Kennet & Avon Canal Walk
Looking back to the Caen Hill Locks
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Aaahh!
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Devizes to Bradford-on-Avon
Swingbridge at Semington
Saturday 12 May 2018
A year has passed (very quickly) and at last I have returned to Devizes to resume the Kennet & Avon Canal Walk. To get to Devizes I took the train to Swindon and then the bus via Avebury. I arrived about lunchtime and rather than eat my homemade, but uninspiring, sandwich I opted to choose something from one of the many food stalls at the busy market. With hindsight that was a mistake, however, because not only did I have to wait a long time for my toasted cheese, chorizo and olive sandwich but it was so rich that I could only manage half. I should mention that this is probably not the sandwich’s fault. I’ve had a ‘funny’ stomach and been off food since yesterday. I also generally felt a bit under the weather but my thinking was that a good walk in the fresh air would soon sort me out.
Sandwich discarded, I stopped for a coffee at the Caen Hill Café. It’s a nice spot at the top of the series of locks that lift the canal up the hill. I was now ready to tackle the walk. Immediately I saw the first of several herons that graced my route today. Ducks, swans, coots and moorhens were also as much part of the canal as the canal barges and narrow boats. Good to see so many families cycling along the path, and even better that they (without exception) were polite and thanked me for letting them pass. Then there were the boat people, the joggers, the walkers. I’ve seen more people on this walk than on any outside London and they were all enjoying themselves.
Once I’d left the Caen Hill Locks behind, the walk turned into a typical canal towpath walk with spring flowers and baby ducks adding beauty and cuteness to the experience. Because there were no navigational issues today, and I cannot pretend that this was a walk full of excitement, I will not go into too many route details, but will point out a few things that enhanced the walk for me. For my afternoon refreshment break I stopped in a pretty garden and nature refuge complete with bird feeders. This tranquil and attractive space for humans and wildlife alike was created by local residents. Unfortunately I can’t remember where it was but I think it was somewhere between Seend Cleeve and Semington. Shortly after Semington the towpath crosses the Wilts and Berks Canal which was created to provide a navigational link from the Kennet & Avon Canal to the Thames at Abingdon. The section from here to Melksham has recently been restored and further restoration projects are ongoing, but I guess many obstacles will have to be overcome before the canal will once again become fully navigational.
After Semington the canal walk continued quietly to the outskirts of Trowbridge. A heron took off in front of me by the busy Hilperton Marina. Having plodded on for a few miles in the warm sunshine, I welcomed the shade provided by the pretty woodland as the path approached Bradford-on-Avon. The river Avon could be seen a couple of times through the trees. By the time I arrived in the small and attractive town of Bradford-on-Avon I was pretty tired and made my way straight to the station.
Just a quick cautionary tale about my trip home: when I researched my train options I decided to return to Swindon via Melksham rather than Bath as that would save me a few pounds. I made a note that I needed to change trains at Trowbridge. But after getting off the train I found that there were no more trains going from here to Swindon today. Drat! So I had to return to Bath via Bradford-on-Avon and then finally onto the fast train to Reading. Missed half of the Eurovision Song Contest as a result!
A year has passed (very quickly) and at last I have returned to Devizes to resume the Kennet & Avon Canal Walk. To get to Devizes I took the train to Swindon and then the bus via Avebury. I arrived about lunchtime and rather than eat my homemade, but uninspiring, sandwich I opted to choose something from one of the many food stalls at the busy market. With hindsight that was a mistake, however, because not only did I have to wait a long time for my toasted cheese, chorizo and olive sandwich but it was so rich that I could only manage half. I should mention that this is probably not the sandwich’s fault. I’ve had a ‘funny’ stomach and been off food since yesterday. I also generally felt a bit under the weather but my thinking was that a good walk in the fresh air would soon sort me out.
Sandwich discarded, I stopped for a coffee at the Caen Hill Café. It’s a nice spot at the top of the series of locks that lift the canal up the hill. I was now ready to tackle the walk. Immediately I saw the first of several herons that graced my route today. Ducks, swans, coots and moorhens were also as much part of the canal as the canal barges and narrow boats. Good to see so many families cycling along the path, and even better that they (without exception) were polite and thanked me for letting them pass. Then there were the boat people, the joggers, the walkers. I’ve seen more people on this walk than on any outside London and they were all enjoying themselves.
Once I’d left the Caen Hill Locks behind, the walk turned into a typical canal towpath walk with spring flowers and baby ducks adding beauty and cuteness to the experience. Because there were no navigational issues today, and I cannot pretend that this was a walk full of excitement, I will not go into too many route details, but will point out a few things that enhanced the walk for me. For my afternoon refreshment break I stopped in a pretty garden and nature refuge complete with bird feeders. This tranquil and attractive space for humans and wildlife alike was created by local residents. Unfortunately I can’t remember where it was but I think it was somewhere between Seend Cleeve and Semington. Shortly after Semington the towpath crosses the Wilts and Berks Canal which was created to provide a navigational link from the Kennet & Avon Canal to the Thames at Abingdon. The section from here to Melksham has recently been restored and further restoration projects are ongoing, but I guess many obstacles will have to be overcome before the canal will once again become fully navigational.
After Semington the canal walk continued quietly to the outskirts of Trowbridge. A heron took off in front of me by the busy Hilperton Marina. Having plodded on for a few miles in the warm sunshine, I welcomed the shade provided by the pretty woodland as the path approached Bradford-on-Avon. The river Avon could be seen a couple of times through the trees. By the time I arrived in the small and attractive town of Bradford-on-Avon I was pretty tired and made my way straight to the station.
Just a quick cautionary tale about my trip home: when I researched my train options I decided to return to Swindon via Melksham rather than Bath as that would save me a few pounds. I made a note that I needed to change trains at Trowbridge. But after getting off the train I found that there were no more trains going from here to Swindon today. Drat! So I had to return to Bath via Bradford-on-Avon and then finally onto the fast train to Reading. Missed half of the Eurovision Song Contest as a result!
My highlights:
Transport:
- Coffee at the Caen Hill Café
- The ducks and ducklings, swans and herons
- Watching the canal and towpath toings and froings
- Grey herons
- Swans, coots, moorhens, geese and ducks
- Cows, sheep, lambs and horses
Transport:
- Train Reading to Swindon; bus No. 49 to Devizes
- Return: train Bradford-on-Avon to Reading (via Bath)
- Devizes (wide selection), Caen Hill Café
- A couple of pubs en route
- Bradford-on-Avon
- Devizes
- Trowbridge
- Bradford-on-Avon
Somewhere between Seend and Trowbridge
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Approaching Bradford-on-Avon
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