Our last full day, and what a belter, with glorious blue skies, and the warmest day yet – warm enough for us to put our shorts on!

A quick hop across on the ferry to the other side of the harbour, and the star of the show, the SS Great Britain museum.  The boat was launched in 1843, and returned back to Bristol and the same harbour, after being towed back from the Falkland Islands.

The boat is split in two for preservation reasons. The iron hull is contained, as it requires a much drier humidity level to minimise corrosion.  It does mean you can walk all the way around it.

A walk across Pero’s bridge, and we left our own padlock.  It seems a fitting end to the most amazing holiday, to think when we next do a blog update, we’ll be married!  We wish Peter and Romy safe passage, and hope they have as much fun as we have.

A lovely sunny, calm morning, and with very few moving boats, it felt like we had the river to ourselves.

We followed the instructions at Hanham lock and called the lock keeper, we were told it was safe to proceed and to go straight through the next lock as it will be open – well that doesn’t happen very often….both sides of the lock open!

We duly paid our mooring fees to the lovely lock keeper, and we were given instructions of where to moor.  We offered sticky date cake and continued our journey.

As we entered Bristol, the river widened and the buildings and people increased, it was a sunny lunchtime after all.  There was one foot bridge that we were told would be tight, and touch and go if we would make it.  Oliver went through fine, we had to duck though!

We decided on the harbour inlet mooring, as it overlooks SS Great Britain.  Toby did a grand job of reversing us in on the pontoon – to quite an audience.

The lock keeper called to say I’d left my jumper behind and they’d leave it in the office, not long after we see the harbour master’s boat – I thought he was checking for boat licences, he was hand delivering my jumper!!  Last two slices of sticky date cake given as a thank you.

We had a wander around the harbour, and with such a lovely evening, we decided on a BBQ.  Romy and Peter joined us for dinner, having arrived that afternoon in their camper van.

A lovely Monday morning, with all the hire boats and stag-do boats gone – no doubt a few of those will be nursing a few hangovers!

We left about 9am, with a boat just in front of us, yey we thought as we could share the locks.  They then pulled in five mins later to their hire base.

We had six locks through Bath, which run right though the city.  All the locks are well cared for, and Bath seems to embrace the canal, rather than hide it away.  One of the locks is the second deepest on the network at 19ft 5in, (a result of combining two locks when the roads were designed).  It was quite scary, with the biggest lock gates I’ve ever seen.

We left the Kennet and Avon canal, and joined the River Avon, it was quite a contrast as it’s so much bigger than the canals. A few locks, which were like the Thames locks in size, one grumpy yoghurt pot cruiser, but otherwise just lovely narrowboat folk.

Very little moorings on the River Avon, folk just seem to use it as a transit pass between Bath and Bristol. There was space on the floating pontoon, where we decided to moor for the night.

I washed below the gunnels, and all the deck boards, Toby was a bit braver than me and washed the river side of the boat. Toby also did an oil and filter change.

With Ann and Martin  aboard for the day (see yesterday) we now had extra crew to take on duties. Ann and Martin both tried their hand at steering Oliver; Ann decided it was more relaxing to watch but Martin ended up steering most of the day. Other than a little bump with a hire boat full of drunk blokes on a stag do (more their fault than his!), we got through unscathed!

From Bradford-on-Avon to Bath it’s certainly a lot busier and more touristy than we’ve seen along the rest of the K&A.

We stopped for a very civilized lunch by Claverton visitor moorings. Sarah made some salmon and cream cheese rolls (freshly baked in the oven from part-baked), we had some hummus and dips, and a nice cold glass of wine. Yum!

We saw a few interesting boats too

The Lady Lena is is believed to be the oldest electric launch in existence and still powered by electric. Seeing it serenely pass by in almost total silence was a real treat.

On reaching bath, Ann and Martin got out their folding Bromptons to cycle back to the train station, but not before Sarah and I had a little go on them. It felt a  bit wobbly with the little wheels but they’re great little bikes if you have the space to stow them.

It was lovely to have had their company for the day, more converts to the canals perhaps?!?

We had heard that our end destination of Bradford On Avon gets really busy at the weekend, and the moorings are limited.  Toby suggested we cast off at 8am (and instantly regretted staying it!!)

A pit stop at ‘The Boatyard’ at Hilperton to fill up with fuel, pump out the waste tank, and purchase a second centre rope, we were soon on our way, and managed to find a mooring at Bradford On Avon; it felt very much like Stratford On Avon, and full of tourists.

We took a walk round Bradford on Avon, and the 14th Century tithe barn was open, what a wonderful building with the most amazing roof beams.

We took our first known bump to the rear with a hire boat trying to moor up.  I was out there like a flash, and not to impressed, especially when she didn’t even apologise, and asked were the local pub was!

Ann and Martin arrived late afternoon, after putting the world to rights, we had dinner at a well chosen restaurant by Toby called Timbrell’s Yard  – the salted caramel sundae was yummy.

What a day!!  This trip has all been about doing the Caen Hill flight, and it didn’t let us down.

Lunch, goodies, and extra squash were all prepared and ready in the stern. We set off sharp at 8am with Chris, Tim and Harvey the dog on their narrowboat ‘The Stoker’ which had a lovely pup…pup..pup sound from the Gardner engine.  What a coalition, they knew what they were doing, and Tim was a powerhouse on the paddles.

The first locks were against us as they’re left empty overnight, so these took a bit more time.

We had some fun with two boats going up, and they didn’t really know what they were doing.  There isn’t much space, so you have to swap, it’s a bit odd seeing two boats in a lock, one facing down, and one facing up.

We nailed the 26 locks in 3hrs and 45 mins – what a result.  As we’d made such good progress, we decided to carry on for a bit, and get ahead of the hireboats.

Fatigue set in, and the swing bridges and six remaining locks were a bit of a struggle, but you know me, a stubborn old mule!

Finally moored up at Semington, which sets us up nicely for tomorrow, and Bradford Upon Avon, which we’re told is a bit of a boaters’ tourist hotspot.

Toby cleaned one side of the boat below the gunnels using the squeegy mop (having seen a fat boat doing the same a couple of days ago).

I’d been waiting for a special day to have my choc cake slice that mum so kindly made., well it was today, and I had the biggest bit in the box, and enjoyed every crumb.

Today has been the bees knees, what a day

Today was all about lining up for the Caen Hill Flight tomorrow, it ‘should’ have just been a simple two hour run in.  We left early, as we wanted to keep in front of the miserable pair of boats (known as the miseries) from yesterday.

We reached Devizes, and the rain started, luckily we already had our wet gear on.  We had hoped to moor at the top of the locks in Devizes, unfortunately CRT are replacing the towpath so no moored boats allowed.  We were forced to go down the first lock – not the plan!  We tried to moor in the pounds in between, but we just couldn’t get close enough to the bank.

So we then had to go down lock number 2, Toby managed to get us in, but we needed the plank, and the chances of me falling in were high!  So through lock number 3 and we moored in the pound, on the moorings for the pub.

We felt we should at least have lunch at the pub seeing as we’re on their mooring pins.  I wouldn’t recommend it, my tuna jacket was OK, but Toby’s baguette was somewhat of a fail.

We wandered down to the flight and chatted to the CRT man,  we also made our own early coalition with another boat to go down the locks tomorrow.

A walk in to Devizes to top up food supplies, and then a bit of pottering.  An early start tomorrow with an agreed 8am kick off – much to Toby and the chappie on the other boat’s frustration….I’m keeping in front of the miseries, they can continue to cruise in our dirty air (I’ve been watching too much sailing on the Americas cup!)

We decided to push on today, as the weather was forecast to be dry. An early start, as we planned to fill up with water just after the first lock, and eat breakfast while we wait.  We both agreed that it was too windy, and not a good mooring point, so breakfast had to wait.

It wasn’t long before we had our first enforced stop with one of the pounds too low to continue, and the hire widebeam ahead of us had run aground.

Only six more locks going up, a short stint on the summit, and then we were on the downhill stretch all the way to Bristol, it was a welcome change, as the boat doesn’t get pushed around in the lock so much.

We were followed for most of the morning by a pair of narrowboats (two people on each).  At the first lock, the wind took their bow and I went back and got a centre rope and pulled their boat in. The photo below sums up each lock, where I was left on my own while they watched – only springing in to action when we had exited the locks and I’d closed the gates.  The chappie asked me to raise the paddles on the next lock to help them, you can guess my thoughts as I smiled back and said nothing!

It was then a lock free afternoon – yippee!!  We enjoyed the rolling hills, and wonderful views, including the white horse in the distance.

It was 5pm, and we had our eye on some visitor moorings just after bridge 127.  We saw quite a few boats moored up and our hearts sank, and then as we passed a widebeam, there was a spot just big enough for us. Toby checked the weed hatch, only a little bit of weed found.

An earlier than usual blog update today, great wifi for the America’s Cup, sadly cancelled due to high winds.  We still have dinner to look forward to!

Planning a short cruise into Devizes tomorrow, as we understand there aren’t many visitor moorings, so we want to get there mid morning.  We’ll then be ready for Caen Hill on Friday.

A short cruise this morning of only a couple of hours, the forecast was for more rain and winds of up to 40mph.  We had four locks to do today, and whoever had come down them, had left the paddles up and the gates opened. It worked to our advantage, but was a bit naughty of them.

At one lock, the wind was so gusty, we couldn’t get the gate open, even with both of us pushing and pulling.  Toby put the bow rope through the handle, I pulled it tight, and Toby put Oliver in reverse, it worked a treat.

We moored up about 10.30, and walked to Crofton Pumping Station which used to pump water to the top pound. It’s a 12 metre lift, and each piston stroke could lift 1.1 tonnes of water.  It only runs for a few weekends a year now, we were lucky enough to time our visit with the volunteers cleaning out the boiler.

We then walked to Wilton Windmill which is a couple of miles away.  The windmill was working and the volunteers were milling the flour which only happens ten times a year.  We didn’t realise it was closed to visitors and walked in, they gave us our very own guided tour of the mill working, which isn’t usually allowed.  It was going  15 rpm, which doesn’t seem a lot from the outside, and then you go in the windmill and see the sail passing by your eyes every second at 35mph. It was a beautiful sound, and we bought a bag of their flour and gave a donation.

A walk back across the fields, this is a footpath, and we’re headed for the gap between the trees.

Weather forecast is dry tomorrow, so we hope to make a bit more progress

We follow the BBC weather app closely, and it was forecast to be dry this morning, and heavy rain from lunchtime onwards.  We only planned on doing three hours, to get ahead of the rain, epic fail and the rain started just after we cast off.  I was told it would only be a ‘shower’, and it stayed with us all day.

It seems that everyone follows the BBC app, as there were a good number of boats about, luckily mainly going in the opposite direction, so a fair number of the locks were set for us.

We’ve started to see a few hire boats, mainly fat boats (widebeams) going in the opposite direction to us, as they don’t want to tackle Caen Hill.  We’ve gone down to just the centre rope in the locks now,  and opening one paddle, this allowed us to keep the front cratch closed and dry.

We did our three hours, and just after one of the locks was a perfect mooring, but no internet (so no America’s cup sailing) so we decided to carry on.

We agreed on stopping in Great Bedwyn, internet or not .  We’re on a proper mooring with rings, good job with 40mph winds forecast – and 4G internet! Finally turned the engine off at about 1.30, to a lunch of bacon, egg and beans.  Pad Thai for tea, although Toby is munching his way through the peanuts and choc digestives, so it may be a light tea.

We don’t plan on going far tomorrow (yeah right I hear you say!), we’re hoping to moor up at Crofton Pumping Station.