Thatcham to Newbury via Kintbury

Mon 29th May  Thatcham to Long Cut

Andy and Sue had kindly said they would take our cassettes to Aldermaston on Spring Water, along with boater’s rubbish. They set off fairly early.  Others went by car to Aldermaston to help David and Carole crew their hire boat back to Thatcham to join us. The plan was for everyone to move up through one lock and one swing bridge, and moor up somewhere on the long cut, a straight canal section. There we would have a mini retreat.

David and Mary on Kew were keen to move, so we decided to go with them through Monkey Marsh Lock.  It was quite a challenge undoing all the ropes as the boats were tied onto each other.  We moved Dawn Flight off Gabriel onto Ichthus, and then, when Kew moved out from the quayside, we moved both Ichthus and Dawn Flight into the space left.  Gabriel was then free to go, as Dawn Flight was no longer on the outside.

We moved up through the turf sided Monkey Marsh Lock, where a chap called Chris helped us through. He acts as an unofficial volunteer at this lock.  There were some young lads there with their mum, and they were given a “How do Locks Work?” leaflet. 

Monkey Marsh Lock

Soon after the lock there is a swing bridge, and the lads helped James to push it.  We moored with Kew about a quarter of a mile along the straight.  It was difficult to get in to the side, so we had to use our plank.

The swing bridge

Moored in the reeds

Hugo went to explore, but couldn’t go very far as there was a stream on the other side of the hedge. He brought back a mouse for us.

Later there was some light rain.  David and Carole came through with their hire boat, which they moored just above the swing bridge, with Dawn Flight.  Apparently that was where we were all meant to be but the message hadn’t got through to us. The plan was to use the grass by the swing bridge as a meeting area.

Graham had brought some food with him, prepared by Peter. The rest of the boats had decided to stay where they were in Thatcham, as it was raining.

Everyone had meals in small groups, so David and Mary from Kew, Graham from Dawn Flight, we two from Gabriel, all went aboard the hire boat to join David and Carole.  Peter Atwill had used the leftover burgers to make some tasty meatballs with herbs and vegetables. We brought the remains of Hazel’s birthday cake as dessert, and we all had a sociable time.  We heard that the plans for a retreat had been abandoned, as people were going off in different directions.

1 lock, 1 mile, 1 swing bridge, 1 mouse

Tue 30th May  Long Cut to Newbury.

While James was in the shower thus morning, we suddenly discovered that the team were meeting by the swing bridge! We found out that it had been announced using Whatsapp, and everyone had been communicating this way all week. As we weren’t on Whatsapp we hadn’t heard the plans.  So James installed the app and now we are receiving the information.

It started to rain during the meeting, so we ended it a little early.

Team meeting in the rain

Graham set off on Dawn Flight, and then Gospel Belle came past, followed by Ichthus, who delivered our cassettes to us.  We also discovered that our post has still not arrived, posted first class last Thursday to the Baptist Church. It was our voting papers.

We departed with Kew, with some difficulty as we had to undo the ropes and then James had to walk the plank to get back on the boat.

At Widmead Lock we recognised the place where we had enjoyed a picnic with Angela, one of the daughters of David and Frances Hawkey, and her family, several years ago.

Sharing with Kew at Widmead Lock

 Stormy weather around

At Bull’s Lock the river joins the canal, and this was the place where, in 1970, James and his friend Ig had baptised Kennet, our newly found tabby kitten, in the river by accident. We had been canoeing down the canal which then was still derelict, and when we came to the unusable lock, we put the canoe into the river, which ran alongside, but it was too shallow for us both to get in. Ig took the canoe under the footbridge, and James dropped the kitten onto the cushion we had prepared in the canoe. Unfortunately the kitten panicked and grabbed James’ arm on the way down. He swung out, and landed in the water next to the canoe. There was a strong flow as it was winter – just after Boxing Day. Ig set off after him and scooped him up. When James got in the canoe further downstream, he put the soaking wet kitten in his woollen hat, and put him under his sweater. Very soon there were purrs coming from James’ chest, together with wisps of steam.  We called him Kennet because of this experience, and we had him for 15 years.

Where Kennet was baptised

We found a mooring place just before bridge 56, and we pulled in. Kew carried on to fill up with water etc. When Hugo went ashore, there were two blackbirds chivvying Hugo noisily. We thought they might have a young one nearby, so we keep Hugo in, as we were planning to move on out of Newbury later.

James went to visit the Old London Apprentice, where we are due to play on Wednesday next week. He took them a poster. They were keen on the event, saying there are some people from the folk club that may turn up, and also some boaters who are regulars.

The Old London Apprentice

We then had lunch before finding our way to Lidl, about half a mile away. There was also a Pets at Home next door, so we came away with cat food and cat litter as well as wine and provisions from Lidl.  Unfortunately our trolley that we only bought a few months ago, and have only used four or five times, was not man enough, and a wheel broke and fell off. We put a pound coin in a Lidl trolley, and loaded our broken one into it, and rattled our way back down to the boat.  James then had to return with the Lidl trolley, despite suggestions that he chuck it in the canal.

By the time we had done all that we were tired and it was late afternoon, so we decided to abandon the idea of moving on.  Then there were messages on Whatsapp suggesting meeting for breakfast in the morning at Sainsbury’s.

Moored in Newbury

4 locks, 2 miles, 1 swing bridge

Wed 31st May  Newbury to Kintbury

We went to find a charity shop as we had some things we no longer needed, and then we visited a hole in the wall, before making our way to Sainsbury’s for breakfast. Most of the team were there, and it was a good way to start the day.

Returning to the boat, we had a few phone calls to make.  We are still waiting for Kier to fix the floor of our new apartment so that we can put some tenants in. They had sent us an email saying their operative would be there on 28^th June to fix our fridge.  As our fridge was not being used because the flat was unoccupied, we phoned them and discovered that it was a mysterious error on their part, and they still didn’t have a date for our floor to be fixed.

We also rang Elmbridge Council, as our postal voting papers had gone astray. They arrived at Maggie’s last week, and she sent them on with a first class stamp to Thatcham Baptist Church on Thursday. We are now nearly a week later and there is no sign of them, so we thought they may have been returned to sender.  The council checked and rang back later to say they hadn’t had them returned.  As our MP is Philip Hammond who is likely to get elected with a huge majority, our votes probably won’t make any difference either way, but we like to feel we have had our say.

Hazel also made contact with the local Boots to arrange for a prescription to be sent there.

Then, after the day’s admin, we set off through Newbury to the first lock. Here there was a helpful lad who pushed gates and used the windlass under supervision.

Through Newbury

Town Bridge

When James first came to Newbury in 1970 by canoe with friend Ignatius, John Gould, who used to live in the cottage here, locked him through, as it was one of the few locks that still worked.

Then there was West Mills Swing Bridge, operated hydraulically, very slowly, with automatic barriers and loud warning signs. We left the outskirts of Newbury very soon after, by a demolished railway bridge, and travelled through delightful countryside

We went under the Newbury bypass A34 road which we use sometimes going to or from Amanda’s in Poole.

The lock after this is Higg’s Lock.  The lock was empty and in our favour so we went in. Two boats arrived above but they did not send any crew down so we only used one side. There was a man sitting on the seat watching the proceedings and James chatted to him. He was a catholic from Tipperary who lived in Newbury and his name was John. He saw the banner on the boat and wanted to know what a Christian was. He might come to visit the boats during the week.

We came to Hamstead Lock, where we found Kennet in 1970, and where we met Nick and Jan in 2006. This time we met a Fox boat – Spirit. Photo duly sent to Peter Ekins. There were two boats travelling together, and the other one left the paddle up on his gate, which we didn’t discover until we realised the lock taking too long to fill!

Fox boat Spirit in Hamstead Lock

Copse Lock was beautifully wooded, and Dreweatt’s Lock was wonderfully rural. Soon after this we met the horse drawn boat, so we kept to the left so that they could pass without any trouble with the horse rope.

Copse Lock

 Dreweatt’s Lock

Horse drawn boat Kennet Valley

As we approached Kintbury Lock there were two hire boats leaving. We tooted the horn but they weren’t looking or listening, and closed the gates in our face.

We had to wait for the water point, as there were two boats, Captain Starkey and Rosie already there.

The moorings were fairly full, so they kindly decided to breast up so that we could moor in the last space.

We were at the water point for about an hour including the waiting time.

James had a chat with the man on a boat called Blue Belle who had a tortoiseshell cat on long lead.

Moored in Kintbury

8 locks, 6 miles, 1 swing bridge

Thu 1st Jun  Kintbury

It was very warm and humid in the night, and there was fog in the morning.

Early morning fog in Kintbury

We had a leisurely morning, crossing the old footbridge near the church to find the village. As we went past her cottage, a lady came out and invited us to the coffee morning in the church. There were about a dozen people in there chatting away, a friendly bunch.

We then moved on and found the local shop and post office, plus the butchers.  We bought some things from each, including some lovely sausage rolls from the butcher, which we ate in a small deserted arcade where we found some seats.

We planned to follow this with a decent cider from the Blue Ball, and then an ice cream from the shop. 

The Blue Ball

Sadly the Blue Ball was closed at lunchtime, so we made our way to another pub, the Prince of Wales.  There we were severely barked at by the pub dog, the landlady was spending her time on a smartphone, the only cider was Strongbow, and the place was dirty, with the table legs thick with dust. The drink was welcome though as the day was hot. From there we took the shorter route back to the canal via the main road, missing out on our ice cream but passing some lovely old buildings. 

Converted mill in Kintbury

We discovered that Peter had arrived on Gospel Belle and was filling his water tank, which took him an hour. Lin was not with him as she had gone to Cherish, a three day event. Instead he had their grandson Owen on board.

We sat out later over wine and nibbles and watched a small shrew going backwards and forwards on a tree trunk.

We also had a good talk with a catholic lady and her husband on the boat between Gabriel and Gospel Belle.

No boating today

Fri 2nd Jun  Kintbury to Newbury

We had a leisurely start, ensuring we both had showers and did the washing up while we were near a water point.

Peter and Owen came on board for a shared cooked breakfast, when we finally finished up our Aylesbury and Little Venice sausages.

Peter moved Gospel Belle to the water point to top up, while we turned round and did the same. While we were there the horse boat came up, passing the rope over our heads.

Winding at Kintbury

 The boat horse

The horse boat

We then shared the locks back to Newbury, following a couple in another boat.  Near Hamstead Lock we saw a water vole swimming.

Sharing Kintbury Lock

 Dreweatt’s Lock

 Shade at Copse Lock

 Newbury Lock

Under Newbury Town Bridge again

Arriving back at Newbury, we saw that most of the team were alongside Victoria Park. We didn’t want to be moored alongside another boat as it would be difficult with Hugo.  We turned in the marina entrance and backed onto the towpath behind Gospel Belle, who had done the same.

We went to the shops looking for a replacement shopping trolley. Robert Dyas had one that might suit. We also collected Hazel’s prescription from Boots. We bought a pack of four cornettos from Iceland for £1 and ate them on a seat in the churchyard, before wandering back to the boats.

Jan and John Halford arrived later and we had arranged for them to sleep on Grahams boat Dawn Run.  There was lots of chatting with other team members on a very warm evening, with bats flying around.  Hugo was happy as he had a small path going down beside the river.

Early to bed as the mission starts tomorrow with a men’s breakfast at Thatcham Baptist Church. James is being collected at 7.15am.

8 locks, 6 miles, 1 swing bridge

Next: the Newbury Mission for a week.