Hungerford to Woolhampton

Sun 16^th Jul  Hungerford

When we emerged this morning, we had intended to give one of our cards with our contact details to Barry and Jan on Narrow Escape. We found they had left early, but they had left their email address on a piece of paper at the stern. We thought we might catch up with them in the next day or two.

We went to the 1030 service at the Church on the Rock, which takes place in the Croft Hall.  The talk was about forgiveness, and the reading was from Philemon.  Their musicians were away, so we had CD’s to lead our music.

Croft Hall

We had a very enjoyable lunch at the Tutti Pole which has special connections with the Hocktide ceremonies in the spring  http://calendarcustoms.com/articles/hungerford-hocktide-festival-tutti-men/.  We were pleased to discover that it has Christian owners.

We then went to Tesco to do some shopping so that we could get away promptly in the morning.

At 4pm we took part in a modern worship service at St Lawrence, which was excellent. Some very good musicians led us through some up to date worship songs and there was a short talk.

Worship team at St Lawrence

Back on the boat we had a cream tea, and then watched the Lone Ranger, a film starring Johnny Depp. Very tongue in cheek, and lots of fun.

No boating today

Mon 17th Jul  Hungerford to Kintbury

Moored in Hungerford

We made the planned early start, and emptied two cassettes at the sanitary station and partly filled the water tank.

Hungerford Lock

We saw two crayfish on the cill at Dun Mill Lock

Dun Mill Lock

We had a very pleasant cruise, spotting buzzards, a kestrel and a red kite.  We also saw a water vole swimming across the canal in front of us as we approached Kintbury.

Kintbury had a few mooring spaces available, and we moored just beyond Narrow Escape, and gave them our card.

Stupidly we had forgotten to run our washing machine as we cruised along so we had to run the engine again to do our laundry.

We discovered online that the butcher is closed on Mondays, so we delayed our visit there until the next day.

We had lunch on board, and then James walked along footpaths to Avington to see the Norman church there. It was all locked up, with no notices visible. On returning to the boats Jan told him that he could have collected the key which is kept hanging up outside the door of the cottage nearby. 

Chinook

Avington Church

Red Admiral

4 locks, 2 miles

Tue 18th Jul  Kintbury to Hamstead

Kintbury mooring with Narrow Escape

It was very hot again today. The first job was a visit to the butcher for some sausage rolls, a huge pasty, and some sausages.  We also picked up a few items in the village shop next door.

Narrow Escape had moved forward to the water point, and then gone down the lock.

We did much the same, taking our time, as we had made no arrangements to travel with them today.

We saw four kingfishers on the next stretch, and then were surprised to see Narrow Escape waiting by Dreweatt’s Lock.  The railway line accompanies the canal along much of its length, and as we drew level with them a steam train went past on the line. We couldn’t see it as there were trees in the way, but we heard it and saw the steam. So we shared locks with them again.

Hamstead Lock

We had planned to moor somewhere between Hamstead and Benham Locks, and so had Barry and Jan, so we were all very pleased to see that there was a length available by the weir, and both boats could fit in.  The bonus was a wider area under a shady tree where we could sit. Later we got out our gas barbecue and we shared a meal together.

Shady spot with Barry and Jan

Barbecue

James put out his crayfish traps, and caught 7.  He re-baited the traps before we went to bed.  There was heavy rain later.

Rain

4 locks, 3 miles, 7 crayfish

Wed 19th Jul  Hamstead to Newbury

James got up early and discovered he had done well with the four crayfish traps: two had seven in, and the other two had eight – thirty is a good catch in one night.

Reflections

We left Narrow Escape moored there for a further night, and we carried on towards Newbury on our own.

At Guyers Lock we found a silly notice suggesting that we should not use the gate paddles until the lock is half full.  There are no other paddles.

Guyers Lock

 Silly notice

When we arrived at the swing bridge at West Mills, Hazel pressed the buttons as instructed, and the barriers came down, but then the lights went out.   We couldn’t get the key out, and nothing worked.  We called CRT and they said they would send someone to look at it.  Meanwhile, the residents came with a special key to enable them to raise the barriers manually so that cars could cross.  There is only one way in and out of this small residential area.

West Mills Swing Bridge

James started devouring the huge pasty he had bought in Kintbury, when John Froggatt came to assist with the bridge and we gave him some tea. 

Huge pasty

Another boat came the other way and suggested we try the reset system of holding the open and close buttons at the same time. Brilliant! It worked!  The barriers came down and the bridge opened.

We moved onto the mooring just above the lock, and at that moment the guys from CRT arrived.  They said there was a fault anyway, otherwise it wouldn’t have shut down on us. We suspected the heavy rain might have caused a problem.

James went off to Aldi for some wine, while Hazel went to explore the other shops. She met Barbara Froggatt in Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

James bought some shoes in a shop that Hazel had found, and we went for a meal at Cote Brasserie.

Back at the boat, James was cooking crayfish when David and Frances Hawkey arrived and we all had tea on board.

3 locks, 2 miles, 1 swing bridge, 30 crayfish.

Thu 20th Jul  Newbury

James spent most of the morning sorting out the crayfish, and freezing them, before we went round to join David and Frances for a very pleasant lunch.

David and Frances Hawkey

We visited the Newbury Museum in the afternoon. There is quite a lot to see.

We walked along the towpath to see if we could find Peter and Lin or John and Barbara. We found their boats Gospel Belle and Ichthus,  but no-one was on board.   We found out later that they had come to Gabriel, and found that we weren’t there either.

We had coffee in Prêt a Manger before visiting Tesco to stock up.

We had communication with Jan from Narrow Escape about arrangements for travelling together tomorrow.

Andy Cooper, with daughters Miriam and Rachel came to find us, and we took them for a short boat trip down through the lock, past Victoria Park, and we moored near Gospel Belle.  They looked as though they enjoyed the experience.

 Boat trip

When they left after drinks and nibbles we went aboard Gospel Belle for a chat.

1 lock, 1/2 mile

Fri 21st Jul  Newbury to Woolhampton

Moored lower down in Newbury

We had a text from Narrow Escape to say they were on their way. They stopped for fuel, while we left to get the lock ready. Peter came along with a windlass to help us all through. Narrow Escape and Gospel Belle are both moored on the Somerset Coal Canal at Dundas.

Passing Gospel Belle

 Passing Ichthus

There were very few other boats around, so it was good to share the locks and swing bridges again. It was very breezy and the poplars were over at an angle.

Ham Mill and Lock

Poplars bent in the wind

Glorious ragwort

A narrow gap through the reeds

When we were just leaving Monkey Marsh Lock, Phil arrived. He is often to be found there, helping boats through. We also saw him at the Old London Apprentice on Folk Night.

Sharing with Narrow Escape

When we arrived at Woolhampton we took the last two moorings, just squeezing in.  Paws 4 Thought was also there, so we went to chat to Tony and Pat.

We also had a good chat with Dave and Tracey on a widebeam called Sexy Beast.  They had moved back from Marbella to live on a boat.

James went to investigate pubs, shops and railway stations. The shop was closed although it was not yet 4pm. There was no list of opening hours on the door.

Mikron Theatre’s boat Tyseley was moored outside the Rowbarge. Sadly they are not performing here until Tuesday, by which time we will be elsewhere.

Mikron Theatre

8 locks, 6 miles, 4 swing bridges

Sat 22nd Jul  Woolhampton

Today when we arose to invite Barry and Jan to join us later for a cream tea, we discovered they had left. They sent us a farewell email later.

It rained heavily throughout most of the day. We had lunch on board and caught up with jobs in the afternoon.

Just after 7pm we heard a lot of revving of boat engines, and James went to see if it was Paws 4 Thought or Sexy Beast, both moored between us and the lock. It was neither. It was a boat possibly trying to get into the lock, but the gates were shut. This is where a strong stream comes down and sweeps boats away if they don’t know what to expect.  They were struggling to stop their boat being pushed onto another that is moored there, with big fat tyre fenders all along the side.

Moored in Woolhampton with Sexy Beast and Paws 4 Thought

James didn’t have a windlass, but the lock was empty, so he opened the gates for them.  They ended up mooring on the lock bollards where they shouldn’t be, but it was late and it was unlikely any other boats will come through this evening. They will need to have another go in the morning.

Tony and Pat came for drinks on Gabriel after dinner.  They plan to leave in the morning.

No boating today

Next:  We plan to take the train back to Newbury for church in the morning, followed by the Newbury Canal Festival. Then on Monday we head towards Reading and the Thames, turning right to get downstream to the Wey Navigation to visit old haunts and good friends.