BRADFORD-ON-AVON TO BRISTOL

Wednesday, 14th July
We stayed in Bradford-on-Avon for two nights.
Trev said we wouldn't bother going down to Bristol if I didn't want to go,
so that made me feel a whole lot better!

Thursday, 15th July
We travelled on to Bath today.
The countryside is beautiful as we're following the Avon Gorge.
A bonus of the wet weather is that everywhere is so green.
The views were splendid today, and there were no locks!

Boats were moored all along the towpath, some in varying states of decay!
There has been a lot written about the problem of illegal mooring.
Everyone is supposed to pay a licence fee, depending on the length of their boat,
and, if one chooses not to pay for a mooring,
one should move on every fourteen days at least,
more often if there is a limit on the length of time
one may moor at a certain spot.
But, as in all walks of life, there are some people who ignore the rules.
So they moor up and stay for weeks, months, even years,
without paying for a mooring and sometimes without paying their licence fee, either.
This rather gets up the noses of people who do pay their licence fees
and who do pay for a mooring.

Now, if you've been paying attention, you may recall that we have decided
not to take a permanent mooring this year.
This is because last year we paid for a year's mooring at Braunston
and were there for less than half of the time.
But we shall move on regularly and obey the rules!
Aren't we goody goodies?

As we went towards Bath, who should we see but The Yellow Peril,
as it has been dubbed by those of us who keep seeing it!
This is the Dutch barge I mentioned last week,
which was in front of us on the Caen Hill flight,
and which we helped all the way through the locks
without so much as a cursory nod from the helmsman.
It was running true to form--this time it was moored in a winding hole.
Winding holes are for the express purpose of turning boats round,
and there are signs forbidding mooring.
This boat is BIG--I mean BIG!
So there was no way a boat bigger than about 40' could have turned in the winding hole.

We also saw a boat with its roof covered with turf!
I don't quite know the reasoning behind that.
If it's still there when we go back, I'll take a picture of it!

As we approached Bath, there were our trusty friends, Jen and Bill, looking out for us.
Again, they moved up and made room for us.
We were lucky to get a spot, it was the last one.
Bath is a very popular place to visit.

Friday, 16th July/Saturday 17th July



We spent some time in Bath.
I'd been there a couple of times before, but never spent very long there,
and I was pleasantly surprised at how lovely a town it is.
The architecture is fantastic--Great Pulteney Street is beautiful,
and I can imagine Jane Austen and her characters going about their everyday lives.




Sunday, 18th July
All good things come to an end.
We had used up our 72 hours on the mooring,
Jen and Bill had departed to start their return to Reading and all points north,
and Trev dropped the bombshell that we were going to Bristol after all!
He'd been talking to a couple of people who'd just come up from Bristol,
and they said it was lovely and one really should do it.
Also, Trev wanted to finish the trip, not leave the last seventeen miles or so undone.
I could understand what he meant and so we set off.



LEAVING BATH



There are six locks as you leave Bath, and one of them
is the deepest on the canal system, at nineteen feet.
I steered, and it was a bit hairy being at the bottom of such a huge chamber.
Fortunately I had company, as we shared the locks with another boat.
The only problem was, I had to get the boat right to the back of the lock
so that there was enough space to open the gates at the front.
This meant that I was directly under a very heavy flow of water which was leaking from the top gate!
Later, when Trev did his "end of the daycheck" of the engine, etc.,
we discovered the engine compartment had about three inches of water in it,
where the water had poured in.

When we came out at the bottom of the Bath flight we were on the River Avon.
This is not the same Avon that flows through Stratford-on-Avon.
(I'd thought it was......)
This is another one apparently.
It was wide and fairly fast flowing and we fairly batted along.
There are six locks between Bath and Bristol.
We moored up near the second one--Saltford Lock, near a pub called The Jolly Sailor.
Isn't that a nice name?

Monday, 19th/Tuesday, 20th July
Today we carried on to Bristol.
The river grew wider and the banks grew higher.
At last we came to lock number 1, the first or last
(depending on which way you're going) on the Kennet & Avon.
Then we were into a new navigation authority--Bristol City Council
At the next lock--Netham Lock--we had to stop and pay the Lock Keeper to use the moorings in Bristol Harbour.
This was dependent on the length of the boat.
We paid £29 for two nights, and he was very generous in his estimate
of the length of our boat, to save us some money!

Then we were on our way into Bristol.
it was quite exciting to cruise past all of the buildings.
There is a lot of redevelopment going on, and it's looking very good.
We found a place to moor, near the centre of the city.



It's also quite close to the young people's bars
near enough to hear their frolicking but fortunately
not near enough for them to come and check us out!
There is a bar called Brannigan's with a sign saying: Drinking, dancing and cavorting!
I wish I was about forty-five years younger, I wouldn't mind a cavort from time to time.
Set me up for life that would!

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