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You may have wondered at my silence as once again our journey faltered,  plans changed and adaptability is the name of the game! Monday night saw us sitting on a cold platform in the middle of a small pretty village called Pewsey,  a claim to fame being a train station with a fast link to London. And a CoOp. Oh, and a swimming pool! Unfortunately, the nine minute train service  between Pewsey and Bedwyn is infrequent – 0730 in the morning or 2122 in the evening, but incredibly useful when one has a car that needs parking at a distance from the boat.  We hadn’t taken into account the chill in the air or the lack of pub food on a Monday night – once we had finished exploring the rather sleepy village we had an hours wait on the station platform.  Not all gloom though! Returning to the boat  late afternoon, we off-loaded various supplies and then drove the car to Pewsey Wharf with the intention of finding a place to park the car for 4 days. The CRT car park charges £8 per 24hrs and we would have to remember to renew the parking daily.  Walking along the towpath we were a little dismayed to see very limited mooring spaces,  until  I spotted a sign that said ‘mooring available to AWCC members’  (courtesy of being members of the Boaters Christian Fellowship, we are affiliated to AWCC). I rang the appropriate person who confirmed there is one vacant space that we are welcome to use. Additionally,  he allowed us to park the car in the boat club car park.  All for a small donation to the club!

Ten days away from Naomhog meant the boat batteries were so flat we couldn’t risk turning them on for electricity purposes without charging them first.  That involves running the engine (we don’t possess a generator), a very anti social thing to do after 8pm.  It was nearly 10pm by the time we walked along the towpath from the train station so we undressed by the light of a camping torch and hoped that the coolbox contents would survive the night as there was no possibility of running the fridge. Our mobile phones were running low of charge so there was nothing for it than to plunge ourselves into darkness (I have re covered the porthole cushions and not a chink of light shows through) and forfeit any late night murder mystery! Funnily enough I slept quite well!

Just as well as we had a long day yesterday, accomplishing a total of 13 locks. We are now in what is known as ‘The Long Pound’, 15 lockless miles through the Vale of Pewsey which we are led to believe is very restful and beautiful.  R is fairly exhausted having done a lot of walking along the towpath between the locks,  spread out just far enough to not make it worthwhile hopping aboard. The initial nine locks seemed daunting when we set off at 0830, having just had a boat pass us going in the same direction but far enough ahead that there was no chance of us catching him up.  However,  it transpired he was a single boater and had spotted us behind him and kindly waited so we could travel together. I much prefer being in a double lock with another boat.  Not only are both boats protected from too much banging around in the lock chamber but it also is less wasteful on water.  One lock was so choc full of weed that it took R about 10 minutes to close the lock gate on our departure.  He made very good use of the boat hook,  flinging the weed out of the water but it was really hard work as a clump of  sodden weed is much heavier than expected!

We climbed to the top of the summit where water levels are very low.  This problem was solved in the 19 century by a steam engine pump system that has now been replaced by electric pumps.  However,  when they failed a few years ago,  the old pump was put into service once again and worked perfectly! The Crofton pumping centre is now an attraction of great interest, houses in the museum and many visitors flock to see the steam pump in action monthly during the summer season. We passed the scene of the lorry accident and surveyed the damage.

The summit reached, we enjoyed a half hour cruise,  including a 500m tunnel,  before approaching the final four locks. Undecided as to whether we would do them on that day, we said farewell to our single boater companion who forged ahead whilst we stopped for a leisurely lunch. My thinking was that if a boat came up in the opposite direction, we would go down as the lock would be set by them in our favour.  We could not remember the last time we had been in a lock going down – our whole journey along the K&A since last September has been up, up, up! So very important to remind ourselves not to get caught on the sill, by setting the boat too far back in the lock chamber.  As we contemplated our afternoon options, two boats came up in the lock and behind us another boat appeared.  It seemed the sensible option to finish the final four locks with the approaching narrowboat,  especially when we saw it had a crew of 12 men! Plenty of extra hands and muscle should it be needed! Chatting away,  I discovered they were a men’s group that had been taking a week’s boating holiday every year for the past 30 years. I think the beer sampling is as important as the boat! Some of them  were also in a boat syndicate, a co-ownership arrangement for time sharing the use. Asking where the syndicate boat was moored and discovering it was the same marina our friend BBT has a syndicate boat,  I asked if they knew him.  Not only is he in their syndicate,  he was responsible for starting the men and beer boating trip all those years ago! It’s amazing the coincidences on the water. BBT was instrumental to R and I when I first got it into my head that I wanted to be a boatee. A chance pub session with him led to us realising he was the fount of all knowledge on boats and trains and I have been gleaning his pearls of wisdom ever since! Especially when I need to get boat and train synchronised.  He is a walking train timetable! He also has a windlass that he is more than happy to accompany around said trains to come and help us when we have a lot of locks to do! So we are indebted to him and his wife,  PJ, who let’s him come out and play!

We moored up shortly after the last lock in a beautiful spot,  the only downside being that our plank is on an upward slant which makes it a little tricky getting off the boat safely, especiallyin damp conditions.  It is incredibly dark and quiet,  such a contrast to London.  Walking to the local pub,  in the hopes of finding a decent internet connection as we haven’t got any on the boat (nor do the pub!) I was struck by the beauty of a quintessential English village.  Thatched cottages alongside some stunning houses.  Verdant hedgerows.  But no people.  No village shop.  No post office.  A pub and a church (which we will visit today as apparently it has a renowned clock) and a village hall.  I told R that I didn’t think I could live here.  Lovely to look at,  great for a retreat, but so, so quiet! And I’m not sure what we’ll do for vittels when stores are deplete. The nearest shop is the CoOp in Pewsey and the bus timetable didn’t fill me with a lot of confidence – even if we got to Pewsey I’m not sure when we’d get back!

It’s a drear morning and as I walked the towpath, searching  for signal, I passed an enormous widebeam travelling towards Gt Bedwyn from Pewsey, where they had discovered the pumpout was not working. In order to empty their waste they have to travel more than the journey we did yesterday and back again, which necessitates 26 locks! Then they can continue on their way,  at least in the knowledge they won’t be caught short! Probably 14hrs of travel to do a 40min return car journey!

One surprise regarding the peace and quiet – with expected regularity trains whizz past the canal only 10 or 12 meters from the towpath!

Every cloud has a silver lining – due to a lorry damaging a bridge over the canal at Burbage (thankfully the lorry driver was OK), we are halted once again in our progress,  but it meant we have just spent a delightful day in Marlborough. We took the bus, (I was really impressed with Wiltshire county’s prebookable system)  and swam at the leisure centre,  although first we had to purchase swim trunks for R. The charity shop we happened upon had a brand new pair of trunks, unfortunately in a small size, but R gamely squeezed into them! (Oh, the joy of being clean with copious warm water to wash body and hair!).  Then coffee and cake in a de-consecrated town centre church, used for concerts and exhibitions, very close to the impressive buildings of Marlborough College, precariously close to the main thoroughfare of Marlborough town centre and it looked like the students had to cross over it frequently to get to other school buildings.

Finding the laundrette was a challenge,  hidden in a corner of a back street (just as well because I made R take off his shirt to pop it in the wash – anyone remember the infamous Levi advert in the 80’s?) and while R waited for the clothes to dry I spent an hour perusing the charity and numerous ladies clothes shops,  as well as doing a bit of birthday shopping for R. As he was about to lambast me for my rather large carrier bag,  I was able to forestall him with the assurance everything was for him! A Waitrose meal deal overlooking the river in a small park just off the high St, sitting in the sun, enriched the outing. 

Then I found  an amazing home furniture and curtain shop that stocked rolls and rolls of fabric and offcuts.  Wanting a new lightweight fabric for the boat windows, as the present curtains currently have speckled lining,  due in the most part to damp and mildew,  I was delighted to find 6M of an orange fabric,  not only as an offcut,  but also then half price! Someone else in the shop was buying a metal rod for some curtain making project and I realised that was exactly what I needed to measure the water level in our tank so I bought one too! All in all, it is probably fair the day was more fun for me than R,  but a plus side fro R was seeing the surrounding countryside and he got away from the boat chores.

I realise I’m a planner.  Nothing I like better than to plot our route to the hour and the day.  On paper at least.  What I am realising is what a waste of time! Last week I had mapped out exactly where we were going to moor, on which days and how much travelling we would do.  I approximated how long we could cruise before the fuel tank empties (although I am now getting a bamboo cane from my sister so I can be more precise in my calculations!) and arranged for family troops to come and assist us with the Caen Hill flight. All that changed in an instant when we heard about the lorry incident

Two hours ahead of where we are currently moored the canal is closed,  not only for bridge damage assessment,  but also to enable the diesel spillage to be mopped up and bits of debris from the wreckage to be removed from the canal by a dredger.  The nearest dredger is at the bottom of the Caen Hill flight and will take two days to arrive. As the bridge is at the summit of the canal,  believe it or not,  there are low water levels! No one knows how long the wait will be, but R and I decided the best thing was not to move any further along the cut.  We are near a shop,  a pub, a railway station and a bus stop (never knew that would excite me!).  Meanwhile,  numerous boats are passing by and the towpath is filling up, with some very precarious stretches, where long planks will be essential and boaters will be required to walk quite a distance to the nearest shop.  Even filling up with water will be tricky because if a mooring spot is vacated temporarily, to go to the water tap, some other boater is likely to usurp you! The backlog of boats is going to hamper our journey, so we have decided to delay the Caen locks and remain this side of Devizes for a bit longer.  As it is the most beautiful stretch of countryside I don’t regard this as a hardship.  I just have to trust my willing band of lock assistants are still at the ready when needed and that nothing else unforseen occurs.  Living in the present,  practicing patience and adaptability are skills we are having to embrace. There is no other way to continue to enjoy the ride!

The lovely part is having time for friends and family who happen to be in the area or who fancy a day out.  The only  recommended pub within shouting distance we have now frequented three days out of the last four and are almost able to recite the menu  As we are no nearer getting to a fuel pump, my brother kindly arrived with a couple of gerry cans of diesel as the engine needs to be run daily to keep the boat batteries topped up.  An accompanying picnic of ham, beef and chicken sandwiches was also very welcome, especially by R, who is getting a little bored of the rigours of  vegetarian dining whilst on the boat! We still have the Hungerford market veg to finish up! Walking with my sister-in- law along the towpath, she spotted a Common blue butterfly, which apparently is not that common.  Trying to take a picture proved impossible as when the butterfly landed on a leaf,  it immediately closed its wings.  We spoke to some of the other boaters moored up.  One couple of advanced years decided to do a year’s boating which has stretched to 24! They have been around the whole network at least three times – something to aspire to!

We met up with an old friend from the Czech Republic on Saturday who was staying at our flat with his 16 yr old daughter and five of her friends for the weekend.  I could quite imagine the state of our flat with so many teenagers living in it for three days so I suggested we meet in Reading! I was taken with the unusual brickwork of the outside of the main parish church which looked like a chequerboard.

And to finish, this evening as the sun began to set:

There’s a lot of waiting around on the canals and if you can find it in your inner being to slow down and not mind,  it makes for a much more pleasant journey. Yesterday, we wanted an early start (for us, 0915!) as we had 8 locks ahead of us and about 4 hours travelling time.  Arriving at a popular destination much after midday usually means the good mooring spots will be taken.  Our first lock involved a herd of frisky cows and a swing bridge across the lock,  which had to be opened before we could rise up in the lock chamber. The swing bridge got stuck so I had to climb onto the boat roof and up the ladder to assist R. Just as well as the lock gates kept opening and if R had done all this on his own, he would have been circumnavigating the lock afew times! Fortunately another boat, travelling in our direction arrived,   just as we left the lock, so we agreed to set the lock ahead and wait for them to catch us up.  A wise decision as we then shared all the locks with them,  which halved the workload and shortened our journey time. 

We made use of our extra time by visiting one of the oldest group of almshouses (14th century) in the country,  built as a large quadrangle, around its own chapel.  It was a detour on foot of about half an hour and as we walked along the road we were reminded how close we are to everyday life and yet, travelling the cut oftens feels like the middle of nowhere.  The train line is incredibly close to the canal,  running parallel for large sections.  It gives one a fright when suddenly you hear a loud rumble, the first thought being,  ‘what is wrong with the boat’! It’s also the juxtaposition of the incredibly slow moving,  peaceful, beautiful canal and the noisy,  fast paced mode of train transportation. As time goes on, more and more canal boats are likely to be hybrid or fully electric, which will increase the calm and quiet, with only the bird song as an interruption, which may or may not be appreciated, as currently they are starting at 0430hrs as I know from experience.

We had our first ‘marital’ of the season a couple of days ago. The waste tank needed emptying and R decided sooner rather than later,  even though it involved using a pump out that was the wrong side of the canal for our waste tank outlet.  As the hose was long enough to reach across the boat,  R said he would balance on the side,  holding the nozzle tight so as to form a good seal.  Meanwhile I had to make sure the water hose, at the other end of the boat,  also reached the waste outlet so that I could intermittently swill the tank out with fresh water.  It’s a stressful procedure because you only have about 10minutes to complete the task before the electricity runs out and the pump abruptly dies.  There was a pause button on the pump controls,  so once the waste tank was empty I had to press pause, jump onto the top of the boat with the water hose and aim the fresh water down the hole,  without touching anything.  I certainly didn’t want R touching my clean water hose! Once off the boat roof, I restarted the waste pump for the fresh water to be pumped out.  As we had some time left,  but I didn’t want to jump onto the roof again at speed,  I took the water hose inside and aimed the water into the toilet bowl (again making sure the hose remained clean!) and as I squirted clean water into the bowl,  R simultaneously pumped it out.  The skill is making sure the tank is empty by the time the money runs out and the pump stops pumping! Otherwise, you may half fill the tank with water before you even begin to fill it with waste! So certain was I that all this was a bad idea,  I made R empty his pockets and remove his wallet and mobile, (a measure of his true worth!) just in case he fell in the canal .  He didn’t!

We proceeded on into Hungerford without mishap and had a delightful couple of days exploring the small market town.  It has a fascinating history and the best fruit and veg stall I have ever come across in a country market. A large variety of produce,  some  I had not seen before. Getting carried away,  I now have a surfeit of veg that I really don’t know what to do with – recipes welcome! Otherwise R will be subjected to my mother’s favourite ABC soup recipe – all bits combined!

We were able to moor right outside the parish church.  I think it may be the closest church to a canal in the country.  Both the vicar and his wife are Waterways Chaplains, a fact that was shared with me by a very lovely lady of 93 who chairs a Christian writers forum on Zoom, that I recently joined.  It is coincidental that this lady lives in Hungerford,  so we were able to meet in person rather than just virtually! She gamely came on the boat, no mean feat as this involved walking on our 6ft long gang plank. Moorings without a plank are few and far between on the K&A. My fears increased as she told me a friend recently fell, broke his hip, contracted pneumonia in hospital and then died, so she was wary of having a fall herself. I almost made R carry her off the boat before accompanying her along the uneven towpath to her car.  I didn’t want a broken hip on my conscience! 

Mooring up was the most fun we have had in a while! Everyone who knows the K&A suggested we invest in an extra long gang plank.  All well and good,  but the longer they are,  the heavier they are and more unwieldy to manoeuvre.  Ideally, we need a light aluminium plank, but then they are easy for someone to walk off with! We knew where we wanted to stop but hadn’t taken into account the enormous fauna  between us and the towpath.  Our first attempt,  which also involved cutting back a swathe of jungle,  almost ended in disaster as even R decided the gang plank was ever so slightly precariously balanced.  It landed on the bank side at the bottom of a small steep slope and it proved almost impossible to find a steady footing. The plank on the bow end involved R almost doing a running jump to get aboard as it was so unstable.  We decided to try our luck a little further along the cut,  and managed to fit ourselves closer to the bank just in front of the lock landing stage.  The advantage of a reasonably short narrowboat!  Even so,  we still had to cut back a lot of nettles to make room for the gang plank and avoid too much stinging.

The K&A certainly lives up to its reputation of being a beautiful canal,  thus making all the awkwardness of mooring up worthwhile.  Sadly there don’t seem to be as many ducks as we remember, from travelling along the Oxford canal afew years ago. R was in a lock chamber and heard what he thought was some sort of an alarm but couldn’t work out how that could be as we have no alarms on the boat.  Suddenly he realised he had company – two small ducks were trapped in the lock,  unable to fly out.  One of them was making an ‘alarming’ noise that explained what R heard.  Once the gates opened they went on their way,  but it is an unusual sight to see.

Last Tuesday was D day for us! Laden with rucksacks and bags, we left the flat behind and took to the water, 223 days after leaving the boat in the Newbury Boat Club! For the majority of that time the River Kennet has been on red boards,  with us advised not to travel as the fast flowing river is too dangerous.  A boat without a keel, with a flat bottom,  has little chance against the strong flow of a river in full flood and the all too real possibility of ending up sideways on to a weir or tossed about in a lock,  banging the boat from side to side,  leaves one little option than to stay put,  however long it takes!

We filled the water tank to the brim,  checked the oil and started the engine with slight trepidation.  She started first time and we heaved a sigh of relief,  navigating right, out of the boat club and mooring up almost immediately on the towpath.  A stocking up of supplies at both Lidl and Tesco meant there was no chance we would starve over the coming few days and gradually we got back into the swing of boat life.  Turn off the water when doing ones teeth.  Wash ones hands, not leaving the tap running,  after handling wet mooring ropes. Only boil the necessary quantity of water for a cup of tea.  All these water saving tips soon came back into focus as we took note of where we would find our next water point. The unwelcome news that the diesel supplier, situated after going through our first lock, had closed down,  is a slight cause for concern.  It appears that refuelling is not very easy on the K&A, so we just have to hope we have enough fuel on board.  Visions of carrying 20 litre flagons of diesel is not appealing, but hopefully, it will not come to that!

Wednesday saw us moving through one lock in preparation for friends arriving at Newbury Station on Thursday in order to travel with us to Kintbury. The lock seemed harmless enough,  so R looped the mid rope around a bollard and gave me the end of the rope to hold the boat steady.  Patiently he waited for the lock to half fill before opening the second paddle,  which he did rather quickly.  Before I knew it the bow whipped around to the right heading for the chamber wall and as I shouted for R to drop the paddle, so the stern end of the boat clanged against the wall behind me.  It took all my strength to maintain a hold on the rope, stretching my body as far forward as I was able.  Disaster averted, a day or so later I noticed a couple of angry bruises on my arm and one finger,  a stark reminder of how vigilent one must be. Fortunately,  even with the severe rocking of the boat, nothing was damaged below decks.

Setting off on Thursday, it was not a particularly long stretch of water,  but 7 locks impeded our progress and we were expectant that the trip would be at least 4 – 5 hours.  Infact it was nearer to 6, but we were treated to a rare sight……. arriving at one of the locks we were greeted by an engineless widebeam, going down the lock while a beautiful shire horse gently munched on the verdant grass.  Once the boat was through the lock,  being pulled on a rope,  the rope was attached to the horse, who proceeded to walk along the towpath,  taking the widebeam and  its three dozen or so passengers with him. The boat was skillfully turned around by a couple of helmspeople and then the horse pulled the boat back to the lock,  enjoying a well earned rest as the boat rose up in the lock.  What a special and unusual sight that was and well worth the delay it caused us. Mooring up at Kintbury we found a wonderful pub for an early supper as both R and I and our guests were truly exhausted by a day back on the water.  We were grateful for an early night and,  after the light and noise pollution of London life, we appreciated the stillness, blackness and quiet of being in the countryside once again!

Various family commitments took us back into London for the weekend but as we move further west I can see this juggling of two lifestyles getting more complicated,  especially when the canal no longer follows the same path as the railway. That is a double edged sword. I have just returned to the boat a day later than R. He kindly moved it through a lock into the picturesque village of Kintbury where the moorings are so popular,  you can only stay in them a maximum of two days.  However they are a stone’s throw from the railway line and I fear my night’s sleep is going to be noisier than in the heart of the city!!

Pitter patter, pitter patter the whole night through – rain gently falling. The slightly annoying intermittent buzz of the bilge pump, attempting to keep the engine bay clear of water (we didn’t erect the stern cover when we moored up!) but I fear the engine bay will still need mopping out. The last engineer to inspect our engine went into great detail as to how to repaint the engine bay – (visions of water tanks flew into my mind) and of course R is too tall for the task – although his long dangly arms might come in useful! Not a future job I am looking forward to!

Two long days of travelling and we have reached our winter destination, which is a great relief. Not only have I been concerned about red boards warning, preventing our progress, I have also spent two days slightly nervous that the engine would falter. So far so good – changing the fuel filter was obviously necessary.

The K&A lives up to its reputation of both beauty and toughness. One lock gate took four people to budge. The weirs can be pretty ferocious, not helped by fast flowing streams due to excessive rainfall, so there’s a knack of aiming the bow into the weir and then at the last minute swinging the bow around to enter the lock. Timing is crucial so that you don’t end up side on to the weir or banging the boat into the lock wall. You have to rev up to counter the pace of the water and be ready to reverse sharply when necessary. All pretty hairy, especially when on the boat alone because your other half is working the lock! Add to that the thought of the engine cutting out at a crucial moment – not all boating is relaxing!!

A fisherman had warned us of two very sharp bends between the pub and the first lock, where many a boat comes a cropper. An advantage of 43ft is that you are less likely to get in a pickle but I was grateful for the heads up as we warily set our early on Monday morning. The bends were sharp, alot of the fauna overgrown, with tree branches obscuring the view. I marvelled that any 70ft widebeams would attempt the cut but they obviously do as we saw a few moored up further upstream.

Another anomaly of the K&A is that it still has two of the original turf locks and we went through both. Shoring up the side of the lock with turf was how locks were formed back in the 18th century. A picture tells a story better than words of explanation!

Monday mornings deadline was to be at Sheffield lock, Theale, by 11am, when we would be assisted through, before the lock was closed for an emergency gate repair. Arriving early, we were amazed to be greeted by old Farnham friends, also waiting to go through the lock! They had very recently purchased a narrowboat and as we were heading in the same direction we then spent two days travelling together. Add in to the mix another couple we had invited for the day, who also knew the Farnham friends – it was party time! One of those God-instances I talk about. I felt far more reassured travelling together with another boat as I was still uncertain as to the reliability of the engine. I was also equipped to feed all six of us a picnic lunch, having walked a mile on Sunday morning to both Lidl and Aldi and got carried away by the choice on offer, so bought enough food to last us all week! It nearly all ended up in the river – R had moored the boat so that there was a gap between us and the edge of the bank (this would deter unwelcome visitors!). He didn’t reckon on his wife’s foot slipping and plop, I was in up to my bottom!! A very soggy Mary greeted sister and hubby who had just arrived for Sunday lunch at the pub with us! How fortunate that the day before we had discovered Reading West service station, a twenty minute walk from the boat, where we had used the outside laundrette and the free, very hot showers. A return trip to the laundrette on Sunday negated having to travel with soaked dungarees – apart from the heat of the stove, we have no drying facilities on the boat.

A disadvantage of not knowing how long you will be holed up in one place due to unforeseen circumstances, is the risk of running out of water and as we spent nearly a week outside The Cunning Man pub owing to the weather, this could have become an issue. Most other eventualities can be worked around, but an empty water tank means no ability to wash yourself or flush the lou! We do have 10 litre containers to refill for drinking and we just have to hope there will be a water tap within walking distance or a friendly household willing to fill us up!

The bus stop to Reading was outside the pub so one day we took ourselves there to explore the town and almost walked the journey home as we found ourselves on the wrong road for the returning bus. We also spent a happy couple of hours getting to know the boaters moored up near to us. They have just started out on a gap year, exploring the waterways. It became obvious they were far more seasoned boaters than we had been when we set out after just one week’s previous experience, a decade before! We found both of us had spent the past six months drastically paring down our possessions in preparation for boating life and downsizing our homes. It was reassuring to find others with a similar outlook!

And to finish – we went into the boat of our friends and I admired the circular cushions hooked on the wall, little realising they were porthole covers. The four on our boat I always assumed were cushions – how wrong I was! At last I know their true function, after many a bottom has sat on them and they have blown into the canal a few times!!

I have to tell you one more thing! Just went to a lock as a boat was coming up and I wanted to ask if we could go through the next three locks with them and who should it be but a friend from home I have not seen in over a decade as she moved away. Now living on a boat!! What a small world it is x

Two drowned rats and a cuppasoup, after a long journey that should only have taken four hours! Are we glad to be moored up in the dry,  on the calmer waters of the Kennet & Avon canal,  after  experiencing the Thames, with its swollen river strem. We had hoped to go further up the Thames for another week of cruising,  but the weather forecast put paid to this plan,  as there looks to be heavy rainfall in the next few days.  Once the red boards go up on the Thames,  they can stay there for months, so a boater just has to moor up where they are and wait.  Leaving a boat unattended,  with the water levels rising and falling,  is not a good idea,  so we have taken the sensible course of action and returned to the relative safety of the canals.

Today was fairly stressful,  as I thought it would be.  A loss of confidence in the boat, as the result of a recent breakdown,  leaves one wondering what is in store next.  Travelling along the wide, fast flowing river,  I found myself on the lookout for possible places to moor should the engine stop running! I kept close to the towpath – fortunately the Thames path runs adjacent to the river at this point in the Thames (not always the case), so although the boat view was of dense trees, I soon realised we were not far from help should we need it.  I wasn’t sure how close the nearest road was, in the event of calling out an engineer!

As we turned right,  into the mouth of the K&A, the engine spluttered and died, yet again! R managed to start it briefly, again and again, with me steering as best able, until we reached the lock. Phew. How grateful I was this happened off the Thames. We pulled the boat into the lock and out the otherside and moored up.  There was no alternative than to change the fuel filter ourselves – a daunting task as we’d never done it before,  but with Archer’s voice ringing in our ears, we set about it with gung-ho. Seemingly simple,  the deed done, I turned on the engine and diesel sprayed into the engine bay.  A second attempt was no better.  Incredibly difficult to get the rubber seals correctly positioned. The lock keeper arrived to investigate why we were still moored up. Two further boats moored up, with helpful young men who could advise us but not solve the problem. R decided to give it one last try, pushing the seals into the cut grove as best he could before setting the filter in place.  Bingo! The engine then revved into life (without us needing to do any bleeding – a technical term we heard branded about and wanted nothing to do with!), the diesel no longer leaked out and we were off. 

The K&A is not without its challenges,  one being us getting grounded as we went through the centre of Reading due to a large dumped immovable object under the water.  We had already scooped a large shopping trolley onto our boathook, which was too heavy to lift out of the water,  so another beleaguered boater may well encounter the same obstacle.

Along the K&A, through the traffic light system in the centre of Reading (where sometimes you have to hover for ten minutes waiting for a boat to come through in the opposite direction,  no easy feat on a windy day) and our first lock without lock keepers in attendance (they are courtesy of the Environmental Agency on the Thames). Although only a foot deep,  the lock gates were extremely hard to open because of the volume of water and the over full weir.  The really challenging lock was yet to come – we had been told to get beyond it before we even thought of mooring up for the night.  The canal climbs the Kennet river by putting weirs in place and building locks and canal channels between the weirs to enable boats to pass through. So the boats are still at the mercy of fast flowing water when there has been heavy rainfall and some of the weirs produce strong currents of water which boats have to fight against in order to enter the locks without mishap. Mercifully we managed to navigate safely to the Cunning Man pub, our destination,  but it took much longer than expected and the rain started to fall in abundance ahead of our arrival!

Erecting the stern canopy was almost our first priority – we could then dispense ourselves of our wet gear,  hang it undercover before entering the boat. A big luxury – a previous boat had no such option and wet clothing was a nightmare to cope with.  R lit the stove  and before long, we were as warm as toast. A shortage of fresh food aboard gave us the excuse to relax in the pub and eat a meal prepared by someone else.  Seven hours travel had left us a bit shell shocked.  The good news though – looking at the map we are a twenty minute walk from Reading West services, where there is, among other things,  an M&S food,  an outside laundrette, toilets and free showers! The bare essentials to warm the heart!

PS It’s now Thursday evening and we found our way to the services, so discovered the laundrette! Along our canal path we also found this signpost showing that we are on the pilgrim route to Santiago (Camino), which was of interest to R because he wants to walk part of it in November! He could start now!!

Pps I meant to say R is up to his old tricks of collecting firewood and using me as his packhorse!!

It’s been quite a day but first, a swift look at yesterday. Lord Toad arrived at 11am sharp and we left the pretty town of Marlow and chugged our way upstream, against the water current, with the motor boat roped to the side. Luckily, the locks we encountered easily accommodated the two boats side by side and by mid afternoon we were moored in the picturesque town of Henley on Thames.

We had managed to dodge most of the rain and the sun was shining as we welcomed an old friend from home, who had moved to Henley a few years ago. Her name popped up on my Google map and it was a surprise to see she lived about 100yds from our moored boat. Due to my lack of warning, there was only time to see her for a quick cup of tea. My other thought had been to see her early this morning but she told me she was rowing on the river from 0730 – not bad for a lady in her late sixties. We had just missed seeing her cold water swimming in the river, another hardy pastime! As she left us, my childhood friend and his wife, who live locally, arrived and we had a good catch up session, first in a tearoom and then progressing to one of the many picturesque pubs. An early night called, as today we knew we’d be travelling for at least six hours, which turned out to be seven, on our feet all the time.

Lord Toad wasn’t with us, as we all thought, after our seamless journey yesterday, that we could manage alone. However, we hadn’t taken into account the increased water level, the result of yesterday’s rain coming down the river. I assessed the journey solely through my weather app, which showed a smiley sunny face all day, so at 9am we were up and moving towards the nearby first lock. There was a strong current by the weir which buffeted the two boats towards the left so R was busy telling me to rev the engine, when the lock keeper started gesticulating. This slightly put me off my stride as I wasn’t sure if he was telling us not to proceed forward. However suddenly the lock gates opened so we could enter the lock. He remonstrated with me that our boat was not powerful enough to tow another boat and that it was incorrectly attached. As he was not the senior lock keeper he was stressed by the situation and handed us a ‘yellow card’ basically warning us that the river was dangerous and that we could not proceed with the motorboat attached. Furthermore, we were to leave the boat on the lock mooring, to remove it as soon as possible and that this was our full responsibility. I explained that we were towing it because it had no engine and we were helping another boater. He had no reply to this, just reiterating the boat was our responsibility as he took down our details. When I suggested he noted the name and address of Lord Toad he refused. Another boater, in a beautiful cruiser, who was waiting to come down the lock, heard of the situation and tried to intervene on our behalf, even going as far as to give me his name and telephone number in case we needed a witness in due course. This boater stated that all we had done was a good turn and that the lock keeper was out of order. The lock keeper remained adamant on his view, ordering us to uncouple the boats, leave the motor boat behind and leave the lock as soon as possible, as we were an obstruction. All this I relayed to Lord Toad, who contacted the Thames Authorities, who in turn said the lock keeper had no right to ban us from towing the boat to a ‘place of safety’ as the Thames was on a yellow, not a red warning. The upshot is that they may now tow his boat free of charge to his mooring. So good may come out of it! To be honest, with the change in river conditions, I was relieved not to be towing anything as we battled the current, at times having to increase the revs to 18knots just to proceed forward at a reasonable pace.

All went well until I felt a slight loss in power entering one of the locks. Then after about an hour, the engine cut out as we were passing some houses with private moorings. Trying to restart the engine long enough to moor up proved very tricky but after many false starts we were able to direct the boat into a mooring space, with quite an audience of onlookers! Unsure as to why the engine was cutting out, I was loathe to go on. We checked the weed hatch, which was clear of any debris and after ten minutes restarted the engine, which ran as per usual, so we ventured forth once again. The next lock was fairly close and then our destination was only another half an hour of travel, so I kept close to the Thames path side of the river in the hopes that should we break down, we could easily reach the river bank for safety.

Lord Toad’s able mechanic Ar, who we had met when he had been in charge of the motor boat, happened to be nearby and as we moored up at Pangbourne, he miraculously appeared and gave our engine a once over. A dirty fuel filter is the most probable cause of the trouble (once he ascertained there was no fishing line sneakily hooped around the propellor) and he advised us on how to change it – he had a three hour journey ahead of him to his boat in Barking and was keen to get back in daylight to be with his wife, who feels the mooring is unsafe after dark – they have had locals walking on their roof when they have been in the boat! So our next challenge is to change the filter and bleed the engine before we start on our travels again! It’s another reminder that boats have a mind of their own and we can neither get complacent or have too tight a time schedule. Breakdown time needs to be factored in along with weather conditions. It’s all a learning curve!

We’ve really enjoyed spending time in and around Windsor. We had an unexpectedly social day on Sunday, having decided to go to St Peters & St Andrews Church, Old Windsor, because they were celebrating harvest festival, fortuitously followed by a bring and share lunch, to which we were warmly welcomed. There was a lot of cake! In the afternoon the church was holding a fund raising concert with a young Venezuelan opera singer, accompanied by her partner on the piano, who entertained us with songs such as ‘Don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington’ and other pieces from all over the world. It was a magical hour of music. There followed more cake and bubbly. A good thing that between the lunch and the concert we walked a section of the Thames path!

First thing Monday we moved the boat to Datchet and were joined early afternoon by four friends who had parked a car in Windsor and then taken a five minute train journey to join us, which then took them an hour to return to by boat! The weather was unusually sunny and warm for this time of year, so we extended the boat trip further up the river, eventually returning to a mooring spot outside the Windsor leisure centre. I anticipated a quick swim followed by a luxurious shower but first we walked with our friends back to their car and discovered how far from the town centre we actually were moored, so once they had gone we moved the boat centrally and the swim never happened! A bridge, no longer open to traffic, separates Eton from Windsor and as we were moored a stones throw from it, the first evening we wandered around Eton, marvelling at the sang froid of the school boys who have to wear such an archaic uniform. Eton itself seems very quaint and quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of tourists flocking Windsor to see the castle and the changing of the guard. Tuesday morning we found ourselves behaving like grockles ourselves, even faintly disappointed that there were no entry tickets available to the Castle. We did however go to the Royal Theatre in the evening to see Blood Brothers. Having no idea of the storyline beforehand, I found myself unexpectedly choked with emotion as I thought it was going to be a light hearted musical!

Today the weather has broken, unsurprising as I heard rain lightly falling throughout most of the night. From about 5am the noise that the geese made outside our boat was comparable to the noisiest of car traffic – I didn’t get much of a lie-in. The mess on our boat also testifies to how many of them flocked around us. It is no easy feat removing guano from the fabric of our outside covers!

The early rise enabled us to get moving, initially through constant drizzle. No such thing as bad weather – we donned our waterproofs and were grateful that it was windless. Six hours, 5 big Thames locks later, we arrived in Marlow, faintly shattered from such a long day’s cruising, constantly on our feet. We have become very soft, usually only journeying a maximum of three hours every other day! We decided to do a full days cruising as the forecast for tomorrow is inclement and as we plan to meet up with an old childhood friend of mine, who lives near Henley, we needed to break the back of the journey today.

We have inadvertently become a river rescue service! Shortly before the lock at Marlow we passed a motor cruiser, in itself a surprise as they can travel far quicker than we can! It was obvious they were in need of assistance because of the tied on engine at the stern and a guy balanced on a bit of plyboard, chugging the boat along whilst another man was at the helm. They smiled and said they were OK, just having to go very slowly. Having waited at Marlow lock for them to join us, we realised the weir currents proved very problematic for them. On the lock side was another man who turned out to be the owner of the beleaguered boat. We offered to tow the boat into Marlow as there was another weir en route, which might also prove tricky for them. The long and the short of it is that we are now going to tow them to their destination, Pangbourne, because we are headed there in any event, our timing just might have been a bit slower.

Lord Toad, as he is known to his friends, the owner of the cruiser is a boat builder. He has just won a tender to buy and restore an old boat owned by one of the Oxford colleges that is in a terrible state of disrepair. Nine other boat builders were declined in favour of him and once restored he has plans to use it as a community facility. It even has a stage, so it will be ideal for school theatre productions. The boat itself has a cement hull and weighs nearly 60 tonnes. Of the twenty three that were made for Oxford Colleges, only five or six survive – the rest have rotted away. ‘Lord Toad’ will be joining us tomorrow as we tow his boat. Meanwhile, the other two guys can be released from their rather onerous task of moving the boat along the river at a snails pace!

Just as I get a sign made for the towpath saying what we are about, we seem to attract endless conversations without need of a billboard! The centre of Staines has plenty of mooring, which in turn attracts people to the rivers edge and many are intrigued by the narrowboats. Yesterday, we chatted to a young Japanese couple who are working in the IT industry, living locally. They came aboard to view the inside of the boat and we were amazed at the number of towns and places they have found the time to visit in the previous couple of years, one favourite being the Orkneys. As that is where my grandparents are from, R and I had also had an interesting visit there a few years ago. Our first attempt, on a cruise ship, ended in disappointment because the day we were due to dock in Kirkwall it was too windy to disembark. One couple aboard said that was their third unsuccessful trip! Further discussion with our Japanese guests led to us taking about faith and, as a practising Christian, the young man shared that one of the reasons he feels comfortable living in the UK is due to the fact he can worship freely, whereas he feels Japan is now a more secular country that used to be predominantly Buddhist.

Our other visitors in the day were local friends, as our home town is relatively close by. A pub lunch for 6 was followed by a further couple coming for a short river cruise and supper aboard. I managed to cobble together what I thought was a passable vegetable curry, although R’s comment that ‘there were certainly alot of vegetables’ made me wonder if perhaps something else was lacking!

This morning we took the boat slightly further along the river, where we moored up alongside a busy park with very acceptable public toilets and a park cafe that provided a great cup of coffee. It’s always a surprise where the best coffee comes from. We fell to talking to a delightful man in his 60’s who was happy for me to share some of his story, whilst we shared a cup of tea on a park bench sitting in the warm sunshine. He was fostered as a child, which meant he had food on the table and clothes to wear but he never had any contact with his parents. In his twenties he was baptised and God has been with him through all the ups and downs of his life. He lived in an hotel as the maintenance man for over twenty years, until a couple of years ago when the hotel was sold and the new owners made all the staff redundant. That is when he became homeless and, although he has applied for many jobs, none of them come to anything because he has no address. It’s a chicken and egg situation. I fear his cheerful demeanour masks a lot of suffering, but both R and I were moved by his resilience and determination to put a brave face on his current situation. What he would really like to do is repair narrowboats whilst living on them. There are plenty around on the banks of the canals, but who knows who owns them. They sit quietly rotting away because it is too expensive to have them removed from the water.

We had arranged to meet our friends, M and S, in Runnymede so we continued on our journey through yet another large lock, fortunately being manned by a lock keeper. Our boat seems very small and vulnerable when it is the only vessel in the chamber and we are careful to hold onto both the stern and bow ropes, having learned our lesson in the initial lock we worked on the Thames. R had just held on to the mid rope and the boat violently rocked around because of the force of the water entering the lock, even though the lock keeper did his best to let the water in very slowly.

Moored up on the towpath, alongside some very swanky motorboats, we were impressed to hear our boat name being pronounced perfectly by a man passing by with his two young children. He was originally from Cork and a neighbour had had a house with the same name. The children were fascinated by the boat, so we invited them on board and then when S and M arrived, all of us journeyed up the river and back. It certainly made for a lively trip at the bow end of the boat, whilst S and I chatted amiably in the stern, taking in the beauty of the Thames. The good weather meant the river was very busy with both rowers and gin palaces, the latter inclined to speed past us, leaving a wake behind that jostled us heavily. Once back on dry land, unusually for me, I still felt the ground swaying beneath my feet and no, I hadn’t had a drink!

What a relief! Chertsey lock is behind us. Loads of boats moving fast up and down the river to beat the closure. So, we are back on track for heading to Newbury. I think there’s a tree obstructing the canal en route but hopefully that will be cleared by the time we get there.

Quite a day. Started with the Webasto heating engineer returning at 7am, having yesterday removed and cleaned our heater, replaced it and found it still not to be working. Water in the diesel pipe leading to the pump seems to be the issue. He thought he would need to pump a couple of inches of water from our diesel tank (formed by condensation when the tank is not full), as the water, being heavier than diesel, collects at the bottom. Fortunately on doing this he found very little water in the tank but has concluded that because there is still water in the pipe, the end of the pipe must be lying on the bottom of the diesel tank, where it is not uncommon to have a residual amount of water in any steel tank. His solution is to bend the output pipe away from the floor of the tank, which needs to be largely empty of fuel. As our tank is almost full he either has to suction out the diesel or wait until we’ve travelled long enough to use most of it up. We’ve gone for the second option and we’ll meet him again, I hope, in Newbury at the end of October. An early start to the day, no resolution and no central heating until this is sorted. There’s always something going on with a boat!

Fortunately, due to the early start of our day, our departure to Chertsey lock was not impeded and we arrived in plenty of time to go through the lock with a couple of other boats, one of whom was called ‘Faith’, with an inscription on the side from Psalm 23 ‘He leads me through still waters’. The owners of the boat have a similar outlook to us regarding their mission on the waterways and were very encouraging when they heard that we want to spend time listening and chatting to those we meet. It was a lovely morning encounter and we hope to keep in touch – you never know who you are going to meet next! In our case this lunchtime it was some very happy, albeit a bit foul-mouthed, early in the day drinkers. I noticed the lady drinking straight from a full red wine bottle! We had moored up in the middle of Staines and I was feeling rather guilty that the only spot was right in front of an elderly fisherman. He turned out to be utterly delightful and not at all upset by our arrival – he had just finished a five hour fishing stint. He’d had Parkinson’s for ten years and fishing is his passion. He wasn’t going to let his condition stop him – he was very resilient and he told us not to worry about the drunks – they were harmless, just a bit loud and boisterous, as we found out when one suddenly stripped down to his underpants and leapt down into the river! Ten minutes later there was a commotion as another lad had jumped into the water, but the cold was too much for his system and he was panicking as he struggled to breath. Luckily, his friends quickly retrieved him from the river and I offered him a warming sweet cup of tea, which he gratefully received. R and I went for a rest (as well as our early start we’d had the excitement of a pump out – long overdue. We worked out the last time we emptied the tank was late May! Shows how little we have actually managed to stay aboard this year as the tanks are usually full after a month or so!) and when we awoke all was quiet. We then had to re-erect our stern cover, which the engineer had asked us to fully remove at 7am this morning, as it was taking up all the space in the shower cubicle. As we struggled to do this, R fell to talking to one of the guys who had been around at lunchtime for he wished to apologise to us, on behalf of his friends, for the bad language they had been using!

A walk into the town centre showed us just how closely we are moored to all the shops. I spy a T K Maxx, so tomorrow after doing a laundry run, I know where I’ll be headed! Lidl’s on the doorstep so R treated himself to a chocolate croissant for breakfast and I found a bottle of cherry cordial, which is proving to be delicious! Also picked up some frozen peas – an indulgent pleasure now that we have such a small freezer, one that can only accommodate enough ice for a daily tipple!

We are moored next to a hire boat and when we got chatting to the late middle aged couple, it transpired they were from Newcastle, but with strong ozzie accents, not the one in the UK! They hired the boat with a skipper. He doesn’t stay on board. In the morning he arrives by car, stows his electric bike on the boat roof and cycles back to his car at the end of the day, sometimes as much as twenty miles, contending with inclement weather as well. A great idea if you want a narrowboat holiday but don’t have the confidence or knowledge to operate the boat yourself. They have the luxury of space – over 60ft long, with two bathrooms, including a bath and enough beds for 8 people. I’m still very happy in our cosy 43ft though!

Now on to an episode of Dangerfield, the police doctor, a series from the 1990’s. Another one we missed through not having a TV back in the day. Making up for it now on the boat with our 3″ x 5″ mobile phone screen!