Burghfield to Goring, meeting a little ship and a keel en route.

The less said about yesterday the better, it can be summed up in one word, rain. We went from Woolhampton to Burghfield, soaked, cold and fed up. Aldermarston Lock probably deserves a mention if only for the amount of water that can get through, under and around a closed gate.

Impressive.

But no sign of Para Handy, Dougie, Sunny Jim or Dan McPhail. Coincidence as I'm re-reading the Neil Munro tales at the moment. But that was yesterday. This morning we left Burghfield bright and early

and were through County Lock, the last on the K&A, just over an hour later.

The lights went green and we were off,

through the ravine that is the Oracle shopping centre, like a greased weasel

and out onto Environment Agency waters at Blakes Lock.
What a change to be out on Old Father Thames.

Wide waters and automated locks with friendly lock keepers doing all the work.
At Mapledurham Lock a vision of loveliness slid in beside us,

L'Orage, a symphony in polished brass, varnished wood and perfect paintwork.

She was previously owned by Raymond Baxter, the broadcaster, and the most proudly polished piece of brass is the small plaque in the cockpit that reads simply,"Dunkirk 1940". An honour to be allowed to share a lock with one of the little ships.
As if this wasn't enough for one day, in the next reach another piece of history hove into view,

a Humber Keel making the most of the stiff breeze.

"Daybreak", built 1934 by Richard Dunston at Thorne and used to carry grain from Hull to Hanley's mill at Doncaster. The hold has been converted to living space and she is now based on the Thames.

Armadillo was built at Thorne in 2006, I wonder, did they nod to each other as they passed with an,"Ay oop", in greeting?

We finished today's journey just below the lock at Goring, a sublime example of a small Thames side town,

with a selection of building styles. If you want to boggle your mind just peer in the window of the local estate agents, I promise you the price of houses here will make you eyes water.


Watch this space.............

Lunch at The Rowbarge.

We awoke to one of those mornings that tells you autumn has arrived.

 The dew lay heavy on the foliage and there was a distinct nip in the air. As it was Sunday Jill rattled out the frying pan and we were soon tucking into the jolly old e. & b., with the adddition of sausage, mushrooms and black pudding. As Somerset Maugham once famously said, "If you want to eat well in England eat three breakfasts." A truism then but English cuisine has come on rapidly since the days of soggy greens and lumpy tapioca, although my mother in law held out until the end.

Between Colthrop and Midgham locks C&RT had been busy piling and dredging.

 Only about 100yards but it's a start, only another 100 miles needs doing on this canal.
We had set off intending to head onward but the weather rapidly deteriorated and as the rain started The Rowbarge started to seem very attractive, so at Woolhampton we pulled over and moored. About 1330, having freshened up and put on our posh frocks, we headed off in search of sustenance. It turned out that the pub was hosting the local Round Table's duck race and was packed solid but, spotting a couple leaving, we headed the rush to grab the empty table. It was well worth the trampling and elbow digging. I know pub roasts are inclined to fail to reach the gastronomic heights but here

the beef was nicely rare, the Yorkshire pud crisp, the crackling crackled and the gravy was rich and tasty. Even the veg. was cooked to perfection. No room left for desert. I should add that the staff were friendly and attentive. And the King John bitter was well kept and well hopped. Have you got the idea that we were well impressed?
As we tottered out on our way back to the boat the heavens opened and by the time we had gained the shelter of Armadillo our Sunday finery was looking decidedly bedraggled, nothing left to do but put the feet up for an afternoon forty winks.
Burghfield tomorrow?

Watch this space..........

Newbury Ablaze.

We stayed the extra day in Newbury as there was going to be an EVENT, it said so on the signs they hung up along the canal. Signs that forbade mooring between West Mills' swing bridge and Victoria Park and closed the canal from 1700 until the next morning on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was to be an EVENT of fire and water, by gosh, we were excited. So at 2100 we joined the half mile queue to get a sticker,

here modeled by my good lady, that would allow us to walk along the towpath and gaze in awe at

a row of braziers, floating on little rafts, down the cut.

Under the town bridge,

past the canalside pubs

and finishing at the park where there were numerous "flame sculptures".

Including some around the model boating lake, much to the bafflement of the swans who had taken up residence there.

Not only were there these king size cigarette lighters but they had also laid on entertainment, I use the term loosely.

 Don't know where they found them from but they had raked in a collection of performers who dragged mournful dirges out of an odd set of instruments. Now I love a bit of unconventional music but.......
Anyway, we were glad to get back to the bottle of cabernet sauvignon we had left to chambre on the boat.
This morning all the braziers had been cleared from the cut

and were sitting forlornly in the side as we slid past, having breakfasted royally on sprats and fresh bread.
We dieseled up at the Pit Stop, £1.07 per litre, domestic, ouch.

We are now moored at Thatcham, just below Monkey Marsh Lock.
Moving on tomorrow.

Watch this space............

Two hops to Newbury.

Yesterday was another run eastwards. As we had bought some smoked haddock for breakfast we did not get an early start but even so we were the first away from Hungerford. A stop at the sanitary station for water and a pump out, amazing how quickly the effluent (Being posh there) tank fills when you have visitors, and we were off, wrestling with more K&A locks. The paddle gear on these locks is a real collection of oddities. No two locks seem to have the same type and we have been amazed to find one set of gear clearly emblazoned B.C.N and another G.U. I can only assume that as restoration took place they just grabbed whatever was available. Pity they found so many of those horrid hydraulic things.

Dreweat's Lock has the most elaborate by-wash I have come across,

lots of wheels and sluices, bit o.t.t. really. But it is set in some lovely country.

Arcadian England at its finest

with Armadillo waiting patiently for us to get on with the locking.
Below the next lock on, Copse Lock, we had our first meeting with the River Kennet since early June.

It flows in under this footbridge and a few yards further on

it flows out again on the other side. From here to Reading the canal and river play hopscotch with each other. We moored for the night just above Benham Lock and this morning it was down to Newbury, moored by the houses at Westmills.

Usual routine in urban areas,out shovel and clear the momentos of the visits of the local canines.
First article on the agenda was a visit to the local Halford's emporium. Jill said that having a bottle brush projecting from the roof was an embarrassment, even my claim that it showed a brilliant touch of improvisation was met with scorn and my offer to replace it with a convenient balloon whisk was rejected out of hand.

So we are now the proud owners of a new radio aerial. Boring, but reception is somewhat  greatly improved.
Looking at the weather forecast it looks like it will be thermals and waterproofs tomorrow.

Watch this space...........

Six hours to Hungerford.

Crofton pumping station, 0630 this morning but by 0730 the mist had cleared

and the early morning sun was highlighting the old building.
I gave Jill an early shake, 0700, and by 0745 we were on our way, heading for Hungerford. It took us six hours to do the trip although about half an hour of that involved the removal of most of a rubble sack from the prop. Tough old stuff that plastic.

They are putting a new by-wash in at Burnt Mill Lock and the locksides are fenced off, so two splendid chaps from the contractors worked us through. They offered, for a cuppa and a bacon butty, to come down and sort the next lock as well but retracted the offer when someone mentioned that there was work to do. Spoilsport.

Jill spotted these red water lillies, obviously a garden escapee.

Next to the towpath at Hungerford, a real knock yer eyeballs out hibiscus, I think. A quick trip up to Tescos and that was it for today.
We are now debating tomorrow.

Watch this space.............

Brushing up on radio reception.

Pewsey to Crofton today in pleasantly warm weather. Didn't get the camera out as I have just about one picture for every hundred yards of canal along this stretch.
A couple of days back, whilst juggling with the walk ashore, gangplank if you prefer, I managed to give the radio aerial a wallop, resulting in the major part of it snapping off and doing a rather neat sumersault into the canal. I reacted as any man would, blamed everyone else and had a sulk but then had to put my mind to finding a bodge that would enable radio reception to be restored. Have you noticed that the faithful old wire coathangers no longer inhabit wardrobes as they once did? So that was that line of thought out of the window. A prolonged search through the bits and pieces store revealed nothing suitable until, in a stroke of genius, I recognised the only suitable bit of wire onboard.

Thirty seconds with a screwdriver and once more the dulcet sounds of Classic FM are echoing around the boat. Peace and tranquility restored, shame there is a flipping great tree between us and the satellite for the telly.
Aiming for Hungerford tomorrow.

Watch this space.............

Family weekend.

Peace has returned to our little corner (57' x 6'10") of the world. After a busy and thoroughly enjoyable weekend with Natalie and Co.

Thursday evening we dined in style at The Bistro at The Waterfront, what a cracking meal we had. Definitely well up in my all time favourite dining out experiences, and there have been a few of those over the years. If you're on the K&A it really is worth programming in a stop at Pewsey, the moorings are not the best but with a restaurant like this and, if you walk down to the bakers in town, the best lardy cake ever, it has definite rewards.
Friday we worked our way up through the Wooton Rivers locks.

You can see who was doing the work,

while some were just not taking it seriously.
Once we were moored on the summit a hunt was organised, off we went searching for the elusive blackberry. A blackberry and apple crumble had been promised if we supplied the blackberries.

we found a virtual cornucopia of berries and, in contrast to last year,

it looks to be a bumper year for sloes. Hopefully we can look forward to winter's evenings with a roaring fire and a warming glass of sloe gin in hand.

Esme and Elliot were delighted to get a cheerful wave and a toot on the air-horn from the driver of a train of empty stone hoppers and to see

a hare lazing in the field, until the mew of a buzzard overhead sent him scuttling for cover in the hedgerow.
That evening we were rewarded for our efforts by one of Jill's roast dinners, pork and apple sauce, followed by the promised crumble with real custard and clotted cream. The lady is a culinary genius.
Saturday we returned to Wooton Rivers where we discovered

this awesome chap crossing the towpath, once Grandad had shown, not without some trepidation on his part, that the fearsome looking jaws were harmless the children were happy to let it walk over their hands. It's a lesser stag beetle according to the ever faithful Readers Digest Field Guide to the Butterflies and Other Insects of Britain (1984).
Once again we dined out, this time at the Royal Oak, and excellent it was.
Back at Pewsey this morning we bade them farewell as they set off back to Plymouth.
Reality kicks in tomorrow, back to moving on and eating on board.

Watch this space.............