Monday 1st
July
I was hiring a car today to go off “chasing dead bodies” as Brenda
always terms it, investigating family history. There is a branch of my family
that originated in Somerset. I had been wanting to visit for a number of years
but never found the opportunity so, with Bath being as close as we can get, we
decided that now was the time.
Enterprise Car Hire have a really good scheme of picking you up from
anywhere, all they need is a postcode, and returning you afterwards. I was
picked up at 9:30, taken to their base, drove out in a Renault Clio and
returned to the boat.
We had decided to move before I left. Brenda was going to be on her
own and much preferred the moorings on the canal. The river moorings were OK
but the footpath alongside the boat was very narrow with lots of bikes hurtling
past, and getting over the fence onto the path was a struggle. So we left the
mooring and slowly headed up the river to the first of the Bath Locks.
Junction of K&A Canal with River Avon
The Kennet and Avon Canal officially runs from Henham Lock on the
River Avon, where the jurisdiction of the Bristol Harbour Authorities finishes,
to Reading, where it joins the River Thames. At Newbury, the canal flows into
the River Kennet, a tributary of the Thames.
The canal was built in three distinct phases. The Kennet Navigation
was built between 1718 and 1723. This was an ambitious project. With a 138-foot
difference in level over 18 miles, 22 locks and 11 miles of new cut had to be
constructed.
The same engineer, John Hore, was then commissioned to build the
Bristol Avon Navigation. Bringing the fast flowing river through the Avon Gorge
under control, the build lasted from 1725 until 1727. The speed at which these
river navigations, and the later canals, were built, using primitive surveying
instruments, and manual labour using hand pick and shovels, never fails to
impress.
The third stage, a canal from Newbury to Bath, proved difficult.
Authorised in 1794, William Jessop was the appointed engineer, and the link
opened in 1810, completing a through route from London to Bristol and the River
Severn. The canal is considered to be one of the most splendid lengths of
artificial waterway in the country and one we are very much looking forward to
exploring.
It is 57 miles long, of broad beam. It has 79 locks and a summit level
14 miles long, 452 feet above sea level. There are several pumping stations
along its length, most famously at Claverton and Crofton. The architecture is
supposedly, exceptional, from the straightforward stone bridges to the
magnificent aqueducts at Dundas and Avoncliffe. But considered the most iconic
structure, and the one most associated with the K&A, is the Caen Hill
Flight of 16 locks at Devizes, with 29 locks within a 2mile stretch.
There are six locks lifting the canal out of Bath, the Widcombe
flight, although there used to be seven. A new road building scheme resulted in
two locks being combined into one deep lock. With a lift of 19 feet, this is the second deepest lock on the canal
system. When you are sitting on a boat in the bottom of the lock, it is a long
way down. This lock was filled for us by two volunteers while Brenda started to
fill the next lock. The sluices in this deep lock are especially vicious, but
made all the more so by them opening both paddles fully, together. This not
good practice, especially in wide locks because it causes the boat to surge
uncontrollably. They should be operated by opening the paddle on the side of
the lock that the boat is sitting. The flow then crosses over the lock, bounces
off the side wall and so pins the boat against the opposite wall. Once
everything has stabilised, the other paddle can then be opened. Sometimes, while
the volunteers can be helpful, you are better left to do the locks yourself. At
least the two of us have an understanding.
Bath Deep Lock
Lovely Canalside Mooring in Bath
We moored above the third lock in quite a pretty setting. Definitely better
than the river. After dumping rubbish at the disposal point above the next
lock, I left for the Somerset countryside, leaving Brenda in charge of the
boat.
Weather: hot
Day Total: 3 lock; 1 mile; 0 Tunnels; 5 Swing Bridge; 0 Lift Bridges;
0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 1.8
Overall Total: 553 locks; 1039 miles; 46 tunnels; 32 Swing Bridges; 5
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 651.9hrs
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