Newbury

Hi, we're having fantastic weather here on the K&A, I hope it's nice where you are too.

You can tell it's Summer when the Panama hats come out

The K & A is certainly different............one lock had a swing bridge in the middle of it

and another had no significant sides, basically it was just a framework with gates on each end. It's called a "grass sided lock".

A few of the gates are real leakers too

and quite a few have these bird boxes on the bottom gate. One of them was inhabited by a yellow wagtail who had 4 eggs.

Despite (or maybe because) of all these oddities, we're really enjoying this canal. It's hard work in places and there are a lot of locks and few decent moorings, but it'll be nice to tick it off the list of places we've been.

Last night we moored in Newbury and for once we didn't have to breast up. Shortly afterwards we were rammed up the rear by a new boat that had been leap-frogging us for a few days.  Judging by their lack of skills and manners at locks and service blocks I reckon they've only just bought the boat. I hope they're quick learners as they've upset a couple of other boats we met today by refusing to share the double locks.

We made the most of being in a town again by going out for dinner to Cote Brasserie last night for an excellent French meal and then this morning I stocked the freezer at a "proper" butchers. I'd much rather buy from high street butchers than the supermarkets as it's usually much better quality even if it is a bit more expensive.

No news yet on our prospective new boat. It's waiting for an out-of-water survey but as soon as we sign contracts I'll show you her photograph.

That's all for now. David's coming round for dinner and I'm making a meat pie.......

See you soon

Hungerford and Kintbury

Hello again,

We spent last night in Hungerford, although as usual mooring was difficult. We ended up breasted up again with David, but this time there was only just enough room for him to squeeze in between two other boats so we had to overlap on the outside.

Hungerford's a nice little town and we had lunch in The Swan Inn before meeting up with blog readers Barbara and Mike off n.b. Micky Jay.

It's always good to meet my readers. Quite often I think "shall I pack in the blog?" but then I meet a reader who persuades me to carry on for a bit longer.  As long as someone out there enjoys reading about our travels I'll keep on writing.  If it ever gets too boring, please let me know and I'll leave you all in peace.

Today we carried on to Kintbury which is another pretty little village with some beautiful thatched houses, a proper butchers as well as a small grocers/post office.

We got moored up early so that Roger could continue touching up the paintwork etc. ready for selling Fizzi. Things are still up in the air with the boat we've put a deposit on as there are some serious issues which need addressing before we can move forward. In the meantime we still love Fizzi and if the worst comes to the worst and we don't end up moving boat then at least she'll be sparking clean and immaculately turned out.

That's all for now, see you soon

Devizes to Great Bedwyn

Hello, are you having a good weekend?

We're now moored in Great Bedwyn, but it's been a bit of a struggle getting here.  There aren't many dedicated visitor moorings and the ones between Devizes and Great Bedwyn seem to be taken up with continuous moorers. The moorings at Wooton Rivers are 48 hours but it's obvious that some of the boats have been there a lot longer. They were mostly double breasted up with crap all over the towpath.

We really struggled for a mooring that night as the banks are very overgrown and the canal sides are extremely shallow.  When the heavens opened around 6 o'clock, we decided we'd had enough and managed to get the bow into the weedy bank close enough to be able to use the plank.

There was no way we could get the stern in and David had to breast up as best he could without blocking the canal. By the time we'd finished we were all soaked

We stayed in Devizes for 2 nights as I'd arranged to meet a couple of friends for lunch. Louise and Caroline were in my Breast Cancer Care chemo support group and we've stayed friends ever since.

Devizes market is on Thursday and has to be one of the best I've found for a long while. The fruit and veg stalls are amazing and I bought some strawberries to make jam.

Roger and David went on the Wadworth Brewery Tour and said they'd highly recommend it if you're in Devizes and have a spare couple of hours.

There was a chance to sample the ales after the tour but surprisingly they came home minus any "take-away". I suppose a keg would have been a bit heavy to carry.

Yesterday we passed this boat. It was the fourth one we built and is still in good condition 14 years later.

Yesterday we also saw a lot of young male teenagers walking down the canal. They told us they were walking a hundred miles!  50 miles from Beechen Cliff School in Bath along the K&A to Hungerford, turn round and 50 miles back.  A lot of them had sore feet and were hobbling, but it was no wonder really as they were all wearing trainers rather than proper walking boots or shoes.  I was surprised that there was no adult supervision, especially as the stragglers were walking on their own with long gaps between them.  At one lock someone had left them water containers which was great, except for the three who turned up having thrown their water bottles away when they were empty as they expected to be given bottles of water.

One couple of lads looked so miserable that I gave them a packet of biscuits for energy. I looked on t'internet and they were walking to raise money for a cancer scanner. Good job lads!

That's all for now, I'm going to sit outside in the sun and do a bit of crochet.  See you soon

Caen Hill Locks

Hi, welcome back

I opened the blinds this morning and almost started singing "Oh what a beautiful morning".  I say almost as if I had, it would have started raining!  I cannot sing for toffee.............. The sun was shining through clear blue skies, the birds were singing and it was just perfect for climbing Caen Hill lock flight.

We were breasted up and ready to go when the lockie unlocked the bottom gates dead on 8.00 am. He'd emptied all the locks last night before he put the padlocks on so we had a clear run up with every one set for us.

We've worked this way many times before and soon had a good rhythm going, so much so that when a couple of volunteers arrived about 9.00 offering to help, we declined.  Five locks from the top we were joined by an Australian family, mum, dad and 3 young boys who were eager to help.  We let them open and close gates and work the paddles and they loved it!

It took us 2 hours to do the 16 locks and we moored in the pound at the top as the first couple of boats were just getting ready to start down.  The cafe opened at 10.30 and we dived in for bacon butties and a brew, perfect end to a perfect morning.

Bye for now, come back soon

Fizzical Attraction is FOR SALE

Hi,

Did you spot the change to my main photo?

YES!  Fizzical Attraction is FOR SALE

Before we arrived in Bristol we had no intention of ever selling her, but we made the "mistake" of going to view a barge "just for something to do".  We passed "Out Of The Blue" moored outside the boat sales place as we arrived in the harbour and five of us went for a nosey as Bob & Nicola are currently looking for a barge. It wasn't suitable for them but both Roger and I fell instantly in lust with it and our day dreams of moving to France suddenly seemed a bit closer.  After several visits and close inspection of every inch of it we've decided to buy and take it to France next Spring.

Consequently we're now looking for someone suitable to take care of our baby.  Fizzical Attraction was initially built to be a luxury live-aboard continuous cruiser and over the 5+ years we've been living on her we've added/altered her to be what we now consider perfect.  If you're thinking about living aboard you'd be hard pressed to find a better boat.  You can find all the details on our new sales website HERE

I'm pretty sure she won't be on the market for long so don't delay.  We're open to viewings at anytime, although you'll have to come and find us on the Kennett & Avon Canal.

We're currently just below Caen Hill Locks and will be tackling this flight tomorrow.

Bye for now

Bradford on Avon

Hi, how are you today?

We're now on the Kennett & Avon Canal having left Bath yesterday morning.  It's a good job there were lock-keepers helping on the flight as the second lock was really deep and there was no way I could close the gate on my own.  While he did the other gate a lovely man who had been watching us from the bridge came over to help me.

After the poor moorings in Bath, we had good ones last night and David was able to get his table and chairs out again for an alfresco breakfast before we left this morning.

We had a very slow trip to Bradford on Avon where we've moored for the night. It wasn't so much all the moored boats that slowed us down, but the hire boat in front of us that never got off tickover even in clear waters.  The countryside around here is beautiful England at it's best!

Bradford on Avon is a very picturesque small town with some beautiful buildings and LOTS of pubs.

It also has an independent wine merchant with a sense of humour

I was tempted to buy a bottle or two just for display on the wine rack, but I settled for a large ice-cream instead. Blackberry and cream with a flake....mmmmm.....yum yum

With reports on TV of torrential rain and flooding around the country, we again seem to be in the right spot. It's been very warm again today with the outside thermometer showing 25'C despite it being overcast. It's so muggy that I wouldn't be at all surprised if we have a thunder storm tonight.

Bye for now, see you soon

Bath

Hello lovely reader, welcome back.

I have to tell you that there are some really weird folks round this area....... When we were moored at Avon Park the other evening a young man brought his bike down on to the pontoon, set it down and stripped off before diving into the river just in front of our boat.  He had a swim around for a few minutes while I went to try and find my camera - why does it always go missing when there's something to photograph??  He then climbed out, toweled himself down with a small towel out of his back pack, picked up his bike and set off again!

About an hour later this guy came floating past us

he was having a nap!  Chico barked at him and he sat up with a start.  I hope he was awake when one of the trip boats came steaming past shortly afterwards.

We're now moored in Bath.  The moorings are OK but get filled up by early afternoon and the access isn't very good as you have to climb over a railing to get off your boat and onto the towpath - which is also a cycle track. Hardly any of the cyclists have bells although most do slow down a bit and shout "excuse me" or "coming through"

We've been out and about today doing touristy things.  Bath is very busy and most of the tourists seem to be French, so much so that even some of the notices are in French

This is one of Bath's most famous landmarks. The Royal Crescent is a sweeping crescent of 30 Grade 1 listed Georgian terraced houses overlooking Royal Victoria Park and is a popular location for film-makers.

This is Bath Abbey which dates back to 1499

It has fantastic stained glass windows

and ceilings

These are the Quire Angels which look down on the choristers. There are 12 angels playing 10 different musical instruments, 6 angels on either side of the choir stalls. Installed in 2007 they are one of the newest additions to the Abbey architecture.

Outside the Abbey is this water fountain. The life-size statue known as Rebecca was donated by the Bath Temperance Association in 1861. It says "water is best" but you can no longer get a drink there.

This is Pulteney Bridge which is one of only 4 bridges in the world to have shops across its full span and is a World Heritage site.  It's also famous for the horseshoe shaped weir

This is how I expected Horseshoe Falls in Llangollen to look, but this is much more spectacular.

We'll be carrying on our way again tomorrow so please come back and see where we get to.

Bye for now