No posting for a while – we were sort of static for quite a bit.
The authority who manage the canals Canal & River Trust – CRT), save most of their maintenance for the winter months, which makes sense really. In deciding to get to Devizes and to a cosy marina for the winter (Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb) we planned the trip around the routine ‘stoppages’. It’s been the additional ’emergency’ stoppages which have thwarted us a bit though. Whilst waiting three weeks for the swing bridge at Newbury to open, we went back to Stoke for a while to see friends, and took the opportunity of getting Deb’s car ‘down south’. Eventually a temporary repair was made to the bridge and we were on our way !
The repair gang !
We had four days to get past the next planned stoppage at Pewsey, where they were going to drain part of the canal until Christmas. No problem, as it should take only three days to get there. The locks are double, which means two boats can fit side-by-side, and we shared locks with a guy single-handing.
Our boat next to Rick’s in one of the locks
It is generally safer working through locks together, however Rick managed to let his windlass slip off a spindle at one lock, and it caught him smack in the left eye. For a while he thought he’d lost the eye, and with blood everywhere and a bulging eye it didn’t look good. We patched him up as best we could with our first aid kit, and helped him get his boat through the next four locks, stopping in Hungerford at around midday. Rick managed to get to A&E in Reading, whilst we looked after his little terrier ‘Dixie’. He got back at around 11:30 pm having been X-rayed and patched up. Realising that we had to get past Pewsey, he decided to carry on (looking out of one eye) the next day. Together we worked through another twenty-two locks, completing the last two in the dark – perhaps not the safest thing to do, but we did celebrate that evening in the pub at Wootton Rivers.
The next day took us took us on past Pewsey and eventually to Devizes Town Wharf, where we were stuck at yet another emergency stoppage. Devizes is well known for its flight of 29 locks leaving the town to the West.
Caen Hill flight of locks – this is the central section of 16 out of a total of 29
We were at the top and the marina we were heading for, at the bottom. The towpath embankment on the second lock down had failed, and the plan was to repair it and reopen the locks early in December ! Eventually they relented allowed a handful of boats past the repairs for four hours at the end of last week, but only part way down the flight because of yet another repair at a lock further down.
More lock repairs…..
…… and an empty stretch of canal above it !
A couple of days later we finally we got down to the bottom, only to be thwarted by storm-force ‘Barney’ which made it impossible to get into the marina. We are here now however, and woke to a heavy frost the first morning :
‘Brutus’ on his winter mooring at the marina
The intention is to base ourselves here until the end of February, then review the weather and if it looks reasonably clement then continue the cruise. In the meantime, we intend to learn what we can about Devizes and its locale, and take the opportunity of calling in to see Greg (son) and Laura (daughter-in-law), who are only half an hour away in Ludgershall, and have a new addition to the family – that’s right – we’re newly qualified grandparents !
Noah joins the Hunt family ! Grandad tries not to drop him !
Brutus Maximus on Tour 