Not quite the Kennet and Avon Canal

Thursday, 05 May 2011 10:26

So we have temporarily said "goodbye" to the River Thames - it is definitely "adieu".

Mooring at Tesco on Thames

A little beyond these moorings we took a right turn ....

Kennet Mouth is a collection of bridges and has a bit of an industrial feel to it. Looking back at the Thames continuing downstream I had a moment of regret!

Turning into Kennet Mouth on right

Human activity here can be traced back 10,000 years, to the early Ice Age - there is also evidence of Iron Age man. The Romans farmed the land and built Earley Wharf to service their nearby town of Silchester. The Saxons arrived around 600 AD and then in the early 1800s the area became an important trading spot, with the arrival of the Kennet and Avon Canal.

The Horseshoe Bridge was built in 1891 with the coming of the railway. The timber clad iron truss structure was used by towing horses crossing the river and is now a listed structure.

Horseshoe Bridge and Brunel's Rail bridge.

The River Kennet leads to the Kennet and Avon Canal one mile further on. At least we still had swans to look at - and more people looking at us.

Swans and gongoozlers

We passed the Jolly Angler, built by Huntley and Palmers 150 years ago which is now open again after a local campaign.

Jolly Angler

Ahead was Blakes Lock - managed by the EA - as is the mile to the K and A. It is the only lock administered by the EA that is not on the Thames. Having said that is is self service more often than it is "manned"!

Blakes Lock and weir stream to right

This was the lock that was going to be the gateway to the Kennet and Avon Canal so that BW could "police" the non-compliant boaters without a BW licence, thus controlling the number of "unwelcome" boats staying on the K and A. Hmm ....

More a shed than a house!

I did the lock, turning the large wheels to open the sluices and opening one gate for John and Epiphany. This may be the one and only lock I "do" for a while, as they get harder as we progress up the K and A (or so it was when we were here before).

Epiphany in Blakes Lock

Once up the lock we passed the Fishermans Cottage - once an actual cottage and turned right into Reading Gaol Loop (sometimes "Jail", but I prefer the reference to the Ballad of Reading Gaol as my guide!) Above the weir is the Riverside Museum, housed in two old industrial buildings associated with the River Kennet: the Screen House and the Turbine House.

Riverside Museum

After venturing down the right hand side of the island in the loop and discovering that it was too shallow for us, we reversed and kept to the main channel, hoping to find a mooring outside the Gaol, beside Reading Abbey ruins. Click here for our September 2008 blog about Reading.

Island in middle of loop

We were astonished - there was plenty of room. A wide boat and two narrowboats were the only boats moored and we slipped in with plenty of room to spare. From past experience (we were stuck here for 11 days due to red boards on the Thames in 2008) we know that this is a safe mooring with CCTV and lights at night.

Moored in Reading Gaol Loop

Tesco, Reading to Reading Gaol Loop
1.02 miles, 1 lock, 53 minutes