Friday 5th July 2019



We had a fantastic day today. Bath Abbey had found subsidence in the floors and were in the middle of a multi-million-pound project to dig up and stabilise them. During these works they had discovered upwards of 8,000 burials. We went on a very interesting ”behind the scenes tour” and were lucky enough to be the only people on it and so had the guide to ourselves. Lynne was a wealth of knowledge on the Abbey itself and the archaeological dig associated with the stabilisation of the floors.

The whole tour was absolutely fascinating, very interesting and well worth the money. We felt privileged. Amongst many other things, we were shown the method used to repair cracked gravestones and held Medieval plaster roof bosses that the Victorians used as rubble during a talk with one of the Archaeological staff, a very enthusiastic guy, who wouldn’t be doing a job like that.



     

                   
                                                                             Gravestones awaiting repair                                                                        

    
                                                                                             Medieval Roof Bosses





     

Archaeological Dig in progress




We did a bit of shopping on the way back but then, once back at the boat we both felt very ready to move. We passed through the remaining three locks of the Bath Widcombe flight and eventually left Bath behind us. The canal makes a magnificent exit from the city, climbing ever higher the extensive views open out and you can pick out many of the features of the city.

The cut passes right through Sydney Gardens and through two very ornamental bridges, one of which carries housing on it and Cleveland House, the old canal company’s headquarters. The gardens of the last of the Georgian houses sweep right down to the water’s edge and the whole route is quite spectacular.



     



The run out of Bath






With Bath behind us, it was a short run to Bathampton, a pretty looking place with a handsome looking canal side pub. It would have been nice to stop but we were heading for countryside. Beyond Bathampton we came to the first of the K&A’s swing bridges. Luckily, we had met two boats coming towards us and they already had the bridge open, so we just passed through. Just two miles later, we stopped and moored in the middle of nowhere. Just what we needed after being in the town for so long.



Weather: hot



Day Total: 3 lock; 5 miles; 2 Tunnels; 1 Swing Bridge; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 3.3

Overall Total: 556 locks; 1044 miles; 48 tunnels; 33 Swing Bridges; 5 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 655.2hrs






Comments

  1. EleishaJuly 8, 2019 at 11:17 PM

    Facinating , i would love that tour in the cathedral , in fact i just love Bath !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. nb Bridge StreetJuly 10, 2019 at 12:45 AM

      On a trip to Bath, the Thermae Spa has to be done.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Thursday 22 nd November 2018 We were awake during the night and watched a lovely, bright, full moon in a clear sky with a thick ground mist. When we woke this morning the world was white after a hard frost. Apparently it got down to -4 ˚ overnight. The stove has remained light since its first lighting on 19 th October. This morning was no exception and the boat was cold but not overly so, the stove having been damped down overnight. However, we did turn the heating on for ½ hour to warm the boat up while the stove was heating up. We haven’t had the heating on for some time but the times we have, has been when the boat has become cold. We still haven’t yet mastered the regulating of the heating. If it is left on too long, the boat becomes oppressively hot and remains so for a long time.   We went for a walk to the nearest village, Stockton. The walk was along a main road to begin with and was not pleasant with all the traffic and narrow verges to walk on. We w...
Read more
Image
Sunday 14 th July 2019 We went for a walk around Avoncliffe before a slow cruise covering the 1 ½ miles back into Bradford and were, yet again, lucky enough to find a place on the 48 hour moorings. Avoncliffe is a tiny, delightful place and a very popular stop for walkers and cyclists. Around the Cross Guns pub are a few cottages, all staggered towards the river bank and dominated by the Aqueduct. However, looking at signs from the past, it had once been a thriving small-scale industrial centre with water mills and factory mills concerned with the cloth industry. The up-market Avoncliffe Villa apartments bely their past as, first the Bradford Workhouse, then a convalescence hospital for injured First World War troops and later a hotel. Right our Bradford moorings, down a small embankment, is Barton Farm. The farm buildings are all Medieval and consist of a Manor House, a Granary, one of the best examples of a Tithe Barn and several other buildings. Today, the Tithe Barn ...
Read more
Image
Monday 30 th July 2018 We ambled about in the morning. Brenda did some housework and I walked up into Winsford for some shopping. The day was not good, a lot of cloud and threatening rain. Matt brought Manny and Eva out to us at 3pm. Just as they turned up the heavens opened with heavy rain. It was great to see them both, they are here for a week, so hopefully we won’t get sick of them and make them swim home. Once Matt had gone we waited a short while for the rain to stop and then set off. We passed under the two bridges that make up the roundabout at the bottom end of Winsford which we have travelled over countless times by car. As soon as you pass under the first bridge you are off Canal and River Trust waters. We winded at the entrance to the marina being careful not to venture too far into the flash because of the danger of shifting, shallow sandbanks and then started to retrace our route. This now put us right at the start of the Weaver Navigation and by th...
Read more