A Rabbit, an Otter and some Crayfish!

Sunday 1st July, 2012 in Hungerford.
July already? Yes July, we thought, as we sheltered under a shop awning from the cold, driving rain. Fortunately, the rain was short-lived other than a sudden, sharp re-appearance as M was struggling with the delapidated beams of the lock in the town centre. After the rain had drenched her and ruined her hair (again), it turned into a bright sunny day. M says every day is a Bad Hair Day on "the Cut"!
We moved off our 48 hour mooring in the middle of town, backed MM up for a quarter of a mile to the BW sanitary station, and filled up with water. Then we went through the Hungerford town centre lock (where M got drenched) and moored up above it on the 24 hour moorings there, once more behind nb "Dragonfly" although there was no sign of Richard and Lizzie.
On the other side of us are Stephen and Julie on nb "Greyfisher". Stephen used to live in Betchworth and so knows Buckland and The Orchard very well. They have a complete garden on their roof and grow most of their own vegetables as well as tubs of pretty flowers.

Stephen also showed us his crayfish pots and said that he catches dozens of them every day on the K&A. He has a spare crayfish pot and has very kindly offered to sell it to R in the morning if he can dig it out of his engine room. They don't have a cat anymore but they do have Rodney the Rescue Rabbit (all 4.5kg of him!), who lives on board.
As we were talking, there was a sudden loud disturbance in the water on the other side of the canal and M saw an otter's head appear briefly before it dived out of sight. We have kept our eyes open since but have not seen it again (yet).
Today: Less than a mile, 1 lock and 2.2 hours including 2 hours to charge the batteries.
Trip: 125 miles, 78 locks and 91.8 hours (236.4 total).

Adrian and family.

Saturday 30th June, 2012 in Hungerford.
A quiet morning writing various birthday/anniversary cards, then walking up the High Street to post them. The sun came out, so we walked up the towpath to reconnoitre Marsh Lock about a mile up the canal; it's unusual in that there is a swing bridge that sits right across the middle of the lock. You can easily get into the lock when it's empty, but you have to open the swing bridge before you fill the lock or the boat will hit the bridge above!  Apparently, this is unique on the Kennet & Avon and very rare elsewhere on the waterways.
In the late afternoon, Adrian arrived with Alex, Sandra and her daughter Sarah. They had all been to Stonehenge and dropped by on their way home; it was lovely to see them.

They had not had lunch, so we all went out to have an early supper. Unfortunately the "Tutti Pole" was just closing, so we walked up to the "Three Swans", a charming old hotel in the High Street that the guide books said served the best fish and chips in town. We loved the notice outside their door:-

The food and service was excellent and R was very happy that the waitresses were all young and pretty! M, who had the fish and chips, agreed with the guide book's opinion. Little Alex was disappointed that there wasn't time to take the boat for a trip afterwards but we are hoping that they will all come back again soon.
Today: Just 2.0 hours running to charge the batteries (Total: 234.2 hours).

Shady Narrowboaters?

Friday 29th June, 2012 in Hungerford.
We have come to the conclusion that narrowboaters are an untrustworthy lot! We set off early from Kintbury hoping to avoid being caught for a mooring fee as we had actually slightly overstayed the 48 hour maximum. It seems that we succeeded, since we didn't see an irate BW official chasing us down the towpath as we fled at 3 mph! Before we left, M walked up to the rubbish bins to deposit the contents of our waste bin and on the way spied a chap from the next door boat helping himself to logs from some recently felled trees. "Look at that disgraceful pilfering", thought M, hastily hiding the roses that she had just plucked from the canalside pub garden. (Well the pub was closed for refurbishment, after all!) Yes, narrowboaters are definitely a shady bunch!
The four mile journey to Hungerford was a delight. After some initial rain, the skies cleared and the sun shone. The countryside was a picture and we declared Dunmill Lock to be the prettiest that we have seen so far with its adjoining old brick-arched bridge and a little stile.

We shared three locks with the Sauer family narrowboat the nb "Switched Off."
We found a lovely mooring right in the centre of Hungerford, next to the town bridge, very quiet and very convenient for the town centre. After lunch, we walked over the bridge and explored the lovely High Street. There is a wealth of little specialist shops and quite a few antique shops, one of which was once owned by M's Uncle Ron.

Tea and cakes in the "Tutti Pole" was mandatory because the guide books sang its praises, declaring that one would be served by a "bevy of comely waitresses." R was a trifle disappointed as our waitress could best be described as slightly past her "best before" date!  Nonetheless, she made us very welcome, provided excellent service and the tea and cakes were superb.
M saw a flash of iridescent blue shoot past the boat and under the town bridge. The first kingfisher that we have seen on our travels this year.
In the evening we watched "Galaxy Quest" on DVD as M had not seen it before. It was great fun but we both slept fitfully afterwards - much too exciting for people of our age!!!!
Today: Just 2.0 hours to charge the batteries (Total 232.2 hours).

Free Rose Food!

Thursday 28th June, 2012.
R had to go up to London for a Capture meeting, so left at 8:00am. On the way back in the evening, he got off the train at Reading to wait for Marion who was returning from Reigate. We were surprised to find that the train from Reading to Kintbury was an Intercity 125 (going on to Frome in Somerset) and we had to be in the front four coaches as the platforms at little Kintbury are so short.
When we got back to MM, we found that the horse had left its calling card on the towpath by the stern - a large pile of dung! M thought it would be good for the roses back home but didn't relish the prospect of carrying it home in a bag, although it would certainly have guaranteed her a row of seats to herself on the very crowded train to Reading!  R thought it would probably have guaranteed her an entire carriage all to herself!
Meanwhile, we now have lovely calling cards for MM with our details on the front including the address of this diary and the contact details for Kingsground and Alexander on the back because so many people ask about MM and who built her.  Perhaps we should get a commission!

Lovely sunset reflected on the trees opposite.
Today just 1 hour to charge the batteries.

A Hungry Horse

Wednesday 27th June, 2012
Last night we moored at Kintbury only a few yards from the railway station. This morning M left by train to go back to Reigate for Choir practice tonight. She said it took only six minutes to get back to Newbury by train as opposed to the nearly four hours it took us to do the same trip yesterday.
R filled MM with water and as he was finishing the horse-drawn trip boat came through the lock with a full load of passengers. They hitched the horse up to pull the barge out of the lock and R climbed on MM's roof to keep the tow-rope from breaking off the wireless aerials.

It seems that the horse still wanted its breakfast as at this point it spotted a nice patch of nettles, turned sharp right and wandered towards the car park while the barge drifted past. The tow had to be hastily unhitched and the horse retrieved and returned to the towpath. The tow rope was then re-connected and they finally set off much to the delight of the passengers.

R spent the rest of the day doing Capture work and only ran the engine to charge the batteries.
Today: 0 miles, 0 locks and 3.0 hours.
Trip: 125 miles, 77 locks and 84.6 hours (229.2 total).

A Rural Idyll.

Tuesday 26th June, 2012.
A warm sunny morning. We walked into Newbury to buy bread and milk, and eventually set off at about 10:30. It's a very pretty stretch of waterway with some beautiful wildflower meadows on either side and lovely old brick arched bridges. Just to complete the rural idyll, we passed a traditional horse-drawn trip boat, a very rare sight on the canals these days.

We moored up in Kintbury just behind our old friends nb "Dragonfly." It was perfect timing, as just after we moored up it started to rain. We had a nice catch-up with Lizzie and Richard on "Dragonfly"; they are heading to Bristol like us; however, they may go out on to the Severn Estuary and up to Sharpness, but we won't do that this year. M's not at all sure that she will ever feel brave enough for that!
After tea, we walked into Kintbury village about 1/4 mile south of the canal. It is really more of a very quiet hamlet than a village - a general store, butcher's, a baker's (which only opens two days a week) and a scattering of pretty cottages with names like "The Old Post Office", "The Old Forge", "The Old Tannery" and "The Mill" - a sign of the times. Sadly, the village churchyard had a large war memorial with far too many names of the fallen from the First World War - with agriculture, the mill, the tannery and the canal, it must have been a large, bustling and thriving community in those days.
Today: 6 miles, 7 locks and 3.9 hours.
Trip: 125 miles, 77 locks and 81.6 hours (226.2 total).

Silly Hats for Breakfast

Monday 25th June, 2012.
We were all tired this morning; we had found it difficult to get to sleep last night after the footie and the tension of England hanging on by their fingernails through the second half and extra time - and then snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the penalty shoot-out.
M woke at 5:30 because the birds were singing so loudly! It was a lovely bright morning. At breakfast we had a "silly hat" session with two tea cosies and Guy's Captain's hat while scoffing boiled eggs, toast and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.

After looking at Elle's pictures of Harry Potter World (we have just GOT to go!!), we packed up their stuff and walked with Elle, Matt and Eva to the station. They caught the 10:13 train to Thatcham to pick up their car. A journey that yesterday took most of the day but today took less than 10 minutes - that's narrowboating for you!
A coffee on the way back at Costa was definitely obligatory and then we moved MM a few hundred yards to the other side of the swing bridge as we were on a 24 hour mooring. It's rare for us to stay moored up all day and we have both loved it. We have enjoyed this lovely town. One of the canal guides describes how Newbury "embraces" the canal and it truly does. Pretty cottages, restored mills, wharves and extensive pedestrian areas make this a delightful place to tarry.
Today: 0 miles, 0 locks and 2.6 hours (mainly battery charging).
Trip: 119 miles, 70 locks and 77.7 hours (222.3 total).