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Lots of birdlife on the canal. Wendy caught a heron in mid flight, and swans come round wherever we tie up. Obviously narrowboats represent food to them, and they can get quite pushy. Jim was nipped on the arm walking by the open window by an indignant swan.
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So many great photographs of the countryside and sky taken by the crew:
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Five years ago when I travelled this canal, this house, an old lock keepers house, was derelict. Now it a cosy canal side home.
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When we got to Newbury it was all change. Our first visitors had to leave and our second ones arrived. And we had to turn back. There were RED BOARDS up for eastbound on the Kennet section of the lock. A month of rain and storms had caused the river section to be too high and there was damage to locks. As well, a tree had fallen across the canal and needed specialty equipment to remove it. We did not have the time to wait. We had pushed each day to try and achieve our goal of getting as far as Windsor on the Thames, and now we are in tick-over, the lowest speed of the boat, 2 miles per hour, and taking in the countryside as we meander back to Bradford on Avon.
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Michael Simpson
Thanks Maggie for the opportunity to be part of this awesome trip and to be with a group of awesome adventurers ! great Blog too!