We stayed on our mooring at Crofton all day today and spent three hours or so at the pumping station.  We had super large pasties in their café but they were close to vegetarian versions.  It was a really interesting visit especially for an engineer (retired) and Romy found lots of things to learn.  We were lucky to be here on a weekend when the boilers were fired up and the engines running.  Lots of photo opportunities, only a small selection below!  I also took some video on the GoPro.

It was a good day to sit in  one place as there were a few showers in the morning and again in the evening.

The above picture was taken from between the beams of the engine looking down onto the piston.

In the evening our main entertainment was the Canada Geese who came to sample the drops wrung out of our washing.

We did not tell them we are having duck for dinner.

We were still on the long pound (nothing to do with Brexit) in the early morning and enjoying the countryside. We didn’t experience any problems with the water level but we hadn’t seen any other boats and were able to stay in the middle all the time.  It also meant we were on our own in all the locks which were sometimes quite hard work. Lock 54 has a somewhat scary reputation and we approached it with care but it treated us very kindly.  Soon after we saw the last remaining timber wharf-side crane at Burbage Wharf.

Through the Bruce tunnel and we were on the summit where we spotted a Red Kite. Unfortunately the picture won’t win any prizes.

The procedure at the locks was just about to change as lock 102 became our first descent.

We were also on our own though the next four locks only being joined by another boat at lock 60.  We were pleased to get a mooring opposite the Crofton Pumping Station but slightly perturbed when the water level dropped and we stopped floating! The level rose again after a couple of hours and all was well.

We had another good country walk to Wilton Windmill and admired the pretty village, very picture postcard looking.

Needing some shopping we decided to moor up at Pewsey this evening.  We set off at 8:50 and had a delightfully leisurely day with no locks and some lovely scenery.  At the start of the long pound it almost seemed like being in the fens but later in the day we were in much more open countryside.

We stopped at Honeystreet and had a short walk to St Mary’s Saxon Church at Alton Barnes.  It was a lovely church but the Whistler windows were a bit disappointing, very small and quite hard to see.

Honey street Wharf was also a bit of a let down.  The advertised chandlery was “work in progress” ie not built yet and the pump out not available as “he was taking the dog for a walk”.

We eventually used the self operated pump out in Pewsey, immediately after bridge 114, not before it as shown in Pearson.  The visitor moorings were full so we kept going and found a pleasant spot after bridge 113.

In the evening we walked into Pewsey along some pretty country tracks to shop at the co-op.  We followed this with a very good meal at the Tale of Spice Indian restaurant.

Yesterday evening after completing the blog entry I took some more pictures with the Drone.

As we were going up the locks with another boat “Mottled Weaver” Romy thought it would be a good day for her to take over lock duties.

At first she seemed a bit puzzled but then decided on a suitable pose before realising that opening gates was actually pretty hard work.  In truth she did a fantastic job along with Barbara and Anna while the two Peters steered, entered and left the locks in a very professional style side by side. The first 16 locks we managed in 2 hours 15 minutes and the 22 locks from 29 to 50 in 3 hours 30 minutes.

We decided that it would be good day to stop early in an out of town location and were lucky enough to spot a lovely shady spot under an ash tree just past the winding hole after bridge 136.

Not taken into account at the time but quickly appreciated was the close proximity to the Hour Glass.

Another early start 6:25 and we were off and up the first of many locks.

At Semington we met up with Colin and his boat Hobo Diddly who provided company through the next seven locks.

We moored just after the Sells Green moorings and out came the folding bike.  Peter  rode down to lock 29 to check out the possibilities for mooring and they looked promising so we decided to tackle the next set of locks.

En route we spied Toby and Sarah’s Caen friends in The Stoker.  We also noticed an unusual request.

There was some interesting flora such as mallow and meadow sweet along the banks and when we arrived at our destination some lovely white water lilies.

We finally arrived at around 15:30 at the extremely pleasant moorings between locks 28 and 29 at  where there is room for three boats.  There was only one other boat there and we were able to choose a blissfully shady spot.  At nine hours, including the bike recce, it was a longer day than most for us but it did involve 15 locks and several swing bridges.  Swing bridge number 156 was, in my view, of very doubtful parentage and I struggled mightily to get it moving.

A really early start today to avoid the midday sun.  We cast off from Bath at 6:20 and started to go up the three locks out of Bath.  As we entered the second lock we were, much to our surprise, approached by another boat asking if they could go up with us.  They joined us after a short wait and it was interesting to discover that John had been the pilot of the boat used in the slow canal sequence and had “trained” the celebrity four Nigel Havers, Loraine Chase, Debbie McGee and Simon Callow.  John and Vivian were based at Bradford Marina where all this action took place.

We moored in Bradford on Avon at 11:15 in a spot with some welcome shade from nearby trees in the later afternoon.

We walked along the canal and visited the The Tythe Barn before going into town via a route that followed the river.  Toby and Sarah mentioned the wonderful beams in the barn so we thought we would add pictures of the barn and its interior structure.

We bought this wonderful umbrella 30 years ago in Kuala Lumpur and brought it with us in case we had wet weather.  We were really pleased to be able to use it to keep us in the shade today!  Note the silver lining.

We also stopped to admire the Saxon Church and Romy pointed out the blind arcading, all those windows without glass round the top, if you didn’t know that.

The Bridge Tea Rooms is in another rather wonderful old building and the atmosphere is designed to match the exterior.  Light refreshments were obviously called for.  Russian Caravan for Peter – excellent.

While we were at the bridge we also took the opportunity of taking a photo of the C17chapel – C18 lock up.

We stayed on our mooring in Bath today and it was a lot quieter with no “party boats”.  We walked to Prior Park along a route that turned out to be very pleasant and shady arriving just in good time for a coffee and a flapjack.

Although we had seen it before we admired the Palladian bridge.  It was built in 1775 and there are only three others in the world.

We then walked into town to do a little indulgent shopping including sharing a cheese free pizza at Pizza Express and sampling Belvoir’s cucumber and mint pressé.

Quite why Bath needed to be protected by so many umbrellas in this glorious sunshine we are not sure but it made an interesting spectacle.

Back at Oliver we investigated a piece of modern sculpture on the tow path just by our bow.

We departed Bristol at 8am when the weather was fine, the wind was slight and hardly anybody else seemed to be stirring.  We did not see any other boats moving, apart from the ferry, until 09:50 when one came in the opposite direction.

Oliver was delighted to leave the city behind and get out into the countryside!

As we meandered along we saw quite a few Dragon Flies and Damsel Flies.  An opportunity for a photo came when we moored at the at the floating pontoon, near Bitton, at about 12:00

We  had a quick lunch and set out to explore the local area on foot.

Last time Oliver was here he was facing in the opposite direction.

Arriving back at Oliver we had just got settled when a wide beam came and asked if he could squeeze in.  He managed – just but it certainly was a squeeze.  We were entertained first by a few people deciding to swim in the river.   They found it hard to get in as the pontoon was so crowded. It became much more exciting though when one group decided to crawl along the beams of the bridge, ease themselves between them, hang by their hands and then drop.

Sausage casserole for dinner and we are planning for an early start tomorrow to get a good mooring in Bath.