Hungerford
At the first lock on the way up to Hungerford we should have been able to share with "Mr Benn" just ahead of us. Instead, we saw him shut the lock and start filling it while we were approaching. As I walked up to the lock side, loud music was blasting out from the boat in the chamber, which was covered in old junk from stem to stern. He did apologise that he hadn't seen us coming but as the approach is a long, straight run, I can only assume he was blinded by the noise. In truth, we were probably lucky that he shut us out. Otherwise we might have had to accompany that racket for the rest of the journey.
Another narrowboat, waiting to come down, was very helpful, however. We were lucky at the next one, Wire Lock, too, as two boats came out of the lock as we came towards it. We were still a fair way away but they left both the gates open and a third boat, stood on the landing behind them, waited for us to get there, rather than turn it against us.
At Hungerford we wanted to stop for at least two nights as Sue was going up to London to meet Jen and Elsie again. Coming through the Town Bridge we could see that there was no space on the two day mooring on the right, so we pulled into the one day mooring before the lock. Before we had really settled in, a hire boat set off from the other side. We scrambled to untie and reverse up to take advantage of the space, which turned out to be very good for us. There was only room for a few boats and we were at the far end, away from the busy road bridge. There was a nice little park area between us and the street, so ideal for Archie.
With the weather fine but a bit cooler and cloudy, this was a good place to work on the boat, patching up the rubbing strake along the side and putting some primer on peeled patches on the roof. Sue took the train up to town but was back by five o'clock, bringing with her my 'Aussie Chiller', a replacement, at last, for my old summer hat that had given such good service over the last eight years or so. Finding a substitute for the old faithful, which was battered and filthy but apparently, couldn't be washed or dry-cleaned, had proved extremely difficult. I had finally resorted to ordering one from Australia, through Facebook, to be sent to Jen's address a few weeks before, a bit of a gamble but it shipped and arrived very quickly and turned out to be exactly as described.
We had already stayed two nights here but the forecast for Thursday the eighth was very poor. Rather than cruising on we moved across and up above Hungerford Lock to the one day mooring there. It was cloudy and humid, with rain on and off all day and so gloomy that we had to put the lights on early in the evening. It was an opportunity to spend the day working through the stack of material I had amassed concerning passage up the Severn estuary, once we got to Bristol.
Some Of The Guidance For The Severn Crossing
There are multiple authorities, agencies and associations involved all citing requirements and recommendations that involve co-ordination and the engagement of different professionals and services. Much of it overlaps, some of it conflicts and a lot of it confuses, so getting a better understanding was time well spent.
Great Bedwyn
Friday ninth August started dry, mild and quite a bit brighter. We were all set to move off when a hire boat, "Village Weaver", came past. We joined them in the first lock and travelled together as far as Great Bedwyn. They were an Australian couple on tour, with the eventual aim of scattering their Mum and Dad's ashes in Chichester, where the late couple had been married, sometime at the end of next week. They had their own children and their own families meeting them there but arriving via a wide assortment of routes and adventures. It seems that their father had given each of them a significant sum of money to spend however they wanted, with the sole proviso that they would converge to join their parents in Sussex to say goodbye to their grandparents - lucky them!
By noon it was sunny and even getting quite hot so it was time to test out the new summer hat. Our companions, being Australian, recognised the Aussie Chiller immediately, of course.
Our plan was to moor at Great Bedwyn. We pulled over a little before the visitor moorings and I went up to check for any space. As I got up there a group came down the path, laden with shopping. It turned out that they were just about to leave with "Maisie Ellen" and "Sandra" (the same "Sandra" that we had encountered leaving Froud's Bridge Marina a couple of weeks before). That provided us with a perfect mooring spot so we just waited for a few minutes while they sorted out their supplies and got ready to set off. "Village Weaver" then opted to carry on a bit further so we said said our goodbyes and settled down for some lunch and an afternoon of chores and DIY, which earned a short trip to the Three Tuns before dinner. The trip up into the village did mean braving these two alien birds that had taken up permanent residence under the bridge and looked as if they wanted to challenge any attempt to pass.
Muscovy Ducks On Guard
Approaching The Summit
On Saturday 10th August we moved on just a couple of miles and four locks, almost to the summit of the Kennet & Avon and stopped on the two day mooring by Crofton Pumping Station.
Crofton Pumping Station
Completed in eighteen hundred and nine the historic Pumping Station housed steam powered beam engines. They continued to operate to supply water to the highest point of the Kennet & Avon Canal until nineteen fifty-nine. Now owned by the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust, they continue to be housed and demonstrated to the public there on open days. When the canal was restored, in the nineteen eighties, a new pumping station was installed using electric pumps. Forty years on and last winter saw a major project in the winter works schedule, costing nearly two million pounds, to replace those with a modern system that is expected to be more efficient and more reliable. As well as the pump upgrades themselves there were a raft of associated works required in the area to support it. Sadly, they didn't have an Open Day while we were there.
On the way to Crofton we passed "Village Warbler", who had moored at Crofton and winded there to return to their hire base in Aldermaston. They were full of praise for the Swan Inn at Wilton and highly recommended a visit, although they did complain that it had been a long walk involving a very steep hill!
We passed nobody else on the way and found plenty of mooring available when we arrived just after noon. After lunch Archie and I had a good walk almost back to Great Bedwyn and returning over Wilton Brail and Wilton Hill, which was, indeed, a stiff climb, only to drop back down to the same level again at our mooring.
Looking at the location of the pub at Wilton, itself, there was a wide track that climbed all the way up Wilton Hill and then ran over the summit and back down again into the village via a road. When planning the route for our afternoon walk, I couldn't help noticing that there was a bridleway that ran directly from where we were, alongside Wilton Water and directly into the village close to The Swan. That route was completely flat and only about two thirds of the distance. That evening we decided to give that a try, although I was slightly apprehensive that the route might prove to be very overgrown, unpleasantly marshy or both. In the event, it proved to be a very pleasant walk on a fine summer's evening, with no call for unpleasant huffing and puffing in either direction.
The Routes To The Swan at Wilton
The pub, itself, was every bit as good as we had been told and consequently very popular. The service was welcoming, the atmosphere was pleasant, the menu was extensive, with a very wide variety at reasonable prices. The food, when it came, was both delicious and plentiful. So much so that we ended up carrying home enough leftovers for a substantial lunch the next day. It is a venue that is definitely worth seeking out if you are ever in the area.