Sunday 12th August 2018 in Devizes.
Last night, we had moored at the top of the 16 locks of the Caen Hill flight, but there were another six locks to do to get to the centre of Devizes. Rain threatened as R (in the red jacket) walked down the flight to see if anyone was coming up.
There was no-one in sight so we knew that we had plenty of time for Second Breakfast in the café before we needed to leave. The café is an attractive building at the top of the flight in a lovely setting.
You may have noticed that M does not like to be in the photographs, which is why she tends to stay behind the camera, but on this occasion she caught her own reflection in the glass in her bright yellow waterproof!
The Kennet & Avon canal is one of the most popular in the country and the effort over many years to restore it, spearheaded by Timothy West and Prunella Scales, was remarkable. In the café were some images of the condition of the flight before restoration.
This is looking up through the top three derelict locks. You can just see the chimney of the cottage (now the café) in the distance.
Quite incredible that they were able to get this all working again. This is the view down from the top lock, which now looks like this:
On 8th August 1990, HM The Queen officially reopened the canal and it has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Fortified by Second Breakfast (in true Hobbit fashion), we set off about an hour later and did the six locks up to Devizes in the rain. At one of the locks, little Alfie was determined to open the gate on his own, and when it came to closing the gates on the other side, he ran all the way round the lock to help. Good lad!
We moored up just before Devizes wharf and battened down the hatches for what eventually turned out to be a wet afternoon after a brief wander around the town (for a "few bits").
Today:1 mile, 6 locks and 2.0 hours.
Trip: 201 miles, 117 locks and 132.8 hours.
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