She Said:
A chilly start to the day, but bright sunshine, blue skies and puffy white clouds. In other words, perfect weather for walking.
In this area, there are quite nice homes and gardens along the canal. Large and lovely - always good to be able to live by the water.
A bit of a cock-up on the lock path; all lock(ed), no path. (Reggie Perrine fans will get that, all 2 of you.)
Anyway, we shimmied and flattened ourselves through a series of tied and locked wire gates. Seems the Canal association is making some improvements to the path and neglected to realize that the weekend would be a busy time and in addition to walkers (us) there were runners, bicyclers, and kids on day trips. A Kid Day Trip leader just
kind of muscled his way through and cleared a skinny stretch for all so that we didn't have to backtrack.
And we went on our merry way.
The bigger drama today was the Caen Hill Flight of locks. This is a series of 29 locks in total, with 16 quite close together, that allows boats to climb (or descend) 130'8". With brilliant sunshine and blue skies, we had the picture-postcard perfect views down (on our walking way down) and up (looking back) Caen Hill.
It is an engineering marvel from 200 years ago that still works well (after some restoration and maintenance.)
Next to one of the Caen Hill Flight was a swan nest, with mom on the nest and dad a few feet away. Mom stood up a couple of times to get more comfortable and we counted 4 chicks under her. Swans are notoriously aggressive when they are protecting their chicks, so we kept our distance, but did hang out and watch them for a while.
We also took some time to watch a great blue heron hunt on the edge of the canal. A lesson in patience. Stock still. Only the slightest head movements for better visibility. Regal. Majestic. Awesome.
The canal requires pumping stations at intervals to insure adequate water for navigation. The Caen Hill Flight Pumping Station is solar powered and the panels do look beautiful juxtaposed against the green of the meadows and the blue of the sky. I guess it is never ideal to impose on Nature, but I think there are instances where man-made structures, in search of a greater good, can look harmonious with the natural landscape. I am thinking of the stunning windmill fields near Palm Springs. And, these solar panels in a field.
I saw a hawk soaring and circling above a crow rookery, no doubt looking for his opportunity.
(Hey, Sibs - the chestnut trees are in full bloom - once again, shades of Workman Avenue.)
We ate our lunch on a bench along the path across from a red canal boat named "Lenin" - some kind of statement there, I'd say.
Many canal boats have fanciful names and pretty paintings on them - R and I took pictures of the more interesting ones and they are included in the pictures link.
High on a hill, an Alpaca farm.
Long views across the countryside.
Flying Saucer-looking clouds.
Happy dogs.
Happy us.
We made it to our pick-up point, The Somerset Arms pub in Semington, an hour early. So we called the car service and they came sooner to scoop us up. Still we had time for a swift half pint.
We talked and laughed with a group of cyclists, probably our age, who were cycling the K&A Canal. When our car arrived, they wished it was theirs as they had been at the pub for too long (5 rounds of pints worth) and knew it would be slow and wobbly going for them to their B+B.
They recommended R try the Wessex Cider from a booth at the Devizes Food Festival, taking place this week in the town square right outside our B+B.
Which he did. A stiff 6%, so we're ready for a relaxing evening in!
Total mileage:
11.99 miles (K&A Canal; in and around the Food Festival in Devizes)
He said:
We had a beautiful walk today and saw more canal locks than we will ever have seen in one day. Being a Saturday, we have a lot of company on the path and on the river, everybody is happy with the weather and the weekend. We had a chilly start at Horton Bridge with a stiff breeze, but the day gradually warmed up.
What all did we see?
boats with crazy names, runners, walkers, couples, singles, kids, dogs, cats, kayakers, students getting trained, locks with paddles, cranks, hinges, bridges, ropes, stacks of locks, pill boxes, green leaves, flies, bees, bumblebees, hornets, birds, ducks, ducklings, geese, goslings, swans, herons, crows, finches, coots, alpaca, scruffy boats, handsome boats, to name some things.
my chocolate stout from the previous evening
Happy at breakfast
A Swan nest next to a lock
The Caen Hill Locks looking uphill towards Devizes
To see more photos from May 14, click here
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