Retirement with No Problem

Lower Foxhanger to Bradford-on-Avon, Kennet & Avon Canal, 11.5 miles 7 locks

We stopped yesterday at the bottom of Seend locks, a very quiet place with no noise from roads or rail.. Walking with the dogs I passed an apple tree with some beautiful looking rosy red cookers on it.. I’ll have a few of them on the way back for jam, but I am waiting for the blackberries in this neck of the woods to ripen.. they are very slow down south here!

Having run out of jam, I managed to get some cheap English strawberries in Devizes the other day, so a batch was on the stove in the late afternoon after they had been soaking in their preserving sugar since the previous day.. gosh it is a yummy batch too, I had some for breakfast this morning!

As long as it floats…

The Kennet & Avon is famous for all the things that float where people live.. And gosh there are a lot of them..

But today was one of those days… things not quite going right, but then it happens…. Approaching the first of the two locks, we slowed to wait for a day boat to come up through only to watch in disbelief as the crew shut the gates.. no amount of shouting and waving made any difference, the crew just ambling along the towpath.. Now I couldn’t get into the lock landing because the little boat was there picking up the crew!

“Oh we didn’t know the etiquette, so thought we better shut the gates!”… I didn’t know what to say, thinking that rocket science and stupid were words I best not say.. so after some faffle in the wind I managed to get Vic on the towpath by which time the lock needed refilling!

Vic and I swapped and I finished off the lock noting that there was a boat in the next lock.. I left the gate open for them, and couldn’t believe what I saw, when that crew also shut both gates behind them, walked past me on the towpath and thanked me for leaving a gate open for them!… I had no words for them, but hope my eyes gave enough of a glare .. Then as we passed “Sorry didn’t see you coming”.. Turning round I had to say something.. “Well I saw you, perhaps you need glasses!”

I liked this little boat, look carefully there is a chimney sticking out of the gunnel… I guess they have a cellar!… This must be owned by a single boater as there is a winch on the front which he probably uses to pull the lock gates open!

But the pièce de résistance so far along this bit of the canal has got to be this one…

Golly gee… 42 people.. there are no vents on this!  I wondered what it was like inside.. my imagination ran wild when I thought about the Tardis… Nah, surely not!… Heh, walking the towpath later I saw it had an overstaying sticker on it.. well not on it as it has no windows, the BW guy has tied it to the mooring rope!

Well if any of those boats are yours as you are reading this, then you are famous.. You’re on t’internet!