Tag: Kennet & Avon Canal
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The Kennet & Avon Canal Part XIII – mission accomplished
Trowbridge to Bath Spa So, I have done it. Every inch, except for the part owned by the Oracle shopping centre in Reading where I was not allowed to go (it seems to be run as a sort of autonomous police state), and most of it twice, once in each direction. As I reached my…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part XII
Seend Cleeve to Trowbridge The canal and its banks were lovely as ever but this was the least enjoyable section of my journey. Only ten miles all round but I am finding ten miles of extreme rattling and shaking is becoming increasingly unpleasant. The bike has been stellar and it is amazing that I have…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part XI
Caen to Seend Cleeve I did not get nearly as far as I had hoped yesterday, having been aiming for Trowbridge. I’d been delayed leaving by a flat tire on the bike – only my second puncture so I haven’t fared too badly. But the bike came with very few instructions and it took me,…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part X
Newbury to Reading I hadn’t expected to manage the 21 miles in one trip but did have the advantage of coming back to Newbury by train. With a bit of judicious parking I was able easily to access Victoria Park and thence the canal exactly where I had left off last time. The landscape was…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part IX
Kintbury to Newbury Having learnt from the extremely useful website Home – Sustrans.org.uk that the towpath from Thatcham to Reading and from Devizes to Bath has been widened and surfaced, I thought I would tackle the roughest section left, about six miles each way. The path was very narrow in parts and I nearly knocked…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part VIII
Horton to Devizes & Caen Locks I have wanted to see Caen Locks ever since I have lived in this part of the world. They did not disappoint. First though, from the Bridge Inn at Horton where I left off last time, the usual narrow towpath and more picturesque bridges, this being Laywood Bridge. Then…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part VII
Honeystreet to Horton This was the longest ride yet, six and a quarter miles*. Not very far but the first mile or so was pretty tough in terms of the usual hazards of the towpath. Knowing, with my new strategy for the ambition of riding the entire canal, that I would be making the return…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part VI
Pewsey Wharf to Honeystreet Which sounds as though it might be the title of a novel or a poem. On my way to Pewsey I came to a rapid halt. Two tractors and a couple of other farm vehicles were working a field. This attracted no fewer than twenty-two Red Kites. Quite a spectacle. My…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part IV
Great Bedwyn to Burbage Wharf Another boneshaking but wonderful ten miles or so, there and back. The new electric bike seems remarkably robust so far, although there were some squeaks of protest for the last couple of miles, so I think some tlc is in order. On this stretch alone, which continues the southward direction…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part III
The Bedwyns Which sounds like a family name from a Jane Austen novel. Again starting where I left off, there was a surprise under Little Bedwyn bridge. A pair of Muscovy ducks. I had seen a male before but never a female and wasn’t immediately sure who I was looking at. I slowly pushed my…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal part II
Hungerford to Little Bedwyn I started a little east of Hungerford at Lower Denford, exactly where I had stopped on the previous trip (I do like to be thorough), aiming for Little Bedwyn. I covered around eleven miles, the last two on the way back on foot following a front wheel puncture. Recognising the weight…
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The Kennet & Avon Canal, Part I
This is one of those marvels of engineering which we are lucky enough to have running through our village. I have spent a lot of time on and alongside it over the years, mostly with the children. It has long been an ambition to follow the towpath the entire distance, if only in short sections…