8th-9th August - Homeward Bound

Today: 13 locks
Grand total: 273 locks

To go: 6 locks

First thing in the morning my Dad joined me again and we completed the final stretch of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal.  We stopped by the marina at Lowesmoor Basin to take on fuel for peace of mind, I would't want to run out of fuel heading down the river!

Today: 6 locks
Grand total: 276 locks

To go: 0 locks!

 The final stretch took us down on to the river.  Cruising the river itself is not particularly interesting but it does demand respect as there is more danger involved.

 We passed a aggregate barge named "Perch" which is part of probably one of the last commercial operations on the river.

The locks on the river are huge and the boat feel dwarfed by the tall lock sides.  Passing Tewkesbury we were joined by another narrow boat that by coincidence had made an identical journey but chose the River Avon rather than the Birmingham and Worcester.

The tides had worked in our favour and turned shortly before we got to the lock.  The retrieving tide swept us down the river adding a whole mile an hour extra to our speed which is about a 25% increase!

Approaching Gloucester the river splits in two and we take the easterly channel phoning ahead to Gloucester lock.  The tide had left lots of rubbish in the parting and we picked our way between tree branches towards the lock, the narrowing channel accelerating us towards the lock.

Reaching the lock it was not prepared so we tried to hang back on the chains, we were told to "hold on to the chains", it turns out that the easiest way to do this was to whack a rope through the chain.  When the lock was ready we entered and hooked ourselves on to the wall and the gates closed behind us and the water level rose unveiling that we were in fact in the middle of a city, a fact that until that point isn't obvious.

And my destination was now reached, a journey that takes an hour or two by car or train had take two and a half weeks by boat!  And now for a rest! :)

7th August - Tardebrigge

Today: 42 locks
Grand total: 260 locks

To go: 19 locks

Until reviewing my journey I'd not realised how productive today was, 42 locks in one day.  Not bad, although I can't take all the credit because I had an extra member of crew today who very kindly offered their services.

The flight was quiet with many locks in our favour so we made good time going down the flight.  Dropping further down through the Stoke locks to Stoke Works we stopped for a pub lunch.

Then with the hard work out of the way I carried on on my own through the Astwood Locks.  Trying to locate a mooring for the night near the Droitwich Canal junction proved to be a struggle so I ploughed on to the moorings at Dunhampstead which were much quieter and actually much nicer.

6th August - On to the Birmingham and Worcester Canal

Today: 1 lock
Grand total: 218 locks

To go: 61 locks

No locks today just cruising, The Stratford Canal was one of my favourite canals of the journey as it seemed a little quieter than some of the other canals and felt like it was little changed from its original state.

Lock number 1 (a Guillotine Lock) marked the eend of the Stratford Canal, this lock was there to protect canal companies water supplies back in the day! 

Guillotine Lock and Kings Norton Junction 

The next major landmark was wast hill tunnel, over a mile and a half of tunnel!

Wast Hill Tunnel - 'tis long!

 And now a lot more cruising along, there were no locks until I reached Tardebrigge Flight so it was a flat out cruise.  Reaching Tardebrigge I checked out the moorings above and bellow the locks and decided to drop down past Tardebrigge top lock to the second set of moorings.  The top lock is another of the deepest in the country at 11 ft deep.

3rd-5th August - Grand Union

So I ploughed on and didn't really take that many photos on the grand union so I thought I'd do a bit of an amalgamation!

Lock Stats

3rd

Today: 22 locks
Grand total: 177 locks

To go: 102 locks

Today I had a member of crew joining me for a couple of days, my Dad again, he's getting to be a proper pro at this now.  We were a great team, even if I do say so myself! :)

In at the deep end we we pushed on and quickly got the Stockton locks out of the way, stopping at the top we found a handy shop not far from the top to grab a bit of food for lunch.

Heading on to Bascote locks we had the only staircase lock of the trip, where you exit straight from one lock in to another.

Next we moved on to Royal Leamington Spa which felt very urban, passing under bridges I would throttle back the engine incase we should run in to anything that had been thrown off the bridge.  Luckily only once was there any obvious tell tale lump as we ran over something dumped in the canal.  Crossing the aqueduct over the River Avon marked the boundary between Leamington Spa and Warwick.  This area felt surprisingly unpopulated and within no time we had reached the cape which had a good selection of moorings and set us up well to face the Hatton Flight tomorrow.

4th

Today: 21 locks
Grand total: 198 locks

To go: 81 locks

All twenty once locks today were the Hatton Flight that raises the boat just over 146 feet.  Reaching the flight there was a hire boat just ahead of us that was heading up the flight, they saw us coming and waited for us so we could double up the flight.  Luckily there was a large crew and although hire boaters they knew their stuff.  The crews of the Heather and the hire boat worked the locks efficiently and we shot up the flight.  As we reached the summit the heavens opened so exiting the last lock it was time to take shelter in the boat and have some lunch.

Pushing on we entered only the second major tunnel of the journey so far, Shrewley Tunel at 314 meters.  The day ended at Turners Green with some really good visitor moorings and a kind offer of a lift for my crew from my uncle.

5th

Today: 19 locks
Grand total: 217 locks

To go: 62 locks

There was only a short time left on the Grand Union having left Turner's Green.  In no time at all I reached the Lapworth Link which would take me to the Stratford Canal.

Lapworth Link

Having completed a flight of locks yesterday there was no let up and it was now on to the Lapwood flight.  Completing this flight was going to lift me through 19 locks which would take me up to a level pound that would set me up for a days cruising with no locks the next day, well worth the effort.

I stopped the night at Hockley Heath village which had a fab fish and chip shop that I wasn't able to resist!

2nd August - Goodbye Oxford hello Grand Union

2nd August

Lock Stats

Today: 12 locks
Grand total: 155 locks

To go: 124 locks

Making a fairly early departure I headed towards Fenny Compton with the aim of making it to Napton Junction, this would make this my last stretch of the Oxford Canal.  There was a group of walkers who gave me a cheery wave as is the custom on the canals!

The Oxford at this point has a big flat pound but takes a looping, meandering route and is wide but shallow on the off warpath side meaning that it was not so easy to get out of the way of oncoming boats as they would perceive.

Pushing onward I was surprised at the lack of progress but none the less I enjoyed the picturesque scenery.  The end of the summit pound was signified by the Napton flight which dropped away ahead of me.  Nearing the end of the day my first major junction between canals was is view.  Two boats shot out of the canal in from the left at far to fast a pace and it took some nifty manoeuvring to avoid a collision, luckily I was being fairly cautious which probably helped.

Napton Junction

So now the grand union was ahead, I had no experience of the grand union having heard tales of it being hard work for single handers but if anything it was easier than the K&A as the locks and paddles where much easier to work.  As with all the canals the Grand Union had a character of its own with distinctive bollards and paddle gear.

I had ambitions at the beginning of the day of taking on the Stockton Locks but I was going to have to satisfy myself with the Calcutt locks for today. 

Calcutt Locks

Evening Mooring at Gibraltar Bridge

1st August - Banbury, Cropredy and Fenny Compton Tunner

1st Aug

Lock Stats

Today: 17 locks
Grand total: 143 locks

To go: 136 locks

^^^ OVER HALF WAY in terms of locks (although I didn't know that at the time) ^^^

I headed off down the oddly shape Aynho Weir Lock and started making my way to Banbury.  Banbury is one of those places that you have an audience when you have to work a lock as the lock is in the middle of a busy shopping area.

Interestingly there is a boat yard built in among the locks as well known as Tooley's Yard.  I would of loved to stop at Banbury but there was a single boat width coming out of the lock so I ploughed on.  Similarly at Cropredy it was busy as boats had turned up for an upcoming festival, although thankfully it wasn't quite as narrow.

Pushing onward the light began to dim and I was forced to take a fairly shallow mooring with a bit of a ledge.  Ahead of me was Fenny Compton Tunnel which is actually no longer a tunnel but a deep cutting having been re-engineered when the railway was built alongside.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to moor in the cutting so played it safe and pulled in.
  

 Grazing Geese

Heading West

31st July - to Aynho!

Lock Stats

Today: 10 locks
Grand total: 126 locks

To go: 153 locks

Aubreys Lift Bridge at CRT's Thrup yard was a bit of a pain as a single hander as although it was ok to operate and got through the bridge the moorings we a bit awkward on the other side to enable you to jump of and operate the bridge.

Somerton deep lock is one of the deeper locks on the network (16th deepest) at 12ft deep, I can add it to Bath deep (2nd deepest) for my list of deep locks I've done.

 Somerton Deep Lock & Cottage

Somerton Deep Lock

I moored up just before Aynho Weir lock which is wider than normal locks, I thought to enable lots of boats to fit in but it's apparently to feed the water for the Somerton Deep lock. Makes sense I suppose!

26th June - Oxford

26th June

Lock Stats

Today: 9 locks
Grand total: 116 locks

To go: 163 locks

Today we completed the final stretch of the Thames on this journey.  Passing through Abingdon there was a sign up showing where the Wilts & Berks canal joins The Thames, having passed the other end of the canal back in Wiltshire on the K&A it demonstrates how useful it would of been to have the canal restored! :)

Having spoken to other boaters and friends they suggested avoiding the centre of Oxford so we didn't turn in to the sheepwash channel but carried on up the Thames only to see warning of shallow water.

Once we'd locked up through King's lock it was a quick left on to a cut off of the river, a boater passing the other way was obviously convinced he'd done the impossible and got lost on the canal as he seemed stressed about not being able to find the Thames.

Anyway given a few moments we reached the Dukes Cut which was so overgrown and narrow I also thought I'd taken the wrong turn!

Dukes Cut Lock 44B

Then the first narrow lock of the journey, lock 44B to be specific, the lock was tiny just to protect water levels ... then a quick left and a proper lock up.  The Oxford canal was quite ridiculously packed with moorings which is a shame, there is obviously a need for a marina around here.

Duke's cut junction

Anyway, I had a weekend off of the boat and got to meet my new Niece and to to the Cock and Bull Festival.

Cock and Bull Festival Acoustic Tent

 

25th July - Clifton Hampden

Lock Stats

Today: 5 locks
Grand total: 107 locks

To go: 172 locks

I was joined for breakfast by my Mum and Sister and we went in to Pangbourne for a slap up cooked breakfast.  My sister was to crew the boat for the rest of the time on the Thames.  We had our work cut out to get to Oxford in two days with NB Heathers 18hp engine working flat out.

 My sister in change of the boat

At Benson Lock we were treated to an aerobatic display thanks to the RAF Benson family fun day.  The great thing about the Thames is with few locks you can go flat out and try to cover the miles.  We did 17 miles on the 25th which is pretty good going.

RAF Benson Display

Trying to find a mooring at the end of the day was interesting to say the least, we had our eye out for moorings and their did seem to be spots where people were just moored on to fields.  There were two lots of moorings marked in the Nicholoson's guide in Clifton Hampden and I'd read about some moorings there on a blog.  As the blog I read had mentioned, there were two lots of moorings marked in Nicholsons and going upstream we struggled to see the moorings.  We decide to eventually risk mooring after the Clifton Hampden Bridge on the Right and found a small sign informing us to pay £4 for our mooring at the post office, all proceeds went to the local school PTA, what a lovely idea.

Clifton Hampden

Clifton Hampden is a charming village with thatched buildings being the standard.  There are a couple of pubs (one including a chineese resteraunt), in addition to the post office.  The village also obviously suffered from flooding as there were permanent duck boards.

24th July - The Thames and Pangbourne

Lock Stats

Today: 9 locks
Grand total: 102 locks

To go: 177 locks

I started off the Morning by going in to Theale.  Although a little walk from the canal, Theale was a good place to restock and more importantly had a good selection of cafe's so I had a coffee and bacon bap!

Having had breakfast my aim was to get through Reading and I wasn't intending stopping.  It was distinguished by people driving motorbikes along the towpath and children playing with machetes by the side of locks.  lock 106 felt like the last of the K&A locks and although there was not much flow in the river Kennet the lock still required care to be taken and you would not want to get stuck on the Weir.

Lock 107, Blake's lock was the last official K&A lock however the style of lock had changed to that of the Thames locks and also from here on in this was my first experience (on my own boat) of the Thames.  One of the outstanding experiences that I had on the Thames was how friendly and helpful the lock keepers were so a big thanks to them! :)

Having left it fairly late I was lucky to get a mooring at Pangbourne Meadow.  One great thing about the wide Thames was that you can turn around in most places so I checked out the available moorings and then realised that my best bet was to moor heather under a tree that everyone else had avoided.  In the photos bellow the boat looks like it's in the middle of nowhere but there were maybe twenty or more boats on the meadow either side of me.

Pangbourne however was great and there were lots of pubs, cafés and shops chose from.   In the evening I met up with some friends at The Swan.  The location was lovely but we had a real problem with the service from the staff, it may of been because it was so busy, who knows!

23rd July - Theal

Lock Stats

Today: 12 locks
Grand total: 93 locks

To go: 186 locks

Having picked a quiet mooring out of the river flow between Bull's swing bridge and lock it was time to press on.  I'd stopped early because of thunderstorms and rain and also because Monkey Marsh lock was coming up.

Monkey Marsh lock is a bit of an anomaly in that it's a turf sided lock.  It turns out that there are in fact 2 turf locks on the K&A.  It wasn't anything to be worried about however, I got the boat lined up to go in to the lock and using a long centre line jumped of the boat before the lock and slowed it down on the rope.  There are piles in the side of the lock that demonstrate the normal profile of the lock and gangplanks that give you access to the boat.

Monkey Marsh Lock

Slightly more tricky was Woolhampton lock and swing bridge.  There is a significant flow in the river through the narrow gap for the bridge and the bridge needs to be swung before leaving the lock, equally going the other way the lock should be pre prepared for boats coming the other way, something that a couple of hire boaters obviously weren't aware of as they headed towards my lock without a proper place to moor up and let me out of the lock.

This operation is usually straight forward with crew but it's fairly time consuming as a single hander.  The cars were going to have to wait though.  Once heading out of the lock on tick over I was accelerated through the bridge and had to slow the boat down on the stern rope having learnt this was the best method from previous mistakes with the centre line.

Woolhampton Swingbridge

Lock 100 felt like another milestone and although not my hundredth represented 100 locks back to my home city of Bristol.  I moored up for the night shortly after this lock at Theale, really good visitor mooring. Theale is maybe more famous for the service station than the canal.

Lock 100!

22nd July - Newbury

Lock Stats

Today: 14 locks
Grand total: 81 locks

To go: 198 locks

The Kennet and Avon canal in common with many canals and along this stretch in particular the presence of the railway is particularly noticeable although still picturesque.

Passing under the Newbury bypass it was obvious that Newbury was close at hand.  Having heard horror stories about the cross flow caused by the River Kennet at Newbury lock I was prepared for the worst but luckily the lack of rain and engineering work being done on the river had minimised the impact.

Newbury bypass

My first river mooring experience at Newbury was an experience to saw the least, you need to be going slow enough but with enough power to stay in control.  I moored briefly at Newbury to restock and grab a coffee and then it was onward bound.

I had to moor up for a lock in the flow of the river Kennet and I was still working on my centre line to slow the boat up and moor up.  Going a tad to fast I got in to the side of the river attempted to slow the boat down on the ropes.  The result being to tip the boat violently and my possessions inside the boat went everywhere.  Lesson learnt I remembered from that point forward to utilised the stern rope when going with the flow in the river, best learnt now rather than later! 

21st July - Down hill

Lock Stats

Today: 19 locks
Grand total: 67 locks

To go: 212 locks

Having reached the top of the canal it was down hill from here.  A slightly different strategy single handing doing down through the locks was required but it seemed a bit easier on the whole.

I passed the famous Crofton pumping station that is a functioning steam pumping station.

I felt like a milestone to have done over 50% of the K&A locks however there were many more miles of canal to go.  I just had to take it one lock at a time.

Hungerford marsh swingbridge and lock were a curiosity, you had to swing a bridge that was sat on top of a lock and then operate the lock.  In faffing around with the lock a boat had caught me up crewed another lovely couple who were continuous cruisers, Chris and Trish.   They had lock operation down to fine art using a folding bike to get locks set up ahead of the boat.

Trish had the bridges opened ahead of the boats giving us a clear run through.  I stopped at Hungerford near the church where there was luckily space for a couple of boats before the lock.

20th July - Honey street, Wootton Rivers and Bruce Tunnel

Lock Stats

Today: 4 locks
Grand total: 48 locks

To go: 231 locks

I told A lie on my last post, although it was similar to a top pound in length I wasn't quite a the K&A summit!

Leaving Devizes the pound is maybe some 18 Miles so I had a lovely clear run ahead of me.  This the most picturesque part of the K&A and includes the famous Honey Street which id a famous boating destination and popular with people interested in crop circles too.  Some stretches only had enough room for one boat to push through the overgrown reed beds, this felt like a real adventure.

A white horse near Honey Street

There was an intriguing bridge called Lady's Bridge which was much more ornate than any of the other bridges I'd seen along the canal.  Later on I discovered from someone I was talking to who's home mooring was their that the Bridge and wide lake like stretch of canal was requested by the lady landowner who didn't want the commercial canal to pass through her land.

I picked up 3 members of skilled crew at Pewsey who helped me up the flight through Wootton Rivers and then through the impressive Bruce Tunnel.

The crew at work!

I would probably have a lot more recollection of this part of the journey had we not been continuously harassed by the beastly horse flies.  I've obviously lived a sheltered life as I've never been bit by a horse fly before to my knowledge but we were bombarded by the things.

 A pesky horse fly that lost a fight with my hand!

Having gone through the Bruce tunnel I found a lovely mooring before the the top of the Crofton Flight.

Navigation note: My Nicholson's guide advised no mooring in the Crofton flight but there was no signs to say not to and there were space for boats in the pounds and indeed boat moored in there.

18th-19th July: Devises and Cain Hill

18th-19th July

Lock Stats

Today: 29 locks
Grand total: 44 locks

To go: 235 locks

So to make up for not getting to Foxhangers I made an early start, I'd been recommended my other boaters to give some early morning boating a go and it is beautiful.  The stillness of the new day is beautiful and there was mist hovering over the water.

I locked up through the first of the Foxhangers flight on my own however a boat turned up to lock up behind.  I went ahead and set the next lock and waited to be joined by the boat behind so we could share the locks going up.

The boat in question was a beautiful green narrow boat named Henry.  The boat was crewed by a couple of continuous cruisers and a lovely dog!  They were only doing the 7 locks up to Cain Hill bottom lock but demonstrated the kindness of boaters by not only accompanying me through the Foxhangers flight but by then subsequently helping me up the Cain Hill flight and giving me a bottle of water to make sure I was drinking enough, true boaters through and through!

Having reached Cain Hill bottom lock I was going to pause however some overzealous hire boaters were in the process of setting the locks against me so I dashed it to the lock whilst it was in my favour.  A few locks in I was joined by my Dad who got expert coaching in lock operation from Henry's crew, with a team of three we flew up the Cain Hill flight stopping after the top lock just after lunch.

Then me and my Dad completed the final Devizes flight of 6 locks up to the top pound of the K&A canal.  Then stopping at Devises at we went for a well earned coffee in Cafe Nero! :)

Having conquered Cain Hill I took a day out to do boring things like paperwork, laundry and restocking ships supplies.

A friendly butterfly

I finished off the day by paying a visit to some boat friends who had moved their boat to Seend and we had a night BBQ by the canal, accompanied by some beer from the famed Devises Wadworth brewery.  Then for another night cycle home, always a little hit hairy! :)

BBQ lighting

17th July

17th July

Lock Stats

Today: 7 locks
Grand total: 15 locks

To go: 264 locks

I hadn't actually ever operated a lock on my own before so I was keen to get one under my belt, a friend was cycling up later in the day to help me but I didn't want to wait.  As often is the case with many things the prospect is worse than the reality, taking things slowly and relying on ropes it's pretty straight forward to work a wide lock on your own.

Lock procedure going up hill:

1. Moor up before the lock
2. Empty lock (if required)
3. Open lock gate (just the one is required one a broad lock with a narrow boat)
4. Return to boat and drive it in trying to stick close to the side of the lock with ladder
5. With rope and windlass attempt an athletic climb up the lock ladder
6. Loosely tie up boat so it doesn't bash about to much when filling lock
7. Start opening up the paddle on same side as boat to fill the lock and keep boat in against wall
8. Open other paddle
9. When water levels equalise close off towpath paddle
10. Open gate on towpath side
11. Close paddle on townpath side
12. drive boat out
13. moor boat
14. close gate
15. Ready to face the next gate!?

Well what a faff! this takes ~17-19 minutes and I was going to have to do this hundreds of times!

After four locks I decided to have a break, I needed to want to overdo it! :)  Empty the loo, chuck out the rubbish, this is the glamour of boating.  I stopped at the pub at Seend which I can thoroughly recommend for location although I didn't get to sample the food.  Leon arrived to help with the boat and having had refreshments from pub (one pint, one soft drink to avoid dehydration in the baking sun) we were on the move again.  We made it as far a sells green before stopping, we needed to grab a bit of food and there was a pub.

Heather at Seend Wharf

Mooring hint: Sells green is a good spot but moor to the west of bridge 149 as the banks to the east are a bit of a nightmare to negotiate.

Annoyingly Leon had a puncture so as well as having a meal at the pub we used the garden to repair his tyre.

So I was now in an OK position to do the Cain Hill flight, my Dad was arriving the next day to help out which was welcome.  Ideally I wanted to be at the bottom of the Foxhangers flight of locks but I was moored up and I couldn't get myself enthused to move again!

This is where the hard work began!

So up until now there journey had been fairly sedate only and hour or two a day.  I had done just over 14 miles and only 8 locks (and most of those with assistance).

So now 243 miles of canal stretched out before me and more amazing than that 271 locks and 31 lift and swing bridges.  And this journey had conveniently coincided with one of the hottest heat waves I can remember in years.
, although I prefer that to rain!

The first night I pitched up just below Semmington, I'd not gone far at all but it felt good having left the marina and it felt like my journey had begun.

The interesting point about Semmington is this is the junction with the Wilts and Berks Canal which is under restoration.  There is a good possibility it will be restored within my lifetime but if only it was restored now it would cut a big chunk off of my journey. More information on the restoration here: http://www.wbct.org.uk/.

So What happened to this blog then!?

So What happened to this blog then!? It went by the wayside.  Every evening I would finish boating and my only thoughts were food and sleep.

Anyway I'll give you a bit of a retrospective idea of what happened so apologies in advance for mass posting up on here.

So myself and Leon pressed on through Bradford on Avon to Sally Boats at BoA marina.  Going through BoA lock there was the usual selection of tourists looking on.  Leon went ahead to sort out the lock assisted by a CRT volunteer.

We lashed the boats together and I steered them in to the lock side by side.  This was the first time I'd done this and I was surprised at the manoeuvrability.

There was a boat coming down so we were able to plough on, Leon leading the way.

We pitched up on the canal just before BoA marina as we needed to suss out where they wanted to moor.  It was pretty shallow and on leaving this mooring I managed to get stuck!  So with lots of reversing, standing on the off towpath side and getting a passing boater to give the boat a shove with a pole I managed to get unstuck.

View of the marina from the pub, the dry dock is the small shed next to the big one.

My and Leon's temporary moorings.  

I was first up for blacking.  All the anodes were up for replacement too as you can see from the pictutre below.

Bradford on Avon was a lovely town with lots going on and it has an obvious local boaty contingent that makes you feel right at home.  While we were in BoA another boating friend bought his boat up to BoA and moored in town and then up to where we moored on the canal in one of the above pictures.  It was good fun to have a contingent of friends from the marina out on the canal together and you couldn't ask for better company.

Also I would like to thank the team at Sally Boats for there hard work and helpfulness.  They were very accommodating and willing to do other small jobs that needed doing on the boats.  THANKS! :)