Great Western Coffee Shop

Julia starts this walk in the beautiful world heritage city of Bath, where the Kennet and Avon Canal provided a 19th century 'canal superhighway' between the country's two most important ports, Bristol and London. But only forty years later the trade along the canal was usurped by rail travel, leaving the once great waterway neglected and derelict. Julia's 20-mile walk, along what is arguably the most picturesque stretch of the canal, tells the story of how the waterway was restored to its former glory after it was awarded the biggest ever lottery heritage grant. The walk ends at the spectacular Caen Hill flight of locks, listed as one of the seven wonders of British waterways.

A 'quiet zone' has been created on a stretch of canal in a Wiltshire village.

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Signs have been put up along the Kennet and Avon Canal near Pewsey asking boaters to avoid running generators or playing loud music.

The parish council had planned to ban all boats mooring between Honeystreet Bridge and west of the Barge Inn due to "ongoing problems with noise".

But at a meeting it was agreed to create a quiet mooring zone instead.

Charles Reiss, from Alton Parish Council, said he hoped the 'Q Sign' could be "repeated as a working model at other problem points".

He said: "It was agreed as a co-operative project between local residents, boaters and the Canal and River Trust - and it seems to be working.

"There are no consequences - it doesn't have any teeth but boaters appear to want to cooperate and are mooring beyond the Barge Inn outside the zone."

4. Whilst the Boat is on the Waterway, you must not:

(b) use any electricity generator, including the Boat's engine, at any mooring along the Waterway
between 8pm and 8am, unless you are moored in isolation, out of earshot of other people. [We do
not intend this Rule to stop you moving the Boat from the mooring.]
(c) run the Boat^s engine in gear when it is moored as this can damage the waterway walls and
cause a nuisance to other people.

Pub landlord convicted of marker theft
20 Jun 2013 12:19

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The licensee of the Rising Sun pub in Woolhampton has been convicted of stealing an historic boundary marker from the banks of the Kennet and Avon Canal.
 
He was caught by a canal volunteer who spotted the stolen iron boundary marker for sale on eBay.
 
Wayne Sangwell, 44, of Kestrels Mead, Tadley, denied the theft, but was convicted by Reading magistrates on Monday, June 3.
 
Sangwell was running the Kennet and Avon Canal caf^ and shop under contract at the time of the theft.
 
A canal trust volunteer played detective and found the missing boundary marker which had been sold on eBay. The Great Western Railway iron boundary marker, which dates back to 1917, was stolen last autumn from the gardens of the listed Aldermaston Wharf Cottage on the Kennet and Avon canalside.
 
A volunteer heritage advisor for the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust was quickly on the case.
 
Trawling eBay, he saw the item had been sold, who had bought it and traced the thief.
 
Sangwell was fined ^110 plus ^270 costs.
 
David Viner, heritage advisor, who was one of those who helped retrieve the marker, said: ^We are delighted to have tracked the boundary marker down and got it back safely, it^s an important part of the history of the railway and canal.
 
^Thanks must go to volunteers from the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust too, as they wouldn^t let it lie.
 
^When someone suggested eBay it sounded like looking for a needle in a haystack.
 
^Fortunately, the thief had placed a photo of the marker online which included part of the canal cottage in the view.
 
^The buyer was mortified when we got in touch, but credit to them for returning it so swiftly.
 
^Heritage theft like this is on the increase.
 
^But it^s not just canals, there have been recent examples of vandals plundering major archaeological sites, listed buildings and especially churches where thieves target the lead roofing.
 
^That^s why we need to take action.
 
^The thief knew exactly what he was doing. We are very happy that the police and courts have pursued this case. Hopefully it will serve as a warning to others and make them think twice about following suit.^
 
The Great Western Railway Company owned the Kennet and Avon Canal for nearly a century and its distinctive cast-iron boundary markers were used when there was no natural boundary, like a wall or road, to mark the border of their land.
 
The marker has an embossed head bearing details of the company which is attached to a section of railway track very well set into the ground.
 
Removal of heritage assets and similar crimes are an increasing problem nationally.
 
As well as benefitting from the work of volunteers, the trust works closely on cases with bodies such as English Heritage, which has set up the Alliance to Reduce Crime against Heritage (ARCH) and also has a police inspector seconded to it as its national policing a dviser.
 
Sangwell featured in the news recently when a lorry jack-knifed and ran into the Rising Sun pub on the A4 Bath Road.

Capsized narrow boat closes canal near Bath

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The boat capsized on Saturday afternoon forcing the closure of the canal

The Kennet and Avon Canal is to remain partially closed near Bath until at least Tuesday after a narrow boat capsized in a lock.

It happened at Lock 11, Abbey View Lock, at about 14:00 GMT on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Canal and River Trust said it had been caused by the boat getting stuck on the sill at the back of the lock as water drained out.

A crane required to lift the boat out will not be on site until Tuesday or Wednesday, the spokesman added.

It means a 600m (650yds) stretch of canal between Bath Bottom Lock to Bath Top lock has been closed to canal traffic.

Nobody was injured in the incident, the spokesman said.

I'm curious as to why the narrowboat crew, who would have been operating the lock gates, didn't notice as soon as their boat started tipping and lower the paddles again, to prevent the situation from reaching the stage of a fairly comprehensive capsize?  ::)

I'm curious as to why the narrowboat crew, who would have been operating the lock gates, didn't notice as soon as their boat started tipping and lower the paddles again, to prevent the situation from reaching the stage of a fairly comprehensive capsize?  ::)

When ships became stranded by the falling tide in the Avon in Victorian times, the Bristol port authority used to blow them up - and then charge the owner for the explosives.

Capsized narrow boat removed from canal lock near Bath

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The hired boat is thought to have rolled over after getting caught on a ledge at the back of the lock

A capsized narrow boat which partially closed the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bath for five days has been removed.

Lock 11 on the Kennet and Avon Canal near Widcombe, was closed on Saturday after a hired boat overturned.

According to the Canal and River Trust, the boat rolled over after getting caught on a ledge at the back of the lock as water drained out.

A 30m (98 ft) winch was used to pull the boat off the cill before the water was pumped out and it was refloated.

The canal is set to reopen later on Friday but the canal below the lock needs to be topped up with water before it is reopened to boats

Joe Coggins, from the trust, said: "We had to use a winch to twist the boat back into position because we couldn't get a big enough crane on to the tow path. But we haven't had to drain the lock completely and we haven't had to do a fish rescue, as there was enough water in the bottom of the lock."

An update, from the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-26662982):

"Roll roll roll your boat
Gently down the stream....."

Oh, that was mean, wasn't it?  So who will have to pick up the bill for recovery?  I assume it's a holiday let, and the hand-over would have included a warning about keeping away from the cills when in the lock, so will the helms(wo)man have to pay, or is this kind of incident covered by the letting company's insurance?  Good job no-one was hurt, anyway.

The correct "uphill" procedure is available here,  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mMBSS8Oh-E)thanks to the throughly lovely Mrs FT,N, our commentator and pundit, and my youngest daughter and my son-in-law on lock duties. FT,N, ever the master mariner. is in charge

We were also told of the first ever fatality on the Llangollen Canal, only a week before.  The cause was someone reversing into a berth in a basin whilst sitting. The rudder struck the wall, the tiller spun around, and as the unfortunate gentleman was knocked into the water, his foot struck the throttle. Two later generations of his family witnessed his demise, the gruesome details of which I shall not go into here.

Many thanks for posting that delightful link: there's a certain irony in 'Four Track, Now!' being seen at the tiller of narrowboat 'In My Own Time No. 50'  ;) :D ;D

Absolutely imperative that you stand forward of the tiller when reversing, for exactly that reason. There are many that say you should never stand beside the tiller at all, even when going forward. I wouldn't go that far personally (I stand ahead of it usually, but sometimes to the side when manoeuvring), but when I was editing Waterways World, we always got letters of complaint if we had the temerity to publish a cover photo with someone standing beside the tiller...

Someone's sunk another one (Kennet & Avon - Bath):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-29870376

Interesting that it (apparently) took two and a half hours to re-float it but the best part of a fortnight to think about re-floating it. I think I might go into business as a narrow boat salvage expert.

Maybe the revovery equipment wasn't immediately available, and maybe it was also elsewhere on other canals?

Kennet and Avon Canal restoration anniversary marked

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The world famous Caen Hill locks were the last section of the restoration to be completed for the reopening in 1990

Canal enthusiasts are to celebrate 25 years of the restoration of the Kennet and Avon Canal.

The waterway was completely restored by volunteers after falling into decline and was officially reopened by the Queen on 8 August 1990.

It was originally opened in 1810, but gradually fell into decline after the Great Western Railway was built.

Volunteers will re-enact the reopening at the Caen Hill lock flight, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument later.

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Caen Hill locks had become completely overgrown in the 1970s before they were restored

The 87-mile waterway links the River Thames at Reading to the River Avon in Bath.

The last time the complete length was navigable, before it was restored, was in 1950, when a stoppage at Burghfield near Reading made the canal impassable.

Major structures along its route also include the Dundas and Avoncliff aqueducts and Bruce Tunnel.

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Caen Hill locks in 1950

Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal and River Trust, said: "It's all down to the volunteers and the incredible amount of work they did that [the canal] is here. The Kennet and Avon Canal really does enrich the lives of everyone around it, and this is a great opportunity to celebrate it and the achievement of those who restored it."

Rob Dean, chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, said: "Restoration of the Kennet and Avon has proved a huge success for our community. The volunteers who led the restoration from the 50s to the 90s have given us a great legacy which we're pleased to help care for and improve."

The success of the canal restoration spurred on the other restorations across the country.

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Cobblers Lock in 1964

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Limpley Stoke Bridge in 1977

I would suspect that that number of boats going through the canal these days is far, far higher than it ever was in commercial days, and that the traffic concentrates on the warmest and driest months.  Should the Canal remain open to boats that carry an onboard pump, and can empty a lock by pumping water back into the pound above rather that releasing it through paddles to the pound below?

I doubt that would be practical. A canal lock holds about 140,000 litres of water.
A large portable fire pump can handle as much as 1,400 litres of water a minute, so about 100 minutes to pump the water from the lock into the upper pound. And that is for a large and expensive fire pump, many are of lower capacity. Needs petrol, dangerous on board a boat, expensive, polluting, noisy.

If the K & A is low, I hate to think what state the Basingstoke Canal will be in.