GREAT BEDWYN TO DEVIZES

Wednesday, 30th June
Today we did the Crofton Flight of locks, a series of locks which took us to the summit
of the Kennet & Avon Canal.
From now on it's all downhill to Bath & Bristol.
We stopped for lunch and it started to rain, so we put the back covers on
and stayed put for the night.

Thursday, 1st July
Today we travelled less than two miles, to Pewsey.
We're in a fifteen mile pound.
A pound is the name given to that part of the canal between the locks.
To have fifteen miles without a lock is quite a novelty.
But this is the lull before the storm.
Just after Devizes we meet the Caen Hill Flight,
one of the more famous areas of the canal system, where there is a flight of twenty-nine locks!
It rained on and off most of the day.
Trev walked in to Pewsey, about a mile away.

Friday, 2nd July
It poured with rain in the night.
It's a great feeling to be inside the boat so warm and safe,
and to hear the rain lashing down outside.
There was more rain in the morning, but then the sun came out and it was really warm.
We both walked in to Pewsey.
It's not a pretty town, but it has lots of useful shops.
We got a piece of wood cut to make a shelf for the computer,
we got some shopping, and then, oh woe, we found a delightful deli!
We ended up spending far too much, and the girl in the shop
took us back to the boat in her car, as we couldn't carry all we had bought!

Jen & Bill arrived on Sweet William. We had last seen them on The Lee & Stort,
and it was good to catch up with their adventures.

We stayed in Pewsey for another night.

Saturday, 3rd July/Sunday, 4th July
Another mixed day of weather, with wind and rain and sun.
Trev walked in to Pewsey (again!) and fetched the papers
--Saturday is Daily Telegraph day for me, remember!
Then we filled up with water and pumped out the w.c. at Pewsey Wharf
and set off again.
Hoist the anchor, set the sail, check the charts, and all other manner of nautical terms!

It's a great feeling when we move on.

A bit like the song:
Do you know where hell is?
Hell is in hello.
Heaven is goodbye forever,
It's time for me to go!

Can't remember who sang it--an American with a voice like gravel.



The countryside is absolutely glorious.
I had no idea that Wiltshire was so lovely.
I've only ever travelled through it to the West Country on holiday,
but it really deserves closer inspection.
There are rolling wolds, as in the Cotswolds, and vast unpopulated areas.
We've seen two huge white horses carved on the chalky hillsides.



The place names are delightful: Honey Street
All Cannings
Bishops Cannings
Wootton Rivers
Great Bedwyn
Stanton St. Bernard

We moored up at All Cannings, by dint of everyone shuffling up their boats
so that we could just fit in.
The moorings aren't easy to come by, and several times we've moored up in the reeds and bulrushes,
Trev making daring leaps on to the towpath, rope in hand,
hoping he's judged it right! He has so far......

I hung the washing out on the airer on the towpath,
and we enjoyed our mooring in a very peaceful spot.

Monday, 5th July
Today we set off for Devizes, and there were still no locks.
We keep seeing the same boats all the way along the canal.
Sweet William
Orinoco
Kizzie
Tramper
Nice Item
Autumn Glory

Whilst Trev filled up with water at Devizes, I walked along the towpath
looking for a mooring spot.
But none was to be found.
Everyone was waiting at the top of the Caen Hill Flight of locks,
either getting over the effects of doing all the locks up to Devizes,
or gathering their strength ready for the downward assault.

Eventually, a man on a boat asked me if I was looking for moorings,
as he was going to set off on the flight
when 'the wife' got back from shopping.
In the meantime, we were invited to breast up!
Now I hope you remember what that means..we could moor alongside his boat.
So we did, and got an immediate invitation to 'walk through' his boat.
It's always interesting to see other boats, and his was very different from ours.
Ours is probably rather plain inside, with not an awful lot about.
His was just the opposite with lots of brasses, china, pictures,
and 'tranklemints' as Trev's gran used to call ornaments!
It was very pretty and homely (cosy for my American readers
--I know homely means rather plain and ugly in 'American').

He also had a vintage engine, these are really important to some boat owners
--mostly men I think, well I've never heard a woman enthuse about her Gardiner engine!
You can hear these engines chugging along the canal from a long way away.
Some people even seem to be able to recognise the make of engine approaching,
or, even more incredibly, can identify the actual boat which is coming
by the noise of its approaching engine.

We left him cleaning his brasses.....

Eventually, his good lady arrived with the shopping and they chugged off
to start the lock flight.
It was very kind of him to offer us his mooring spot.

We walked in to Devizes and shopped at Sainsbury's and bought fish and chips for tea.
What a treat!

Tuesday, 6th July
Trev went in to Devizes and bought a paper, and found himself a place to buy a mega breakfast!
Whilst he was gone, Kizzie came by to start the flight.
Her occupants, Jenny and Colin, were on their own,
and I wished Trev was back so that we could join them.
Well, the wish came true, and Trev appeared,
so we quickly started the engine and cast orf.
We were pleased to have someone to share the locks with.

It's a daunting prospect to know that you have twenty-nine locks ahead, in about two miles!



LOOKING DOWN THE CAEN HILL FLIGHT

But at least we only have to do it twice--once on the way out, and once on the way back.
The old working boaters would have been tackling this probably once a week
on their travels from Bristol to London.



LOOKING UP THE CAEN HILL FLIGHT

The weather was just about perfect to do the flight, sunny but a good breeze to keep us cool.
I steered and Trev helped Jenny to do the locks, whilst Colin steered Kizzie.
It was a long and tiring day.
There was a wide beam barge in front of us and so every lock was set against us.
The barge was being steered by a man who was disabled
and so was unable to get off the boat and help his wife.
Thus the poor wife was on her own, doing the Caen Hill flight,
and, as it was a wide beam boat, she had to open both gates at each end of the lock.
This began to slow us down, and so Trev and Jenny went forward to help.
They ended up doing our locks and helping the people,in front.

The strange thing was, the man who was steering never once had eye contact
with Trev or Jenny and never thanked them for all their hard work!
The wife was very appreciative.

Eventually, after six hours, we finished the last lock and moored up.
Now, six hours isn't a record, except perhaps for the slowest passage
through the Caen Hill Flight, but remember, we did the Caen Hill Flight
one and a half times by the time we'd helped the people in front!

Jenny and Colin came on board for a drink and we toasted the completion of a very long day.

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