London Calling - Week 11 - Hungerford to Hungerford via Great Bedwyn

Monday 12th August - Hungerford

We have decided to stay another day here in Hungerford, a wander around the shops and some work on the boat.

Tuesday 13th August - Hungerford to Great Bedwyn

An early morning view over the lock, mist rising as the sun rises, almost like an autumnal morning.

The first lock of the day has the swing bridge in the middle, we used this bridge several times as we explored Freeman's Marsh with Toby.

 We buddied up with a 62ft boat called nb Wind Whisperer all the way to Great Bedwyn which was great as it makes the locks so much easier.

 The countryside is very attractive around here.  We are about 7 miles from Marlborough and the scenery is lovely.  We were very lucky to get the last available visitor mooring in Great Bedwyn, a slot just big enough for us, and we moored up for the next couple of days.

After lunch we went for a walk up to the Crofton Locks and the Crofton Beam Engines.  On the way we passed the first of the Crofton Locks as they were padlocking them up for the night.  They were pouring ash from the Crofton Pumping Station around the lock gates to block the leaks on the gates.  Very effective it was too!  The Crofton Locks are closed tomorrow and Friday in order to conserve water.

We crossed over the canal and under the railway to visit the Pumping Station.  There are two Cornish beam engines, dating from 1812 and 1845 and between them the two engines can lift two tons of water to the summit at every stroke. They are among the world's oldest working steam beam engines.

The first engine installed in the Engine House at Crofton was a second hand Boulton and Watt, purchased in 1802 from the West India Dock Company. This engine had a 90 cm (36 inch) diameter steam piston and a 2.5 m (8 foot) stroke. It had a wooden beam and worked a 66 cm (26 inch) diameter lift pump. It arrived at Crofton in 1807, and was at work by 1809.

The ash from the steam weekends are stored in hessian bags ready to use on the leaky lock gates.

On our way back we walked over the railway line and into the village of Great Bedwyn, the Post Office has some quirky decorations attached to the shop front.

Wednesday 14th August - Great Bedwyn

Today is another day of non-stop rain. so we have stayed put and watched those boats who have to move chugging through the rain.  

Thursday 15th August - Great Bedwyn to Froxfield

We woke to a dry morning, although a little windy and have decided that we have come as far as we wish to on the Kennet and Avon Canal.  So we shall turn round here and head back to the River Thames. 

We pulled away from our mooring and moved through the bridge in order to put on water.  Once that was done, Dave winded the boat in the 70ft winding hole and we began our slow journey back along the canal.

Now we are going down all these locks back towards the River Thames.  This lock looks as though it may have had a swing bridge across the centre like Hungerford Marsh Lock.

We moored up above Froxfield Middle Lock and went for a walk back towards Little Bedwyn.  This is The Harrow at Little Bedwyn, a Michelin Star restaurant, looked very smart, but not one we were able to visit this time.

A lovely walk through the Bedwyn Estate, Toby was a little confused, I climbed over the style and he waited to be lifted over despite the fact that he could get through the fence!

We crossed back over the canal at Froxfield Canal Bridge and called in at the Pelican on the A4 for a drink.  We met up with Di and Fraser from nb Ange de l'Eau, we originally met them in Paddington Basin and they had been to Bristol and were on their way back to Crick.  We returned to the boat and spent a quiet evening aboard.

Friday 16th August - Froxfield to Hungerford

Today we decided to accompany Di and Fraser through the locks as far as Hungerford where we were planning to stay for a couple of days.  The heavy rain is scheduled to start about midday and we figured that sharing locks would be quicker and we would be safely moored up before the major rain.

A good shot of the two boats in the lock together, they are both 57ft so it made using the locks very easy.

Cobblers Lock,  the rain had started and after this lock the wind began to rise and it made getting into Hungerford Marsh lock pretty difficult!  We moored up above Hungerford Lock and stayed put whilst the rain began in earnest!

Saturday 17th August - Hungerford

The worst of the weather has past today, the blackberries are looking exceptionally good this year!

Di and Fraser are from New Zealand and Australia and are currently living in Canada, hence the collection of pennants.  They fly back to Canada at the beginning of September and are planning to return to either New Zealand or Australia to live.  They continued on their way heading back to the Thames and ultimately Crick.

This is their little dog who flew over from Canada with them.  She travelled in the hold for the whole of the journey, but has enjoyed being on the narrowboat.  Toby and Tuk (apologises if spelling is wrong) got on really well, which was great to see.

Sunday 18th August - Hungerford

Today we treated ourselves to Sunday Lunch at the John O'Gaunt and as we were walking over the bridge, The Rose Of Hungerford returned from their trip out.  The boat is 55 ft long and has to turn around before it moors up to let its passengers off. 

The canal here is just wide enough to allow the boat to turn, with about 1 ft to spare.

A successful turn and coming in to moor up.  It was rather windy and gusty, but it was turned perfectly and the passengers safely disembarked.

 We also had a look inside the church.  The church was built with stone from Bath, this being the first commercial cargo to be transported on the newly opened Kennet and Avon Canal.