Limpley Stoke

 Today's Canal - Kennet and Avon

It was a rather dull day when we set off - there had been some fairly heavy rain overnight but cleared just after we awoke.

Almost as soon as we left our mooring we passed in front of Bradford Marina, home of Sally Narrowboats. Today's photo was very grey so here is one we took last night (in true Blue Peter tradition!)

There is a visitor mooring Bridge 171. We were looking to stop as close to the bridge as possible so that we would have as short a distance as possible to carry our shopping from the nearby Sainsbury supermarket. Fortunately there was a space to pull in and we were remarkably close to the bank.

On then another hundred metres to the service point at Bradford Wharf. This was once one of the busiest places on the canal. An information panel recreates what it might have looked like.

On the opposite side was a maintenance yard, including a dry dock - still in use but now undercover, the black building to the left of the older stone one. This is also a winding hole but numerous hire boats from several companies use this as their starting point so it might not always be too easy to turn a longer boat around.

Lock keepers would be full time employees and live in a provided house. This meant that they could be called upon to work a boat through at any time. Wonder how many interrupted meals they had in a lifetime? The lock cottage is now a cafe.

Bradford Lock is quite deep but there was a team of three volunteers at the ready and keen to let boaters stay on board so we had an easy ride down.

Just after leaving the lock Mike spotted a fellow Waterways Chaplain and we stopped to pick her up so that we could chat over a mug of coffee and custard doughnut! 

We dropped her off at the next bridge, locally known as Smelly Bridge as just the other side is a large sewage treatment works. This used to be a normally closed bridge but not long ago the water company added a footbridge and power. Just before we passed through one of their staff was opening and closing it in order to take a van across.

Along this section there are numerous liveaboard boats, nominally continuous cruisers but many to be found in much the same place year-round. Unlike above the lock, there were few usable empty spaces until we reached the visitor moorings at Avoncliff.

A sharp bend takes the canal onto the Avoncliff Aqueducts. The main part, to the south, crosses the river valley.

It is immediately followed by an extension that crosses the railway line between Bath and Bradford on Avon.

The next section is especially scenic, largely through wooded areas, as the canal hugs the contour on the hill leading down to the valley below. There were plenty of stretches without moored boats. Although the bank is a firm stone wall, as we discovered when we looked to moor, there is often little depth at the edge itself.

We finally found a spot where we could moor respectably, if not actually hugging the bank, to have lunch. By the time we were recovered enough to think about moving on, it was a little late for feeling comfortable about finding a mooring in the outskirts of Bath. We do not need to be in Bath until Thursday morning (realistically tomorrow evening). The information panel at Bradford Lock says that passenger trips from there into Bath took just one and a half hours. Perhaps in those days they did not have to slow down for moored boats - the one or two remaining horse drawn boats have to battle with all the things that are kept on boat roofs as the tow rope is passed over. We were sufficiently far back from the next road bridge - it is quite busy if somewhat steep and winding. Only the occasional 'Blues and Twos' makes an impact on our otherwise peaceful situation (and numerous passing boats, predominantly hire boats). The only problem is that both our phones have very restricted reception.

4.1 Miles - 1 Lock