A Day in Newbury and a Broken Lift Bridge

Thursday 6th and Friday 7th September in Newbury and on to Tyle Mill.
Awoke to a lovely sunny morning. We have decided to take it easy and treat ourselves to a day in Newbury today and tonight.

Not only does Newbury have a bandstand but it also has a good old fashioned boating lake. M also admired the many beautifully kept hanging baskets and floral displays all around the town.

Griffins is a very famous artisan butcher next to the bridge across the canal. An opportunity for M to acquire another delicious Cornish pasty. This one got eaten before we could photograph it!

The whole of the centre of town is closed to traffic all through the day. What a shame that Reigate can't do this too - but we understand how difficult it would be to do that in Reigate.

Having spent Thursday exploring Newbury, we set off east again on Friday morning. The sun shone on us as we started ticking off the locks.

M thought that this weeping willow tree was a perfect example next to the lock.

There are definitely fewer reeds blocking the canal than six years ago, but in patches the sedges still converge on the navigation from both sides. Shades of the film "The African Queen", we thought.

Monkey Marsh is one of only two surviving original "turf-sided" locks on the canal. Initially most of the locks were turf-sided but there were always problems with boats drifting off to the side and they used a lot more water than a standard lock. All the others have been rebuilt as normal brick or stone locks.

Many of the turf-locks were enlarged in the mid 18th century and given half-height scalloped brick sides, the "points" of the scallops held posts that stopped boats drifting on to the turf sides. In 1984, during restoration, the scalloped walls were raised to the full height of the lock as they are now, making them very attractive in the process.

On the way, we passed the Dutch Barge "Rijnstroom", bound for the very mooring space that MM had just vacated in Newbury Marina!

We were a tad perplexed to see a large bulldozer creating a level strip in the neighbouring field. Maybe he was building a small airstrip?

The hydraulic lift bridge at Aldermaston has been broken for a few weeks. Engineers have been opening it at 11:00am and 4:00pm for a few minutes each day to let boats pass. More by luck than judgement, we arrived at Aldermaston at a quarter to four and were able to go through the bridge with a minimum of delay. M found it hard to believe that she opened and closed it all on her own in 2011!

At Towney Lock, we found the lock against us, so opened the gate paddles fully as the lock was empty. The flow through the sluices was one of the more impressive that we have seen!

Soon after, we found a lovely mooring against the river bank of the Kennet next to an open field. There was another boat moored just in front of us and the kind skipper came off his boat to catch our ropes and help us moor. Then he returned to fish off the stern of his boat while listening to the test match on the radio. A real English Gentleman, said M.

Today: 10 miles, 12 locks and 9.0 hours (2 days).
Trip:248 miles, 166 locks and 177.6 hours.