Mike Stevens' UK Inland Waterways Pages

TRIP REPORTS : THE FELIS CATUS II YEARS

A SOUTHERN CRUISE : SUMMER 1994

Part 4 : The Main Summer Cruise continues
— Bristol to Honeystreet

We resume the story with the boat at Bristol Docks during Regatta weekend.

We started a bit later than we would have liked, at 07:32, as we weren't certain whether we would fit under the swing bridge. In fact we did. When the locks came, so did the weather, with a lot of rain with some thunder & lightning. We stopped at Swineford sani station to deal with elsan & water, then went on to Green Park, Bath, by which time the weather had cleared up and we moored for lunch. Wendy went to a not-very-exciting Sainsbury's: it probably would have been OK on a weekday.

After lunch we re-joined the K&A canal, finding lots of gongoozlers up the Widcombe locks. As on the outward journey, our overnight mooring was at Bathampton, this time right outside the George (which wasn't as busy as two days before), opposite a gnome sanctuary. Black Swan was still here, but no sign of David.

Our start was at 07:41, in good weather again, and still in the really good scenery. At Claverton we stopped for breakfast, then Ian & I walked down to see what we could of the Claverton pump-house, even though it wasn't one of its opening days. We stopped again just before Dundas for another photographic wander, and at Avoncliffe wharf where Ian & I went to the pub for lunch after yet another photographic wander. It's a pity that both aqueducts have been patched with any old materials. After lunch, I discovered a Canal Bookshop with a lot of out-of-print titles and spent too much money.

We had been plumbing the depth on this section, as the Friends of the London Canal Museum hoped to bring a bantam tug through here shortly en route to the London Canal Museum, and had heard disturbing rumours about the depth. We thought it seemed OK as we were getting a consistent 4'6" less a few inches of silt. One local boater warned us of places where lumps of stone have fallen in, creating problems for deep-draft boats. In the end FoLCM brought the tug by road.

We moored for the night above Seend top lock at 19:15. Somebody came looking for David Stevenson. After dark, Black Swan appeared up the locks, crewed by David and this other chap, who turned out to be called Mike. We had them on board for coffee.

The times of passage through Devizes locks indicated an early start, so we set off at 07:07, cruising with Black Swan (once Orinthia had been persuaded back onto her right boat). We had to wait for about half an hour at Lower Foxhangers for the locks to open. Because of the silt behind the gates, they were again pairing longer boats with shorter ones, so we were paired with B-Hive, with Black Swan in the next locking. It was slightly drizzly, which was much pleasanter than the excessive heat of the downward trip on this flight and produced altogether a much more relaxed experience.

We reached Devizes wharf at 13:29, where we planned another major shopping stop. We moored slightly awkwardly at first because we were too long for the one gap on the wharf. When Black Swan arrived, she went inside us and we were outside of her and part of another boat. We did a lot of shopping. David came on board for cheese & a chat in the evening after doing a car-shuffle.

In the morning we went to a launderette & did more shopping. Eventually we set off at 13:21, aiming for The Barge, Honey Street where there was to be a Mikron Theatre performance in the evening. There proved to be no moorings free at the pub, so we went on to George Gibson's wharf for a pump-out and arranged to moor outside one of his permanent moorers,Clara Louise. (£2 for a very good mooring: we even had a hidden side door half-open for the cats while we were away). We walked back to The Barge for dinner and to see Mikron's Beer Street. It wasn't the best of venues for them, as there was too much noise from the other half of the bar. There was a thunderstorm as we walked back, but we didn't actually get wet.