Crofton

Today's Canal - Kennet and Avon

Although we were promised sunshine for most of the day, the morning began very grey and quite chilly. It stayed that way until early afternoon.

The main set of locks over the summit at Crofton have limited opening at the moment because of works to the pumping and water supply from an adjacent reservoir into the canal and from there down either to Bath or Reading. At present the locks are only open from 9.30 to 3.30. Our aim for today was to get to just below the closed section so that we have enough time to clear the Crofton and Wootton Rivers locks tomorrow.

Soon after setting off we passed under yet another railway bridge. This line follows the canal - it is for some miles the only obvious route so not a surprise that the railway engineers stayed close to the canal until they diverged towards the south west after Pewsey.

We spotted this overflow weir - quite unlike any others we have seen on this canal but reminiscent of several on the Staffs and Worcester. If you look closely you can see that we accidently captured a train in the top left corner!

At the first Foxfield Lock we were warmly greeted by a family who offered to help us through. They were from a boat moored nearby, waiting for visiting grandparents who were driving up from Portsmouth. We later saw them walking down the towpath - they must have arrived very close to their ETA.

At Little Bedwyn Lock we had help from the crew of a Bruce Trust trip boat - with a group from a local care home on board. The bridge looks as if it ought to be a railway bridge but, from old OS maps there has never been a line there so it seems to be a replacement for a local track when the railway was originally constructed. The village is cut in two by the railway line in away that is more divisive than the canal.

At the last lock before Great Bedwyn there are the remains of a swing bridge across the middle of the canal, conformed by old OS maps. Walkers now have to use a modern slab bridge at the tail of the lock so although it carries a right of way footpath it is likely that the adjacent farmers did not have accommodation rights.

As we arrived at the 2 day visitor mooring next to Great Bedwyn bridge it looked as if there was no free space so we could hardly believe our luck as we cruised slowly past then a boat was just leaving with plenty of room for us to pop in to stop for lunch.

After lunch we began by calling at the service point just after the bridge.

At one of the next locks we enjoyed help from a young 10 year old, with parent in the background, who relished the opportunity to wield a lock key - which he did splendidly and followed instructions very carefully. It transpired that great grand father was a lock keeper on the Wey Navigation (way back when! Ouch!).

Mooring below Lock 61 - Crofton Crossing - was difficult. The  weeds (especially nettles!) and reeds made it tricky finding where firm land was and by then the front end was nowhere near. Of course, our gangplank was at the front so the first task was to find a way of moving it to the back. In so doing, the two parts (the ladder and the deck) became parted from each other and the latter took a little time to locate in the murky water. But in the end we were firmly tucked up until the locks open again in the morning.

The lock was definitely not for passing - at least not without bolt cutters!

This is the level crossing over the railway line for a narrow farm track. As the gates are also chained and locked we assume that it is not a public highway. In any event,  we might find the crossing somewhat intimidating as it is self operated!  The next train arrived about 25 seconds after the light changed to red.

Before the evening meal, Christine took a walk up to the lock and spotted this plaque on a seat.

She also took a closer look at our mooring skills! (Or lack thereof)

5.3 Miles - 10 Locks