And we start to blog again!

On 15th May Pegasus left Cowroast for the last time, heading for Crick, on the Leicester arm of the Grand Union. After a hectic few days with family and festivals, Lyds and I departed for our new mooring at Cropredy. 5 days later we caught the train home, and a week later Steve returned to Pegasus to start a solo navigate to Bristol for Lyd’s Graduation. There was time to divert to Marlow, for a sleep in our bigger bed for a couple of nights, then Pegasus turned to the West and set off to the entrance of the Kennet and Avon at Reading

We’ll re-start this epic on a Tuesday evening in Weatherspoon’s, V Bar, In Bristol. Lydia graduated on Friday 19th July , after her years of hard work and dedication, studying Sociology, and has just broken the news that she has landed her first plum job, using her degree, not three days later. Pegasus is moored up below us , and has been since the previous Tuesday in Bristol Harbour. It has been a brilliant stay. Aside from Lydia’s graduation, Blanche and I have hosted George and Jess, attended a quiz night, been to Pizza Express with Lyds and Jim and Isla, enjoyed some street music, some band music, and had a ringside seat at the Waterfront festival. We experienced the maritime life on the SS Great Britain, and we have had a whale of a time.

George and Jess left on Sunday, bringing Stella enough dog food for a month, Blanche went back to the bungalow on Monday to mow the lawns and Lydia disappeared with her friends for some celebratory clubbing.

Now, I am turning around and starting the journey back solo, unless of course you count the trusty hound Stella, an old lady now, and not much help on the locks,  but a true travelling companion, who listens to every word I say, but never answers back, except with a friendly wag of the tail.  We entered the Kennet & Avon Canal on Tuesday. 20^th June and it is now the22nd of July. It was a challenging journey to get here. The first part was river, the Kennet was flowing quite strongly. The canal section was lovely but there were many locks and swing bridges and the glorious river Avon was benign and serene, in that there was little stream. However, some of the locks were exceptionally difficult, and mooring was very restricted.

So now we are starting back. It is easier to write about the places we passed because we will have had two looks at them, one from the East and one from the West. We will know, roughly where we can moor, which pubs are coming up, places we can take on water and discharge waste. I trust that this will give a more informed view of this wonderful canal system. Also knowing that there is no timetable it is a good move because. I can devote time to this blog and hopefully make it more informative and maybe interesting?  So, let’s set off from Bristol in the morning of the 24^th July heading East knowing that today the journey has 6 locks of which two of which are incredibly tough. I also know that there is no good moorings there in which to get Stella on and off the boat, so the journey to Bath had to be in one hit. It took 10 hours coming down, so it was going to be a long day.

Firstly the route through Bristol is fairly simple. The  harbour was effectively man-made it is a northerly loop through the city , it has a lock at either end, and the main river Avon passes to the south. The locks keep the water levels even, and the current is minimal.  Obviously, it’s a city and buildings and expensive waterfront apartments encroach right up to the canal. We pass under. Bristol Temple Meads, the railway station designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. As indeed he designed every aspect of the railway between Paddington and Bristol.

We leave Bristol Harbour through Netham Lock where I exchange pleasant greeting with the friendly lockkeeper and go on my way. This lock is only closed when tide and harbour levels are differing significantly so both gates are open, and I shoot the lock. The next lock marks the end of the jurisdiction of Bristol Harbour and the start on the Kennet & Avon, a Canal River Trust section.CRT proudly state they run and manage 2000 miles of canal. That’s a lot of canals. and with very little money to spend on those 2000 miles the system is creaking and leaking a little. The CRT do have many volunteers though and it is always good to see their blue sweatshirts, working on the banks or helping us boaters through locks etc.

At the first opportunity at Hanham lock I took on water, there was no waterpoint on our temporary pontoon, and there is no water gauge on Pegasus but I thought I must be getting low. I know I can go a couple of weeks on a full tank, and that’s daily showering, but Paul and Tracey moored next to us at the waterfront festival had a few problems with water and electric, so we volunteered our shower to them as well. Anyway, as I was filling with water, another narrowboat “Lottie Rose” came to the lock and we agreed to go up the next few locks together. For those who don’t know the canal life, there are many waterpoints scattered along the canal network, some accessible only by the “special key”  and the mooring is for a maximum of one hour so as to give all boaters a chance to use the tap.  A long hose is necessary, Pegasus is 22 meters long, and the water fill point is at one end. Sometimes the hose just reaches!

This part of the Avon is lovely and picturesque, the weirs are large, and impressive, and going upstream pose little threat. There are however two locks where it would have been impossible to pass due to the top gates requiring so much effort to open them. It took four of us to open the gates at Swineford, and even more at Weston, aided by a gentle but concerted “shove” by Pegasus.

At Bath I moored by the railings, just by the train station Bath Spa. On the way down we moored at the same spot. Lottie Rose and I agreed that we would share the journey through Bath the next morning and Stella and I settled down to sleep after a long arduous day.  I’ll leave you with our favourite poet.