Wednesday 24th
July 2019
We awoke to a strange morning. After the heat of recent weeks and the
storm overnight, the morning had a heavy feeling mist that subdued any sound.
It all felt a bit weird. Blame Boris.
Within a few hundred yards we came upon Allington Swing Bridge. As
with all the K&A swing bridges, it is held closed by a square ended spindle
that screws into a nut welded to the floor of the bridge. The spindle is
unscrewed, the bridge pushed open and, once the boat is through, the bridge
closed and the spindle screwed back in place. This spindle had been tightened
so much, the windlass key had to be used and kicked to release it.
We only travelled 7 miles but the scenery was stunning. The morning
mist had lifted and we had lovely views again, over the Ridgeway Hills on one
side and open countryside the other. There are no villages at all that border
the canal on this stretch, but the villages do have their own wharves around
which a few small canal side hamlets have grown, but the peace prevails.
Between All Cannings and Stanton St. Bernard, lovely names, we could
see the Pewsey Horse cut into the chalk of the hill. Although only cut in 1937
to commemorate the coronation of King George VI, it replaces an earlier horse
that had disappeared beneath the grass.
We only ever pass moored boats, no matter what their state, with the
engine on tick-over. Nevertheless, at Honeystreet we had a guy complaining
about our speed, how we needed to slow down and need our tick-over speed
adjusting. Some people just enjoy a moan. We wished him a good morning and hope
he has a nice day. A few days earlier, outside Devizes, we had another guy
shouting at us for our speed. I recognised this guy, or rather his boat, from when
we were last on this canal in 2014, and he shouted at us then!
Beyond Honeystreet, more lovely countryside with Woodborough Hill and
the iconic Pickled Hill dominating in the north. Pickled Hill has field
terracing all the way up one side, a relic of Celtic and Medieval cultivation.
We had wanted to walk up one of these hills but there was little opportunity to
moor and the day had become very hot again.
Pickled Hill
Lady’s Bridge is so named as the land belonged to one Lady Susannah
Wroughton when the canal was under construction. She objected to the canal but
was appeased by a payment of £500 and the building of the ornate bridge. Beyond
the bridge is the aptly named Wide Water, a tranquil wooded wide part of the
canal.
Lady’s
Bridge
The waterway passes through Stowell Park where the house can just be
glimpsed through the landscaped gardens. A miniature suspension bridge, the
only one of its kind, carries a private footpath across the canal.
Just before Pewsey Wharf, a large tree had fallen across the canal and
a wide beam boat had chosen to moor at this very spot which made it difficult
to pass the obstruction. We moored at the wharf where we called into the
community pub before another towpath BBQ in readiness for tackling the summit
locks tomorrow.
Weather: a misty start to another hot day.
Day Total: 0 locks; 5 miles; 0 Tunnels; 1 Swing Bridge; 0 Lift
Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 2.1
Overall Total: 597 locks; 1095 miles; 48 tunnels; 45 Swing Bridges; 5
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 689.5hrs
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