A Friendly Cat and Piles and Piles of Books.

Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th August in Newbury.
Another nice morning so, after breakfast, we walked into Kintbury Village. Very worthwhile; it is a delight. The allotments were not fenced off from the footpath, giving a very friendly feel and here
Robin did indeed make a new friend - she was so playful and friendly that M wanted to take her home.

Kintbury only has a few shops, but one of them is an incredible second hand book shop, piled high with quality books on every subject imaginable. We could easily have spent a lot of time and a fortune there!

In additional to a general store, there was an excellent artisan butcher's shop.

M couldn't resist buying one of her favourites - a home made Cornish pasty.

What a beautiful new gate into the church yard!

We also bought some local eggs that R carried back to MM.

Kintbury is one of the very few places on the canals that still provides trips on a horse drawn boat. The boat is the "Kennet Valley" with its beautiful traditional wooden tiller.

As we passed, the horse was receiving its final polish and grooming before being kitted up to tow the boat.

The journey to Newbury was a short one and we arrived to find another trip boat, nb "Jubilee", leaving with a "cargo" of happy pirates - but this boat had an engine.

We found very pleasant moorings just above Town Lock, quiet yet just yards from the town centre. M always says that the church minarettes remind her of Disney!

On Thursday morning, when M got up around 6am, the moon was still high in the sky.

And to the east, the vapour trails made a pretty sight in the early morning light.

Today, we are going home for the weekend to share R's birthday with friends and family. We had booked MM into Newbury Marina, where we also moored her six years ago. We were delighted to be welcomed again by Emma and also to find that we were moored next to David's boat, "Silent Waters".

Emma very kindly drove us from the Marina to the railway station, where we had to catch a bus to Theale as no trains are running on the Newbury line this week due to major engineering work.
We expect to return to MM and continue our travels next Wednesday.
Today: 7 miles, 9 locks and 4.9 hours.
Trip: 237 miles,153 locks and 167.9 hours.

Second Breakfast, a Rare Bus and No Trains.

Tuesday 28th August 2018 in Kintbury.
Although M had made porridge first thing, we decided that second breakfast in the Tutti Pole Tea Room was mandatory! This time, M had the "Hash Brown Stack" (with bacon and fried eggs - gorgeous!) and R had a smaller and daintier toasted tea cake (the usual arrangement!).

There are no normal trains on this line between Theale and Bedwyn all this week as Network Rail is renewing some of the track; there are just lots of work trains carrying ballast, sleepers and rail - along with several road-railers running up and down. So a good deal of activity - but no trains!

Will, the son of our good friends Annie and Paddy, has a cottage in nearby Froxfield, which we were keen to see. There is a very infrequent bus service from Hungerford to Froxfield and we managed to catch the morning bus after walking all round Hungerford trying to find the bus stop (which was hidden away in a side street). The cottage was lovely, on the village green next to the church. Froxfield is a tiny hamlet, very quiet despite the old A4 running past it.

Not wanting to wait more than a couple of hours for a return bus, we decided to walk back the 2.5 miles along the towpath; a real treat for R as he rarely gets a chance to walk the towpath.
On the way, we again passed the poor cottage at Cobblers Lock.

After a brief stop at Tesco in the town, we set off for Kintbury. M was amused to see that the stile at Dun Mill Lock had been replaced by a swing gate, obviously to cater for old codger narrowboaters and dog walkers (it was on the left of this picture).

M said that the towpath walking was a delight. At this point, three paths were running in parallel, a small path beside the River Dunn on the left, a grassy track in the middle and the towpath alongside the canal on the right. All three were connected by stiles. Lovely!

The moorings above Kintbury Lock were our goal for this evening and very attractive they are too. They are just beyond this very large and handsome building that used to be the Vicarage. It must have been a very pleasant living in its day!

Today: 3 miles, 4 locks and 2.7 hours.
Trip: 230 miles, 144 locks and 163.0 hours.

The Tithingmen and an Orange for a Kiss.

Sunday 26th and Monday 27th August 2018 in Hungerford.
Sunday was forecast to rain heavily all day and it did not disappoint! So, we stayed put all day. David had left early in the morning, despite the rain, as he wanted to push on to Hungerford that night and then Newbury tomorrow.
On Monday morning, we set out to explore Great Bedwyn, which has some curiosities on offer, notably the quite extraordinary village shop and post office, adorned with the work of various stonemasons.

The end wall is adorned with this huge Wedgwood style representation of the Last Supper.

The Disciples may have partaken of bread but the Hoods could not as there is no bakery delivery on a Monday! There are dozens of stone epitaphs hanging on the walls as well as one huge piece of slate that appears to have been the stonemason's invoice. The detail is hilarious!

We particulary liked "Correcting the Ten Commandments" for 110 shillings and "Renewing Heaven". What a bargain!!!
When we were last here six years ago, we checked out the menu of the village pub, only to find that it was closed for refurbishment. It has now closed altogether and been converted to offices; it is the handsome grey building on the right. Sadly, we see this all too often on our travels.

Opposite our mooring, we saw a notice for the "Wooden Treehouse Company Limited" attached to a lovely looking tree house.

There was also a winding stairway that led up to a platform in the next tree, with a lovely circular seating area; a perfect place for a glass of wine or two on a sunny evening.

We set off mid-morning and were once more saddened by the obvious lack of C&RT maintenance hereabouts. Not just badly leaking gates but filthy dirty balance beams and winding gear, which hadn't been greased in an age.

This poor lockside cottage should be a picture but it stood abandonned for some years and it shows. "At least someone is living in it now," said a passing local in a resigned way. We can't help feeling that with a little TLC, it should be capable of contributing significantly to the C&RT coffers - but they seem more interested in spending money on an ugly meaningless new logo rather than on maintenance or their property portfolio. Sad.

By comparison, nearby Marsh Lock is pristine, with sparkling new paintwork - not surprising as it is unique, having a swing bridge across the middle of the lock. It is a great draw for locals and passers by. For boaters, it adds a new dimension that has to be considered when deciding what to do first!

A mooring presented itself alongside the church just before Hungerford so we tied up there.

We walked the short distance to the High Street for a mandatory visit to the "Tutti Pole Tea Shoppe". It is not just a very well known tea shop but also the pivotal point for an unusual (and rather bizarre) annual ceremony.

Long before the existence of policemen, two local individuals were elected each year as "Tithingmen". Their job for the year was to keep order, and they were each given a large stick or pole to enforce their power. At the end of each year, the outgoing pair decorated their poles with flowers and went around the town and grateful residents would give them a penny or two in thanks for their work. If the residents did not have any money, the tradition was that the ladies gave the men a kiss. Later, the Tithingmen took to giving an orange in return for a kiss (something to do with supporting the protestant Dutch).

The "Tutti Poles" are displayed in the window of the tea shop.
Now, each year just after Easter, two worthies are elected to carry the "Tutti Poles" and a procession winds its way around the town exchanging oranges for kisses - although in 2013 one of the "Tithingmen" was a lady, so the kisses must have been the other way around!

M could not resist the "Special of the Day" - a Fish Finger sandwich! A first for her, and jolly good too, she said. She also couldn't resist scrutinising the chinaware's bottom - to her delight it was from Steelite in Stoke-on-Trent, not far from our marina.

Earlier, M had fallen into conversation with a lady by the name of Sonia, while they were both gazing at an estate agent's window in the town. We were pleasantly surprised when she and her husband Jonathan walked by as we were washing MM. They came on board for a tour of MM.

A very pleasant couple and we were happy to show them round.
Today: 5 miles, 9 locks and 6.7 hours (2 days).
Trip: 227 miles, 140 locks and 160.3 hours.

A Visit from Adrian and Crofton in Steam.

Saturday 25th August 2018 at Great Bedwyn.
Early morning and the mist lingered on the water while the rising sun illuminated the pumping station.

After breakfast, we met up with David on "Silent Waters". M was impressed that David had his tea in a proper cup, poured from a teapot and a matching milk jug. Clearly a true gentleman!

The three of us (without Sky this time) walked up to the Pumping Station. By now, the boilers were properly fired up and surrounded by happy volunteers in white overalls, soon to be besmudged with coal dust! The lady was later seen ferrying coal from the pile outside in an ancient wheelbarrow.

Later in the morning, we were joined by Adrian who was interested in this display of half a dozen working old steam engines next to the main boiler.

This clock was rescued from the old timber mill at Honeystreet, where we were moored earlier this week, and restored by the volunteers. It is apparently very difficult to maintain as it was built largely from scrap agricultural bits. It once caused havoc by chiming 50 at mid-day!

The two massive beam engines are incredibly impressive not least because they are almost silent in operation.

R, M and Adrian spent a long time looking at the two engines and talking to the volunteers.

The engines were installed to lift water 40ft from the large "Wilton Water"reservoir on the other side of the canal up to a "leat" or stream that carries the water to the summit pound of the canal a mile away. Each engine is still capable of lifting a ton of water up every six seconds!

We had lunch in the picnic area outside in the sunshine. In the tent on the left, Tesco was providing watermelon and fruit in return for a donation to the pumping station funds.

After lunch, we walked with Adrian, David and Sky to Wilton Windmill, which still operates at Bank Holidays - only to find that it was closed and only operates on Sunday and Monday.

Adrian had to go home at this point, so we walked him back to his car.
We returned to find "Silent Waters" and MM firmly aground and listing badly.

Many boats had come up through the locks from the east for the steaming weekend, but very few from the west. So, lockfulls of water had dropped the water level by nearly a foot. The solution was to go to the uphill locks and let two lockfulls of water down into our pound to re-float the boats so we could set off together to the east. We were helped through the first lock by Girl Guides from the same pair of boats that we had met on the River Avon. They were clearly enjoying themselves.

M walked ahead to set the next lock and found it to be towpath walking at its finest on such a lovely evening.

"Report leaking gates to the C&RT", we are told. We would have to report almost every lock! One lock had a broken paddle with a notice saying not to use it - the notice was dated the 16th July! We can't help feeling that maintaining locks should have been a greater priority for C&RT than the recent costly re-branding exercise.

We knew that there were nice moorings at Great Bedwyn but, as they are popular, we were not confident of finding space. Yet to our pleasant surprise, there was ample space for both boats.
After we moored up David joined us on MM for a glass or two of wine. Naturally, Sky came too and, having inspected the inside of MM, sat on guard on the stern deck.

We had travelled to Great bedwyn this evening because the forecast is for heavy rain most of tomorrow - so we probably will not go anywhere tomorrow but stay in the warm inside MM.
Today: 2 miles, 4 locks and 3.5 hours.
Trip: 222 miles, 131 locks and 153.6 hours.