What a contrast - nearly back to hire boat land

Wednesday, 15 June 2011 12:00

A contrast because we had a short cruise today and the first bit was through an industrial estate.

Industry at Colthrop

Or that's what it felt like until we left Cothrop behind ....

The lock at Colthrop amazed us - either the friends of Clothrop Lock (!) (maybe the Reed Group who donated money for the bottom gates) or just maybe BW, had been there with a grass edger.

John at Colthrop Lock - note the clean edge of the grass!

I mentioned this lock cottage on our way up the K and A (or Kennet Navigation as this end is more correctly named).

Lock Cottage

They are obviously troubled by folks having problems with the lock as this notice shows, even if it is a bit out of date!

Notice to boaters

What follows is a really pretty section - river-like but more or less straight. Below Midgham Lock, looking to the north, Midgham Church sits high on the hill.

St Mathew's Parish Church at Midgham

I decided I needed some exercise and as we knew that the swing bridges in this section were in good condition and easy to move I went to do Cranwell's swing bridge and then walked to the next lock.

Fi locking Cranwell's swing bridge

Old Heale's Lock was next and here I met some gongoozling walkers!

Pretty cut to Old Heale's Lock

They stood and watched whilst the lock filled (eventually - it seemed very deep but is supposed to only be 8' 11").

Old Heale's Lock reflection of top gates

The gongoozlers remarked that it all seemed very hard work and compared the lock to the electric ones they had recently seen - on the Thames!

In Old Heale's Lock

One of the chaps who was from Australia (but had a pretty good English accent!) said that he and his wife had been thinking of hiring a narrowboat but that now he had seen what hard work it was he was having second thoughts! I replied that there were easier locks to work on other canals - but maybe my inevitable breathlessness was misleading him!

Oxlease swing bridge ahead

Oxlease swing bridge was opened by boaters coming the other way and we slipped through with a "thank you". We were hoping that the moorings above Woolhampton Lock would have room for us. There was plenty of room, apart from a dilapidated wide boat that was here when we moored on our way up. Because of the space we were able to shuffle a bit until we had a satellite signal for the TV.

Once moored we were joined by other narrowboats and lots passed by on their way to and from Aldermaston Wharf where ABC now have a hire base. By the late afternoon the moorings were full so everyone after that had to brave the (gentle today) current of the River Kennet below Woolhampton Lock.

Kennet and Avon Canal, Thatcham to Woolhampton
2 hours 2 minutes, 2.82 miles, 3 locks