Sun
18th Jun Pewsey
We walked
into Pewsey this morning with Pat, but Tony was unwell so remained on the boat.
Blue flower
We went to
the 1030 service at the Methodist Church where we were warmly welcomed. Music
was supplied by piano and guitar and was a bit dated (e.g. Rejoice, rejoice,
Christ is in you).
Pewsey Methodist
The
preacher was Rev Paul Lim from South Korea, who spoke about being joyful. His talk was translated by the visiting minister
who was leading the service.
Rev Paul Lim
After the
service we found our way to the Crown Inn, which is a little off the beaten
track, up a side road. There we had a lovely lunch in a very unspoilt pub. We returned to the boats by crossing the
railway at the station.
Unusual building in Pewsey, near the
Crown
We
couldn’t avoid the uphill walk in the heat back to the canal. It was VERY HOT and James caught up with the
blog
Later we
sat out with wine and nibbles. We
chatted to a pleasant man on Carrie Anne
who had been playing a ukele earlier.
James trundled
two cassettes to the wharf and emptied them so that we could didn’t have to
spend further time in the morning.
No boating
today
Mon 19th
Jun Pewsey to Devizes
We made a
very early start (5.45am) and hopefully managed to slip away quietly without
disturbing anyone.
We had a
lovely cruise through the Vale of Pewsey in the White Horse Hills. We saw
several yellowhammers singing loudly from the tops of bushes. We also had a
good view of two chiff chaffs, which are usually heard but not seen. There was
a kestrel around, and at one point there was a small water vole swimming in the
canal.
Wide Water
Brick bridge and WWII defences
Heron staying put
We saw two
white horses – one near Honey Street, and another as we approached Devizes. We
had two swing bridges – Allington and Bishops Cannings
The main
length of mooring in Devizes, between bridge 140 and 141, had been suspended,
as there was work going on to improve the towpath. There was nowhere else to moor, so boats were
there anyway, and we took the last space, opposite the wharf.
The slope at Devizes
Babs
arrived later and moored alongside us. She had also set off at 5.45am, from
Wootton Rivers.
We had
small appetites because of the heat, so we had a late lunch mid afternoon.
Babs came
with us as we found our way to the Lamb Inn for a singaround evening of Devizes
Folk Club run by Bob and Gill Berry. The
pub was very quaint with little side rooms and a courtyard. The club met in an
upstairs room. There were some talented people in the room, including Bob and
Gill who had great harmonies and strong voices.
Devizes Folk Club
0 locks,
11 miles, 2 swing bridges
Mon 19th
Jun Devizes to Caen Hill
We walked
into the town and found a nice cafe where we had Eggs Royale before doing some
shopping at Morrison’s. Sadly they did
not stock their own Vintage Cider which comes in a 2.25 litre box. They were having trouble with the heat, and
all their freezer cabinets had been emptied and switched off.
Horse drawn beer in Devizes
On the way
back James managed to take the trolley down the blocked off slope instead of
using the steps. The towpath works appeared to need six workboats.
Six workboats
On board
it was 32deg C (90 deg F)
Later, when
it had cooled down a little, we filled the water tank, and went with Babs down
six locks to the top of the Caen Hill flight, where we moored on the lock
bollards, as there were no further boat movements that evening.
Passing Rosie
Heading for Caen Hill
We spoke
to a man from CRT who was there on his quad bike. All the locks were set against us with a
bottom paddle raised. We understood that the padlock on the top gate would not
be unlocked until 8am, although we could have done with it at 6am to avoid the
heat of the day. We asked if we could begin setting the first six locks from
7am so that we could get a good start.
We were told that we might flood the pounds and we would have to leave
it to CRT staff who would carefully manage the water levels.
We had a
pleasant pasta meal al fresco by the lock bollards.
Sunset views from Caen Hill
6 locks, 1
mile
Wed 21st
Jun Caen Hill to Foxhangers
We woke
early because of the heat and the fact it was mid summers day. We got the boats all ready for the off when
we had the signal from CRT.
Ready to go at 5am
Close to
8am we noticed the locks were still all set against us.
We saw a
guy from CRT disappear on a quad bike, and discovered he had unlocked the
gates. He did not even come to say we were clear to proceed. You would have
thought he would have come over to ask whether we had done it before, let us
know if there were boats starting from the other end and other helpful
information. He had also left all the
locks as they were, empty with a bottom paddle up. He hadn’t closed the paddles
as we had expected, “carefully managing the water supply so as not to flood the
pounds”. He left us to do what we could have started doing an hour earlier.
James walked
down six locks and closed the bottom paddle and opened the top paddle, walked
back up doing the same on each one, then walked down again opening the top
gates. Then he walked back up again to help the boats through. Babs by then had locked Hazel through the
first two locks with the two boats tied together.
Third lock of the day
This was
the pattern all the way down, with one person going ahead to set the locks, and
the other locking the two boats through.
James asked a walker if there were any boats coming up and was told
there were two. We then started leaving the gates open, and we sent a message
via another walker asking the ascending boats to do the same.
Further down
There was
one lock where boats are asked to leave separately as the gates won’t open
fully. Thankfully this was also where we met the two boats coming up, so we had
to cross over separately anyway. The other boats seemed to have about six crew
between them, and they asked us how we had managed to get down so far. We had
good team work.
Changeover
Tied together again
When we
had about twelve out of the sixteen locks, two volunteers came and asked us if
we would like help. They pushed a gate
or two and raised a paddle once or twice which gave us a short break, and they
too were impressed with how far down the flight we had come.
At the end
of the main flight of sixteen locks, our volunteers left us, and we had a
further seven locks to do.
Sixteen done and what do you get?
A volunteer
At one
point Hazel had to steer the boats through water lilies, and collected a nest
of greenery on the prop. While James was
removing the vegetation, Hazel noticed that the bilge pump was on its side. It
was too hot to deal with it straight away.
Lilies from the prop
There was
nowhere to moor properly until we reached Foxhangers where there were some
rings. The boats were in the sun, and it
was baking hot inside, 33degC. Thankfully there were some trees overhanging a
grassy area on the towpath, and we could sit and recover in a slight breeze. Hazel prepared a Mexican meal which we ate
outside with Babs.
There was a
black backed gull around, and twice we saw it catch something in the water. The
second time we could see legs hanging down and we think it may have been a
frog, or a baby moorhen.
Moored at Foxhangers
Sunset at Foxhangers
We both
went for a walk at dusk along a disused railway line and back along the
towpath. Last time here in 2006 we saw a badger run across the track, and there
were glow-worms in the grass. This time
we saw neither but we did spot two foxes in a field. There were lots of cats on the boats moored
along this stretch.
This was mid summers day, and also the hottest day of the year, and we chose to do the Caen Hill flight!! Mad dogs and Englishmen....
23 locks,
two miles
Next:
Foxhangers to Bath, aiming for the Vineyard church on Sunday. The blog is a bit behind due to the recent exhausting hot weather.
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