Kennet and Avon Canal – A Meandering Mann

Going West

On December 29, 2024

As soon as Cathy, Leanne and Patsy were on the way to the rest of their holiday in England it has all hands on deck to change beds, tidy and clean ready for the final crew of the trip. Ed and Laura, their two kids Ruben and Olive, and close friends Jaimie, Helen and Robin. With Jim, Karen, Sally and me we were a full boat.

The adventure began straight away. Helen, Jaimie and Robin arrived on time, brought by Jaimie’s mom, Suzy. Then we found out that Ed’s car would not start. The ignition switch had broken beyond repair. So off went Suzy to get Laura and the kids, while Ed stayed at home to wait for the repair man. So out the window went the hope of getting to Bath to have dinner with Cathy and friends as planned.

But the weather was fair and spirits were good. We began going west about three hours later, towards the Avoncliff and then Dundas aqueducts. All the while checking in with Ed on the car repairs. A plan had been developed with a few moving parts. We, with permission, made sure the boat yard gate was openable for Ed to park his car when it was fixed, the bike from the boat was locked up in the marina and the key hidden. Laura took a video of the location of the bike and the key and sent it to him.

The arrival time of the repair man was moved later and later, and we moved further and further up the canal, to past at least one of the aqueducts, and finally we tied up.

This week Sally and I were off duty in the kitchen. Both Laura and Helen are excellent cooks and had prepared the food for the trip. That night it was a barbecue. Jane, our sister, who was visiting Lucien, her other son, both came for dinner which was lovely.

Jim, Lucien, Jane, Laura, Helen and Karen

The kids settled right into the seats. Olive, Ruben and Robin

While the adults made other arrangements.

The kids were long in bed and the fire in the barbecue long gone before Ed arrived on the bike. I think it was well past 10 pm, but we had stayed up to to greet him. He rode with no headlight and with two bags hanging on the handlebars. Oh, and the bike was too small for him. Thank goodness he is a very experienced rider.

Making their own fun, a fort under the bunkbed.

The kids settled in very quickly and were very good about wearing their life jackets when they were on deck, most of the time, and keeping their hands and toes away from the edges of the boat. And of course there were always a few adults around to keep them safe and entertained. The ratio was 8 adults to 3 kids.

We kept moving west but did not make it to Bath until the next night so plans were re-thought. No longer was it possible to get to Bristol but we hoped to get to Keynsham. Keynsham was not far from where Lucien and his partner Dani live at Fairy Hill, near Compton Dando. Those are the names, I kid you not. We planned to spend a day with them.

Bath is beautiful.

The words on the roof of the building are “Prepare to Meet Thy God”, owned by the Methodists

Only seen from the canal

The left side of this photograph is where I tied up in 2018

The following day we were moving towards the River Avon when we got stuck behind what I can only describe as a floating bungalow. It passed us as we were filling up with water. It was as long and as wide as the lock allowed, a pale aqua green colour and owned by the Hell’s Angels. Apparently they have a large presence in Bristol which is where I assume they were heading, but it just seemed like such an incongruous mode of transport for them. No good as a get away vehicle.

We finally got onto the river, and it is quite a different experience than a canal. There can be a strong flow in parts of the river and you have to keep your wits about you. We also came across a particularly difficult set of lock gates. It took strength and ingenuity to get them open, which we had to do twice, coming and going.

But the kids were always ready to help.

We tied up for the night along the way, a bit more of a challenge on a river, you have to dock going upstream, so need to turn the boat around in the flow if you are going downstream, as we were. It was curry for dinner that night, yum. All was going along with the new plan until we got up in the morning. We discovered that the toilets were full. Now this was a very strange thing as we had had them emptied when we were at the marina for the crew change so there should not have been a problem. So, on to problem solving, find a place that can empty the tanks. The only available place was back near Bath. After the kids had had a final “wild wee”, we were in a pretty wild area, we headed back up the river towards Bath. When we finally did get them suctioned we realized they had only taken the water from the top, and not the sludge from the bottom of the tanks back in Bradford on Avon. This had happened to us earlier on the trip as well, and now that we did it for ourselves, or I should say Jim did it, it was done properly. How about a picture of some tenacious but beautiful flowers who grow on lock walls and gates to get the flooded toilet image out of your minds.

You can imagine that the kids got pretty bored pretty fast waiting around for the emptying so the kids and their parents began walking along the Thames path. We finally caught up with them after they had had a pub lunch a couple of hours later.

So another change of plan. We were back in Bath, but not before there were several changes at the tiller

I have no idea why I don’t have any pictures of Jaimie at the helm as he often was, giving Jim a break!

I am sure the kids thought the whole thing was a blast

So another change of plan. Jim and Karen yet again changed the location for meeting up with their long time friends who lived in Wales, and we changed the location for our day trip pick up.

Mom’s Laura and Helen, and Dani catching a break.

And a chat, along with Suzy and Lucien in the background, who, as usual, was trying to break the camera.

Trevor, who was staying with Lucien while Sally was on the boat, was roped into vacuuming for the visitors, something he avoids at home due to the noise. This is a unique photograph.

Lucien has done amazing things to the property and buildings but this time I took pictures of Dani’s market garden, which she has developed from scratch. From seed to sale of produce. Of which she should be rightly proud.

Food was eaten and games were played by the kids.

Is this resource hoarding or a broody hen?

I had fun as I was able to hand out the socks that I had made, and they were all together when I did so.

Largest feet on the right to smallest, Ed, Lucien, Jaimie, Suzy, Laura, Helen and Dani

And I had knit some jumpers for the boys, of course they would not pose for the picture. When Olive saw them she wasted no time at all telling me that she wanted one as well. It is knitted, and awaiting delivery in February.

And Helen had given me some wool to make a shawl/scarf for her.

One of the things I enjoy the most about knitting is thinking about the people I am knitting for while I do it.

At the end of the day everyone dispersed. It was almost the end of the kids half term, and off they went.

Jim, Karen, Sally and I had another night in Bath. Jim and Karen had had a lovely day with their friends.

Looking one way on the canal from a window of the boat, and then the other way, while tied up in Bath.

An extraordinary thing happened at while we were tied up here. Sally and I were standing outside at the stern of the boat. An older couple (i.e. older than Sally and I) were walking down the towpath from the bridge and they were holding hands. Sally commented on how lovely that was. They then approached us and we began talking. It turned out that the man had been an archeology student of our Dad’s at Durham University! Sometime in the early sixties. What an amazing coincidence. Of course we had to ask what he was like as a lecturer and of course he said he was good, but I really think he meant it. A lovely memory now.

Back to Bradford on Avon the next day, one last lovely meal at the Ravello restaurant.

Sadly, recently the whole of the centre of Bradford on Avon was flooded by very heavy rain, a very rare event, and I saw pictures of this restaurant with floodwaters a couple of feet deep. I hope that they have been able to reopen. And that the marina and Barge Inn where we stayed didn’t suffer too much damage.

On then our final day.

It was quite an adventure.

You say goodbye, and I say hello. Hello, hello

By Maggie

On August 18, 2024

In Posts

My cousin Cathy talking to Sue, while waiting in a lock, of course!

We had a second cross over day with boat crew, this time at Crofton Top Locks. Cathy, Jims sister, and her friends Pastsy and Leanne arrived straight from Heathrow airport early in the morning and jumped right into boat life.

The Crofton Pumping Station is where we waited overnight to pick up Cathy, Patsy and Leanne. It was closed but we got a sneak look. As we were planning this trip I had a slight niggling worry at the back of my mind. Each end of the canal is a river, at the east end the Kennet and at the west end, the Avon. The canal rises between the two rivers, hence the Caen flight of locks at Devizes. To ensure that there is enough water to allow the canal to function there is pumping station at the top of the rise to bring water up to the highest point.

Built in 1812, it still functions for Steam Weekends

When I went through this area in 2019 I was oblivious to a possible stoppage of boats because of lack of water, and do remember that the canal was quite low and we scrapped bottom a few times. This time however that niggle was for naught. The heavy spring rain that had turned us back at Newbury supplied plenty of water for this part of our trip. But other adventures awaited.

Patsy jumping in

Leanne having a go. The boat was 69 feet long and you steer from the back!

We had to say goodbye to Sue, Leslie and Pam at the end of the day, but not before having lunch in a 400 year old pub.

Marlborough, a very quaint English village

Everyone got to go back through the Bruce Tunnel

Bruce Tunnel. The chains were to pull the boat through the tunnel and the horse walked over the hill. Sometimes done by leg, called “legging it”, now used as a term for running away.

Coming out of a tunnel or bridge is always a thrill, watching the new view emerge.

The long view is also lovely. I never get tired of it.

We lazed our way back towards Bradford-on Avon, retracing our route with our new crew.

We saw many herons take flight and it was always a challenge to get a photograph of them. Sometimes we succeeded.

We re-passed the Pewsey White Horse cut into the chalk this is under the grass. They have to be maintained or grass will reclaim them

And visited one of the three The Barge Inns on this canal.

This Barge Inn is where the crop circles were planned, and they have a whole room dedicated to the intricate designs they used.

Back down the locks at Devizes, handled beautifully by our new crew, while Sally and I went to book a birth Caen Hill Marina for the night. Land showers and washing machines were needed.

Post flight

We had a little rain, but we also had a lovely rainbow

Sally, enjoying Patsy’s must have breakfast, scones with jam and Devon cream.

We arrived back in Bradford on Avon with enough time to have a good look around and have dinner in an excellent Italian restaurant, Ravello, before we had to say goodbye to Cathy, Leanne and Patsy

They were picked up bright an early by a cab to take them on to Bath and the rest of their adventure

I thought this was going to be my last blog for this trip, but there were too many pictures I wanted to use. So one more to come.

As soon as Cathy, Leanne and Patsy were on the way to the rest of their holiday in England it has all hands on deck to change beds, tidy and clean ready for the final crew for the boat. Ed and Laura, their two kids Ruben and Olive, and close friends Jaimie, Helen and Robin. Along with Jim, Karen, Sally and me we were a full boat.

The adventure began straight away. Helen, Jaimie and Robin arrived on time, brought by Jaimie’s mom, Suzy. Then we found out that Ed’s car would not start. The ignition switch had broken beyond repair. So off went Suzy to get Laura and the kids, while Ed stayed at home to wait for the repair man. So out the window went the hope of getting to Bath to have dinner with Cathy and friends as planned.

But the weather was fair and spirits were good. We began going west towards the Avoncliff and then Dundas aqueduct. All the while checking in with Ed on the car repairs. A plan had been developed with a few moving parts. We, with permission, made sure the boat yard gate was openable for Ed to park his car when it was fixed, the bike from the boat was locked up in the marina and the key hidden. Laura took a video of the location of the bike and the key and sent it to him.

The arrival time of the repair man was moved later and later, and we moved further and further up the canal, to passed at least one of the aqueducts and finally we tied up.

This week Sally and I were off duty in the kitchen. Both Laura and Helen are excellent cooks and had prepared the food for the trip. That night it was a barbecue. Jane, our sister, who was visiting Lucien, her other son both came for dinner which was lovely.

While the adults made other alternatives

All change at Newbury

By Maggie

On May 22, 2024

In Posts

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.

**Chasing male Mallards, who were probably trying to distract the swan from going after the female and her chicks.**

**Taking a breather while the lock is emptying**

**Cousin John at the tiller.** **He joined us on day 4, Thursday.**

So many great photographs of the countryside and sky taken by the crew:

**Elli’s amazing photograph of the Bruce Tunnel**

Five years ago when I travelled this canal, this house, an old lock keepers house, was derelict. Now it a cosy canal side home.

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.

**From the left, Jim, Karen, Leslie, Pam, sister Sally, Sue and Maggie in the Dundas arms for lunch**

**The view from my bunk window in Newbury**

**Sue got very comfortable at the tiller very quickly.**

**Leslie, working in the rain, and relaxing afterwards while Sue braids with paradores for our windlass’s**

**Who could resist a photograph of a boat named after me!**

**And lastly, Muscovy ducks, actually geese, hanging beside the canals**

A Family Affair

By Maggie

On May 18, 2024

In Be in Touch, Posts

There were a lot of moving parts to get this three weeks of life on a narrowboat underway. My cousin Jim, third from the right, and his wife Karen, on his right, took a cruise around the North Atlantic to get to the UK. After a week in London they visited with my brother Charlie, far right, and his wife Ann, on his right. Charlie drove them to my sister Jane’s, far right, and her partner Martin, taking the photo. I joined them after visiting with my sister Sally, top picture. Sally helped me gather together herbs, spices, and other essentials for the boat which we have used extensively. Jane and Martin prepared an amazing Indian meal, which has set a high benchmark for the trip.

Then we all journeyed to Bradford on Avon, and stayed at the first of three Barge Inns that we have visited so far on this trip

The next day we met our boat, Dundas, and piled on.

And so we are underway.

Above is the second Barge Inn of the trip, where we had lunch on the second day. We did the Caen Flight on day three. It is considered one of the gems of the waterways. We tackled locks both before and after the main flight. We went from lock 23 to lock 50 that day. A huge sense of accomplishment was felt by all. Below is the before shot with the flight behind us. From left to right, Elli, Wendy, Jim, Mike, Maggie and Karen, the crew the first week. Wendy is Jim’s niece and Elli is her daughter. Mike is now honourary family, joining us from my new home of Owen Sound.

The lock gates closing.

The original living wall. We were a well oiled machine, each taking different roles all the way up the flight, from boat driver to lock lackey, and an advance crew who set up the next lock.

Going through locks is hard physical work, interspersed with time to contemplate the beauty around us as the lock fills or empties. And of course the challenge of landing the boat to unload lock crew, then entering the lock without banging on the sides of the lock. My cousin John joined us after missing the opportunity of participating in achievement of the flight but photographs of him will have to wait until the next blog. I need a good long session in a pub with better wifi to transfer photographs via the cloud from my phone to my laptop, so until next time.

You don’t know what you’ve got…

By Maggie

On January 30, 2024

In Posts

til it’s temporarily gone. I have a broken down knee. There really is something about reaching my mid sixties. For most of my life my health has been good, very good really, when I think of what others have had to deal with. I enjoy cardio classes, aquafit, walking Tucker and all over town, Tai Chi, yoga. I eat well, or at least I think I do, and sleep, well poor sleep as we age is the big secret that we are never told about. And then, mid sixties, health irritations started to creep in. Besides my knee, mystery teeth pain, mystery sinus pain. Back, shoulder and arm pain. The last three are inevitable I think, for a massage therapist after a long career. But my health seemed to go from being good to being a pain in the neck, literally. I suppose I knew it would happen some day, but not yet. Mid sixties? The new 40’s?

The final straw for my knee happened during Tai Chi! The last place I would have expected it to happen. One second I was fine, then a ping and the pain was overwhelming. There was a paramedic in the class, Jim, that tied three bandages together so I could support my leg while sitting in a wheeled chair that was designed to help people into a swimming pool. The chair was driven by a respiratory therapist, Patty, who kept telling me to keep my arms in because I was frightened I would hit the door frame, or the elevator door, so was reaching out to stop that. She was a good chair driver but it was a beast to move. I got into the back of Dan’s car, a third volunteer. I had to bum my way back to rest my leg on the seat, I am glad they were all in class that day. And then off we went to the emergency department, where the security guard brought out a broken down wheelchair for me to get into. After a relatively short wait I saw a doctor. I was referred for an MRI, given pain meds and sent home with crutches and a brace. In two weeks I will see an orthopedic surgeon and hopefully a few months from now they will clean out the floating bodies and torn cartilage in my knee. I am being well taken care of by a medical system that is vastly overstretched and understaffed. BUT, what a difference having mobility issues makes. Argh. No driving for a bit, limited walking, no cardio. Everything takes longer, it’s tiring and a blasted nuisance. When I owned my own business and someone asked how I was the answer would be how the business was. Now, it is about the knee. Or not. I am really trying not to be the person you dread asking how they are because you will get a litany of their health woes, and now I understand why! I guess we are all a bit self obsessed.

View from the Tithe Barn in Bradford-on-Avon

It is not going to stop me going on the two trips I have planned. A short knitting cruise. Yes, you read that correctly. A Caribbean cruise with a group of knitters. I found out about it and persuaded my cousin Cathy to join me. My first cruise. Wonder if I will like it. We are going to be knitting a neck cowl on the blue Caribbean seas.

The second trip is three weeks back on a Narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon canal. My cousin Jim, who had been on Little Star with me for a week along with his wife Karen was all over it when I said I was getting itchy to go on another trip, so this May we are. Along with more friends and family rotating through. That is why there are photos of narrowboats on this blog. You don’t exactly want to see the inside of an emergency room, or a swollen knee!

Somewhere on the Kennet and Avon Canal. Love the view through the door.

So it was my knee that finally prompted me to finally write another blog. To follow up on my last one about getting my life in order in preparation for death. Or incapacity.

Reading, first night on the Kennet and Avon. Big city lights

The new Will is done, my doctor has the contact info for my POA (Power of Attorney) for health, and has my wishes for end of life care in my health records. My lawyer will be my executor as I didn’t want to put the burden of wrapping up my estate on family or friends. Being an executor is a heck of a lot of work. And you pay the lawyer the same as you would pay the executor and they have more experience with these things, so can do things faster. At least that is the hope. The lawyer also knows how to contact my POA’s for health and property, and vice versa. So it is nearly all done. What is left is disposal of my personal property and I am working on that. It is sad to know that my collected possessions will probably not be treasured by family, but they are mostly far away and have no sentimental attachment to any of it. I may try to force some family “treasures” on them, including some family jewellery, and they can do what they like with them. I am smiling as I write this. And why would my friends want it? They have enough stuff of their own. We are all trying to get rid of things. So it will be dispersed out in to the world by an estate sale or given to charity, and I guess some items chucked away. I will continue to enjoy them for the foreseeable future though.

Along with tangible possessions are the intangible. Email accounts, websites, social media accounts. I have just found out that gmail will delete your account after you have not signed in to it for 2 years. I was trying to figure out how to delete it but couldn’t get back into it because the cell phone number I had used for a verification code was no longer valid. After going around in circles for a while I did some searching and found the above info. So hopefully those gmail accounts that I no longer use will eventually go away. Facebook now has a system in place to delete accounts so will look into it. Two friends accounts are still around many years after their deaths. It is the last hurdle.

It has taken well over a year to get to this point. And when I reflect on why the best reason I can come up with is because of all the decision making that has to be made. And all the thinking about it. Which is something that is easy to not do. Some of the sticking points were: Deciding who to choose as POA for health. Having a conversation with my POA for health about exactly what I wanted, not only when something drastic happens but going through a variety of scenarios where I may be incapacitated and unable to make decisions for myself. For my POA for property, writing down information so that they can easily step into my shoes to keep my life running financially. Not easy when so much is electronic now, and computers and phones are locked by a code. Thinking about what I want my estate divided, what percentage for each beneficiary and making sure that the lawyer has the correct contact information. Choosing a lawyer whose values align with my own, and choosing an executor. And how to dispose of my “stuff”. After helping friends with their family member’s possessions I don’t want to inflict that on anyone. Then of course how I want my body to be disposed of, green burial please. I am glad that it is almost done, and glad to know it is done.

A right angle bend in the canal to go over an aqueduct. Kennet and Avon Canal

I intended to write about this tidying up process in an ongoing way, and I haven’t. So sometime over the next little while I will write a blog about the specifics of what was involved hoping that it may be useful to you and others. I will include references to organizations and forms, check lists I developed etc. And if after that I still want to I may put a workshop together. Will wait and see on that. Don’t hold your breathe, there will probably be a knitting cruise blog and narrowboat trip blog before that.

Thoughts, quirky insights and experiences in my meandering life.

Tag: Kennet and Avon Canal

Going West

You say goodbye, and I say hello. Hello, hello

All change at Newbury

A Family Affair

You don’t know what you’ve got…