to get some diesel from George at Honey Street

Glorious Saturday leads to a blog meet on Sunday near Bedwyn..

Today – Close Little Bedwyn to Church Lock, Bedwyn, K&A Canal, 1 mile 2 locks
Weekend – Hungerford to between Little and Gt Bedwyn, Kennet & Avon Canal, 3.5 miles 8 locks

Now you are all going to be disappointed because what I had hoped to tell everyone today did not happen on Friday when it should have.. so I am afraid it is still ‘watch this space’ for a little while longer! . 

Saturday was glorious and we decided to pull the pins to make our way leisurely towards Honey Street and our next source of diesel.  I really did enjoy this cruise along the canal in some stunning countyside, as is always on this canal…

It’s very easy going when in pairs, and with our companions Chas and Ann with NB Moore2Life we make light of the many lock leading to the summit of the K&A after Wootton Rivers around Pewsey.  Vic and I shared the load, although Vic was suffering a bit after slipping on the gang plank a few days before and ending flat on his back.. he is OK, but after those efforts of Saturday he has ended up a bit sore!

I think this part of the canal is my most favourite, lovely names too like Cobblers and Picketfield Locks and close to the canal there is Trindledown Copse.  We are approaching the best named place though, Cuckoo’s Knob.. such wonderful names..

We settled on Saturday between Little and Great Bedwyn.  On Sunday I knew blog reader Dave would probably arrive via a mountain bike.. and when a couple knocked No Problem I wondered where the bikes were.. but it was Tony and Pat who have been reading the blog for a couple of years now and have decided to go for it and retire to the good life of canalites!.. Out and about in June of next year Tony tells me.. It wasn’t long ‘till Dave appeared, but without his pride and joy bike.. injured back again… what is it with the guys!!

We all chatted over tea and some home made biscuits ‘till well past lunch time, when they all left to make for their transport left back at Little Bedwyn.  Both had spied us from the narrow road that runs parrallell about 100yds away from the canal, knowing we would be around somewhere.  It was great to meet you all!!..

Left to right then, Tony, Dave, moi, Pat and Lucy in front!

We moved up today just a mile.. we needed water, and while Vic did that I wandered into the village to do some post and go to the excellent bakery to stock up on a couple of loaves and some delicious eccles cakes.. surely the best in the land!.. “We don’t do scones on a Monday”.. this I noted as their scones are also out of this world.  It’s funny really, I always seem to remember all the good things that villages produce all over England, and for sure Great Bedwyn’s ‘I remember that place’ thing is scones from the bakery!

Managed to put the pins in just above Church Lock this evening.. not an ideal mooring, the plank is at full stretch again, but idealic for walking tomorrow.. absolutely superb walking around here and hopefully a trip to Wilton Windmill which I have not been to yet.  The moorings on the K&A are pretty bad.. I guess that British Waterways want us to use the visitor moorings so that there is some regimentation along this canal.. but I might say “What visitor moorings?”.. For sure, a lot of the ‘visitor moorings’ are taken up with British Waterways ‘Winter Moorings”!.. so where do we moor? 

Makes me smile, but is OK if we can make the long plank reach.. just got to make sure Vic doesn’t slip on it in future!

Sooooo laid back at Hungerford..

Moored Hungerford, Kennet & Avon Canal

Lazy days indeed, and nothing to report today really.. picked up the post and dealt with that, grabbed a cache from not too far away doing a bit of geocaching.. errrrr catching up on some computer stuff … *yawn* time for bed soon..

Teehee, just one of those very laid back days when it’s raining outside and I am snug and warm inside popping the odd log or two into the woodburner..

Might have some sensational news for everyone tomorrow though… watch this space!

It's an odd 20p day out in Newbury..

Moored Hungerford, Kennet & Avon Canal

“There is a bloomin’ great hole in it!” Explained Vic this morning.. one of my walking boots he was taking about.. Well I had come back with a wet foot from my walk yesterday.  Darn it!

I jumped on the train to Newbury.. well walking across the countryside in the Autumn needs good walking boots, in fact I had a bit of a disaster yesterday, not only with a leaking boot and soggy socks but my ‘walking coat’ had broken it’s zip.  I thought I would be able to repair it, but it was far too far gone to do that.. so a new coat needed too!

Millets was the best I was going to get for outdoor wear.. but first before I forgot, must get a card for Vic’s birthday.. a modest 99p.. charged 79p.. oh such honesty when I was handed 21p change from my £1 coin.. “No that’s not right, tis 99p that card” she checked.. “Oh thankyou.. hey something really nice is going to happen to you today for that” says she..

I found the coat I needed right away then tried loads of boots on in Millets.. I take a 7 you see, but only sometimes.. sometimes it’s an 8.  Quite annoying really to be so in between.  I normally take a 7 if it’s a man’s boot or an 8 if it’s a woman’s!  So lots to try.. I am sooooo fussy, it must be the right pair.  In the end I got a pair that felt good, but when the guy looked they were odd boots!  Although they both said size 8 (ladies), the American equivelant said size 9 in one boot and size 9 and half in the other! “Oh dear, I have no more, so I can give you a good discount if you take them or I can order another pair”

But hey I needed them now, and I did try them on and pace round the shop.. they were just fine .. “I’ll take them”.. Well they were good boots reduced from £89 to £69 anyway.. “Ah well, spose then I will get the 20% off that I would have got if I had bought them online?”..

But he did better and knocked a whacking great £50 off them!.. then he knocked off 20% of the final bill “20% promotion starts tomorrow.. I’ll give you that too”.. WOW!

I was really chuffed.. Had a while till the train left back to Hungerford, so had a wander round and saw some lovely miniture christmas crackers, well 12 of them actually for what I thought was £1.69.. paid the guy for them out of the odd change I had in my purse, and he gave me back 20p.. “They are £1.49” says he….

I have had an odd sort of day in between two 20p mistakes!!

I visit Jethro Tull's place near Hungerford

Moored Hungerford, Kennet & Avon Canal

While Vic took a stroll around the town today, I went further afield..

The autumn colours are outstanding at the moment, and it didn’t matter that it rained for most of the day it was well worth just getting out there and seeing the last of the leaves turning the most beautiful golden colours before they fall in the next high wind. I walked along this avenue which leads up to Prosperous House and more importently Prosperous Farm which was left to Jethro Tull.  Not the musician though but the one who lived in the 16/1700s.  He was the guy who invented the seed drill, which was pulled by a horse, dug a little trench, dropped the seeds in and then covered them up!  I remember learning all about him at school, but never knew until today that I would be going into his farm yard!

Family weekend at Kintbury, then home to Hungerford..

Today – Kintbury to Hungerford, Kennet & Avon Canal, 3 miles 4 locks
Weekend – Moored Kintbury
Friday – Shepherd’s Bridge to Kintbury, 1 mile 1 lock

Moved up to Kintbury on Friday evening, and by the time we had put on water and done the loo cassettes it was dark.  It is amazing how quickly the darkness appears now, and I have to be careful if I am out walking that I don’t stay out too late and I need to make sure that I take some type of ‘time’ with me.. it doesn’t just creep up on you, the darkness, it just happens!

Saturday was a quiet day for us, I went walking for some of the day.. a lovely route I had chosen, but one little lane that I wanted to use had threatening signs on to all those who even thought about walking along it.. Private – No Entry – Keep Off – No Right Of Way etc etc… .  Which meant I had to take the non scenic route back to No Problem along a pretty busy road… but a photo opportunity!..

Well not the usual type of traffic along the road is it!? … Lovely innit, so my walk wasn’t so bad after all….

But Sunday was the day I was waiting for, and just after 10 o’clock, 4 faces at the window.. Daughter Jennie, son-in-law Phil and granddaughters Jessica and Molly, and here they are…

Goodness the girls have grown, and so well behaved too, a credit to Jen and Phil they are, and I think my snap of them a little later in the day is about right, no caption needs to be added, the caption is in the pic! …

We went geocaching and Jessica found the treasure much to her delight and to the amazement of Jennie and Phil.. maybe they might take up the ‘sport’ themselves now..

But all too soon they were away again, and an hour later a phone call to say they were safely home.. so an hour from our family we are at the moment, lets hope for a few more visits!!

Onward then today.. we had planned on doing a couple of locks and mooring, but unlike the fens of East Anglia and the barren land void of trees over there, much the opposite here where all the trees are on the left of us as we make our way along the canal.. and to the left is also the satellite that picks up sky telly!!.. In any case, wherever there was a gap in the trees with line of sight to sky tele we could not get into the side as it was too shallow.. on and on we went.. nowhere, just nowhere!!

So we settled tonight just outside Hungerford in nice deep water tied to the towpath side in full view of the sky satellite.. ‘back home’ we are.  We have always considered Hungerford as ‘Our Home’.. It was here that we first brought No Problem after purchasing her in Stoke over 4 years ago.. I was only semi retired then, and was working 3 days a week.. we had No Problem moored here at Hungerford for a good bit of that time.. has always been good to us has Hungerford.

Dodging the gongoozlers and finding treasure near Kintbury

Moored Shepherd’s Bridge, Kennet & Avon Canal

Here is where we are moored at the moment, I took this pic as I walked this morning with Lucy across the countryside and back via Kintbury to pick up some milk then along the towpath back to No Problem..

This is overlooking Shepherd’s Bridge with Kintbury to the left and, well open countryside to the north.. stunning views today with the trees rapidly changing colour ready to lose their leaves.  Having said that though, I was very surprised to see a couple of butterflies on route, I don’t think I can ever remember seeing one in November before.

Wendie made a comment the other day….

Ok gotta ask....................what is the ikkle animal on the lock gate??

She was refering to this pic..

I wondered if anyone would notice that you know!… Well it isn’t a bug as such.  Here it is close up..

It is a geocoin! In fact it is Brawny Bear Clan Geocoin.  You can see I logged this one on the page.. Ann and I are also known as ‘the_narrowboaters’ and if you want, you can monitor our activities.  I think you just need to click on our user name on that site.

Now this is going to take a lot of explaining..

I enjoy the sport of geocaching, and as Jane has said in yesterdays comments there are plenty of ‘caches’ to be found along the canal, An awful lot of them have been placed close to locks so it is easy to go find them.  I think I have visited about 14 or so of them so far since being on the Kennet & Avon Canal.  It’s always nice to find one of the geocoins.. we found a different one yesterday that was in Iceland a short while ago, and the one in the picture has come from America.. its goal is to be back in St Louis in July 2007!

The biggest problem I have found is trying to retrieve the cache from it’s hiding place… Narrowboats always attract gongoozlers or onlookers.. so sometimes I have to sneak back after leaving the lock when the onlookers have gone!

Well no boats went by today except for BW barges up and down a number of times, and they don’t slow down one bit either!!  Everything is very, very quiet on this canal at the moment, probably due to that closure a few locks back.. but I like it this way!

This afternoon I spent in the galley baking.. youngest daughter is arriving on Sunday with hubby Phil and granddaughters Jessica and Molly.  Gonna pop on the train to Newbury tomorrow to get a nice joint of meat.. there is one thing that Jennie loves, and that is for her Mum to cook her a sunday roast!

Trapped! But we escape at Hamstead Lock!

Benham Lock to Shepherd’s Bridge, Kennet & Avon Canal, 1.5 miles 3 locks

Just crept along the canal a bit today.. well we tried to!

Pulled the pins late morning to cruise along a couple of miles for a change of scene for the rest of the week.  I had walked most of the paths in this area this week, and had spotted some lovely paths on the map near Shepherd’s Bridge close to Kintbury.  Anyway, I want to pop into Newbury on Friday to fill the freezer compartment with some fresh meat, and we need some fresh veg too.. but alas..

Put both boats in the lock before realising.. and this is what Vic is pointing at…

This is the first lock past the stoppage at Benham Lock.. we are now trapped!  There are quite a few boats between this locked lock and the closed lock behind us.. so they are cosy there for a month or so.. but we didn’t want to be there!  I called British Waterways “Help, this continuous cruiser does not wish to be a continuous moorer for the next month, please come and rescue us!”.. She phoned me back to say someone was on the way with a key to let us out!

Annie (Moore2Life) made some homemade soup, and we sat on the back of our narrowboats enjoying that while we waited, and I baked a loaf of bread to save me having to go to Kintbury to fetch some tomorrow.. but it was quite a while and another phone call to BW before a guy turned up with the combination for the lock. 

Hooray we were free!

“We don’t want people going through this lock because the next one is closed” says he.. Humm I wonder if those trapped boats know that.. Oh well..

The waters here are very clear, and we saw quite a few pike chasing fish as we moved along the canal.. I was wondering if the movement of the water or the noise of the engine had anything to do with that.. maybe we disturb the smaller fish, then the pike strike.  I might get the rod out tomorrow.. don’t want to catch a pike though!

A day out in the countryside around Hamstead Park

Moored Benham Lock, Kennet & Avon Canal

Spent a lovely day out and about, visiting Hamstead Park and Great Holt Copse and further afield.  Before I left though BW were bringing in the ‘heavy stuff’ for the removal of the Benham Lock gates so a new set could be installed behind us…

You can see in this pic all the narrowboats and other boats moored on the stretch in front of us beyond the bush!

The huge house at Hamstead Park burnt to the ground in the 1700s, but the gateposts still remain.. and they are stood there in the middle of nowhere!  An awsome sight.  From there a long walk today across the countryside, it was nice not to ‘have to move’ No Problem and be able to relax and take my time, taking in what was around me instead of rushing from pillar to post as I seem to have been doing the last couple of months.. I passed through a farmyard..

Aww youngsters these were lovely…

So a quiet day today, and as for tomorrow.. dunno really… might just spend the day doing much the same

Active weekend, but target of Benham Lock is achieved!

Today – Moored Benham Lock, Kennet & Avon Canal
Sat and Sun – Midgham Lock to Benham Lock, K&A Canal, 7 miles 11 locks

Gosh, I can’t believe how much we have done since I wrote the last blog.. indeed I had to look twice and think a lot!

But we pulled the pins early on Saturday morning to try to reach Benham Lock by evening.. but with people to meet along the way, and a trip to Tesco to stock up it was highly unlikely I suppose.. Vic was locking No Problem though while I relaxed on the tiller.. at Widmead lock I was chatting to a lovely couple, Roger and Pat who were telling me that they have a caravan and had planned on taking that across Europe now that they are both retired from working.  But Pat had a slight stroke in July which has put that on the back burner.. but a lovely day on Saturday saw Pat out on the towpath on the arm of Roger.. recovering well, they are hoping to do that special trip soon… Lovely, lovely people..

There really isn’t much for me to do while locking through you see.. just to make sure No Problem stays safe in the locks really, and try not to bump her too much on the way in and out.. time to relax and chat to passers by, and for sure there were a lot of people ‘gongoozling’ or watching boats over the weekend.. blue skies got everyone out me thinks…

Here No Problem at Midgham Lock, just before we pulled the pins, such a lovely day already and this is at about 8.30am.. plenty of frost on the ground at that time!

Newbury never changes, and I was glad to see that the Boatyard was still in the same hands.. the last time we passed it was up for sale, but the owners decided to keep it on.. I say glad.. well I am really, just I got reminded of my visit there some three years ago.. “I remember you throwing your rubbish on top of our skip instead of putting it in.. I have it all on the cctv you know!”… OK, OK… I got caught for sure, but I couldn’t find out how to open the darn skip to dump the rubbish, so though one just had to lop it in the top.. errrrrrrrr obviously not!!

Anyway… I spy!!!

It was great to meet Mike of NB Globetrotter, and we spent some time chatting.  I have been having trouble getting my head around my new toy.. my PDA trying to get the gps to work.. Thanks Mike!!.. A few buttons pressed here and there and hey presto!!  Mike is lucky to have a lovely mooring on the island in Newbury with a shared broadband… by the way, for those looking for some information about the internet and how to connect, Mikes absolutely excellent page Mobile Internet is a must, it far out does my page.. I really do need to do some updating.. take a look at Mikes in the meantime.. might be good for you too Dot of Gypsie Rover!

Moored up just under the bridge to nip to Tesco and to the library to see if they had any books on this gps stuff, then it was onward to try and clear Newbury.. well Saturday night would be noisy for sure.. Lucy is not overly keen on fireworks.. Made it out of town and settled for the night just short of Guyer’s Lock.. not far to go now.. Sunday the final push.. pulled the pins and Vic and I swapped duties, and I worked No Problem through the final few locks to our target destination.. Yet another beautiful day…

Higgs Lock, and no warning on the Newbury side that the bank has completely fallen away along with the mooring bollards!!.. Moore2Life went aground on the debris.. there is a notice on the top lock beam of the problem below the lock.. huh dated June of this year.. so no maintenance nor were there any warnings on the eastern side to warn boaters of the danger.. wonder if this will be fixed..

So up and through Benham Lock we went, and promptly moored up.. ahead was a long line of boats obviously taking advantage of the stoppage.. I doubt they will move for a month now.. well they have positioned themselves so they can’t turn round and ahead of them is a lock that nobody can get through for a month!.. A walker asked me if there was a rally on as she had never seen so many boats at this particular spot!! .. I explained in a diplomatic way why they were all there

We won’t be here for a month however.. continuous cruisers that we are.. we shall be moving off in a few days to Kintbury and all points westward over the next month or so.. but for now we are taking a welcomed break having reached our destination to be clear of the first of the winter stoppages.. this looking back towards Newbury from the lock, denoting that there are 81 more locks to do before reaching Bristol ..

Woolhampton Quarry is a delightful area..

Oxlease Swing Bridge to Midgham Lock, Kennet & Avon Canal, 1 mile 2 locks

We pulled the pins late today to travel just a short distance.. The weather has been outstanding today, and Vic joined Ann and I for a walk over by Woolhampton Quarry.. now a wonderful wildlife area.  Once again Lucy went swimming.. and she is using all four legs again at walking pace.  She had a bit of a setback a couple of weeks ago when she tripped over some twigs would you believe left on the towpath, she was looking the other way!.. She didn’t half yelp, I think she hurt that back leg.. but now we are back to putting all four feet to the ground again.  For those not in the know, Lucy had a dreadful accident back in May.. you can read all about that in the May archives which you will find near the bottom on the left hand side.

Just two locks today.. one of them Vic couldn’t open, it was sooooooo stiff.  Luckily a bike rider came along and with his help and with the help of No Problem pushing, it was opened.. There is serious maintenance needed on this canal for sure, it is not in a very good state. But it is a lovely canal, here one of the many swing bridges in the area that we are in at the moment..

The leaves are changing colour fast now, the last two nights have been below zero.. tomorrow we will be in Newbury, the cost of diesel there is 54p.. it was 61p at Reading Marine, it’s worth phoning ahead to check prices at the moment..

All hands to wood and coal around Aldermaston

Moored Oxlease Swing Bridge, Woolhampton, K&A canal
Yesterday – Lower Padworth to Woolhampton, 3.5 miles 4 locks

It is amazing how the temperature has dropped so much.  Last night it was minus one, and tonight it is going to be colder apparently.. but we have been busy!..

A huge tree down here just off the towpath kept us busy for an hour or so, the roof is topped up with good wood now, then a short trip to Padworth Swing Bridge and the coal yard.. I had popped in a couple of days before while we were moored further back and checked they had what we wanted.. “Yep small nuts is what you want, same as stovess.. £6.50  for a 25kg bag”.. I was pleased with the price.. but when we visited yesterday it was 1st November!.. and what happens on 1st November? .. the coal gets hiked up!!  “That will be £6.90 a bag”… says he smiling.. We then went into haggling mode.. serious haggling mode.. and here Chas and Ann are helping to get the bags safely on No Problems roof at £6.50 a bag!!

Well I just wasn’t going to pay an extra 40p a bag.. he didn’t have fresh stock, I took from the pile that was there the day before when I went to enquire.  I did see the coalman’s point though.. “We subsidise the coal in the summer because we are trying to get people to buy from us, so in the winter we put the price up because we know people will buy”… I hope the price goes down again next summer then!

After picking up the coal we passed the ever busy boatyard of Reading Marine.. a couple of faces I remembered from when No Problem was there last getting new batteries and a battery management system fitted.. the through the lift bridge at Aldermaston..

Now this bridge really does mean something to me.. it was my uncle who got a bridge over this canal back in the early 70s was it?.. I remember he phoned me one evening “Sue, I have OKd the bridge over the canal at Aldermaston today, we are going ahead and putting one in”.. it was great joy back then.. I kept complaining to him that I could not cruise my local canal, and now I would be able to.. my uncle was the Chief Engineer for Berkshire council!

I am enjoying being back on the K&A afer a two year absence.. in fact looking back at the pics, it was 2 years ago all but one week that we were in the very same area, and the lady in the Post Office at Woolhampton recognised me as I walked in.. “Hello Mrs C” says she .. and I said to her it was two years since I been there.. “I know” she said, “but I remember you!” ..

It is really nice around here especially, and today I went exploring across the swing bridge.. a footbridge it is, and there are many large lakes close by.  Lucy has been swimming and I have enjoyed wandering around the lakes and enjoying the sunshine.  Might go to Newbury tomorrow, or some of the way.. not sure yet