I’ve been in the same vicinity for a while now. After fixing the shower and some other little things, I spent a few days just rambling up and down some of the local canals. I had some company aboard, people I had met on the K&A near Bath. We went north to a pub for lunch, then just wandered back. That’s one of the great things about this life, there’s almost no schedule. Just do what comes along…

Then it was the other direction, toward the nearest grocery since I needed to stock up on some essentials. Mostly cider and Pimm’s. Further on was a short flight of locks, and a very long tunnel. It’s almost 2km long and although it’s wide enough for two narrowboats to pass, it’s got some small bends in it which make it interesting. My new tunnel light was great though, so only one small glitch (bits of brick from the tunnel lining)…

Back on the main Grand Union Canal I’m now heading up toward Royal Leamington Spa where I will be meeting Peter and Jill (from Canada) for a visit. We’re planning on cruising down to Stratford-upon-Avon to see the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Romeo and Juliet.  Kind of an iconic thing to do. I just hope we can find mooring in the basin, that would be so cool.

Okay, adding more to this blog, it’s later now. I’ve had the worst internet of the trip on this section, often nothing at all (not even phone service). But now I’m at Warwick, in a nice little mooring built on a side-canal that was reconditioned into this sort of ‘canal club’. Anyway, I’m here because I’ve had another issue with the boat. This one wasn’t entirely unexpected. I have never had much faith in the batteries on board, I had no history and they seemed a bit sketchy. Well, one of them decided to die, in a rather annoying way. I woke up one morning with no power (10.8 v). They charged during the day but I knew something was wrong. I made arrangements to get new ones but that night while charging things got worse. A strong sulphur smell was wafting though the boat, so I knew it was gone. The bad battery was very hot so I had to shut everything down. The next morning my freezer was mostly defrosted (I’ll be eating a lot of meat for the next couple of days) but I’ve disconnected the bad one and I’m back in power. The new batteries arrive Thursday so I’ll just hang out and let it rain! I love boats…

This section of the Grand Union Canal was originally built as a narrow canal (7′ wide) but was widened to accommodate wide-beams and two boats in a lock. The old narrow sections of the locks are still visible on the left.

I’ve teamed up with Steve for many of the locks (and the Stockton Flight), he’s been a huge help. He’s a Ward Beadle for the Lord Mayor of London (that’s the City of London, not London). Sort of a ceremonial guard kind of thing. Great guy, we’ve had a blast. Here’s part of the flight. The locks on this section are great, with the huge paddles they drain and fill very fast. Did 10 locks in about 1.5 hours.

Here’s a guy that will still be able to run his washing machine after the apocalypse:

New friends I’ve made recently (that’s Ben on the left, the other two are married):

 

 

The weather has finally broken, at least temporarily. A pretty good storm has blown through, bringing some significant rain to most of the country, and high winds to the area I’m in. It’s been nice to get a decent sleep without the fan on, to actually tuck in under a quilt! As you can see, I’m in a marina…more on that in a bit.

On the boat front, something has happened. I was looking under a cupboard back aft for some tools and noticed that there was a bit of water on the plywood on the bottom next to the hot water tank. I thought ‘oh damn, a connector has come loose or broken’. I got a flashlight to inspect further and suddenly saw a flash of light through a hole in the floor.

It was full of water! I mean full. The space under the floor is about 5″ and full of steel ribs  for stiffness of the boat and brick ballast to help keep it upright. But it’s not supposed to have water in it. Ever. So, inevitably, I freaked out a bit. Everything was turned off, including the water pump. It couldn’t have come from the canal, there’s no below-waterline ports to let it in. I investigated every possible source, and concluded it was the shower drain.

To make a long story short, it turns out that the drain from the shower had fallen off, I have no idea when. The strainer was still in place, hiding the disaster underneath. The way the system works is that when you go into the shower, you turn on a ‘gulper’ pump that pumps the shower water over the side. It can pump air as well as water, so there was no indication that anything was wrong (I didn’t look over the side to see if water was actually coming out, never thought to!).

The result of this was that  every time I took a shower, I was adding more water to the sub-floor bilge space. And no, there’s no bilge pump in that area! The bilge pump is in the separated engine compartment since that’s the only place that water can actually make ingress from the canal.

I’ve pumped out the majority of the water using a combination of a hand pump, the gulper, and an electric pump I purchased from Amazon. As for fixing the problem, that’s an interesting one too. I had an engineer have a look and he agreed that pulling out the shower tray would be the very last resort, it would mean ripping the whole shower out (tiles and all). Not a pleasant prospect. The option we were going to do was to pull up some carpet in the hallway adjacent, and cut a hole in the floor. Unfortunately, upon further investigation, there’s a steel rib in the way. So I worked out a cunning plan to pull a new one in from the pump end with some string, and using that string to hold it up against the tray while screwing the sieve on (thus pulling the rubber seals against the tray top and bottom).

Well, that wasn’t as easy to do as it was to write. With the rubber gasket that came with the drain, the screw that holds it all together was far too short. So I removed the gasket, gooped the heck out of it with silicone, pulled it up tight with the strings, pounded the strainer as far down as I dared (with my biggest hammer) and the screw caught! I’ll let the silicone dry completely, add another layer, then hook it all back up and I’m in business. I’m glad I’m living alone, no shower for several days is starting to bother even me.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m in a marina. I was nearby when I discovered the shower problem and I was told that there was a good engineer that worked out of here (thinking I’d need help). So I booked in for a few days, and timed it just right! I had full electricity (heat!) and was nice and snug for the storm. I’ll fill my water, drain the black water, and be all set when I leave here. For those of you that are checking my location on Google Maps, I’m NOT at either of the large prisons next door. It’s just a coincidence. And there really is a marina here now, it only opend in April and it’s not even on all the satellite images yet (Maps no, Earth yes). Oh and by the way, send me a message if you’d like me to send you a Google Earth .kmz file that you can run as an animation to see my route so far. I haven’t figured out now to attach it to the blog yet.

The other advantage of a marina…food delivery. I’m getting a little low and there’s no stores nearby, but there’s delivery. I’m more than a little low, in fact. I was reduced to this for lunch (and yes, it was as bad as it looks):

I had a somewhat leisurely passage to Braunston from Banbury. It’s been scorching hot so I tended to find a shady(ish) spot and stop early. I’ve been pretty lucky for the most part, finding pleasant and/or cool spots. It’s still a bit difficult to sleep some nights, even with the fan. The route had a number of locks at the start and at the end (coming down into Napton) but the middle part was flat and winding. Some canals were built to follow the contours of the land rather than putting in lots of locks. Others have locks to make a more direct route. In this case, they did both.

Braunston is sort of narrowboat-central. It’s the meeting of several important canals, and has lots of chandelries and boat-yards. I got some particular paint I needed, some spare belts, and new chairs! I managed to finally get rid of the ugly couch too. While here I found a nice shady mooring and got some actual work done on the boat. I drilled, tapped, and mounted the first of my folding steps! Let me say, drilling holes in my boat wasn’t something I was thrilled about. I have a fairly cheap cordless drill, and fairly cheap drill bits. Oh, and fairly cheap tap and die set. So I had to be very careful or I’d be leaving bits in the side of the boat! It all worked out well, taking my time and drinking continously worked well. Here’s what it looks like:

I’ve been researching solar panels, and getting tons of great and conflicting advice! I think I’m going to do what Trump does, and take the last advice I got. There’s a great little boatyard here (where they also build boats) and they absolutely recommend flexible panels. They’re a bit more expensive but easier to install (basically just glue them to the roof) and can safely be walked on. As I’m on the roof a lot working locks, this is important. I won’t do it if I can help it, but knowing that I can will make it much easier. And I won’t have to drill a bunch of mounting holes. So that’s for coming weeks. I’ll probably order them online and pick them up in Warwick.

Here’s some shots of Braunston and it’s famous double bridge:

The trip has become more of a way of life now, rather than an adventure. The novelty is wearing off, which is good as I’m doing fewer pubs and spending more time just enjoying the scenery. I also feel like a bit less of a newbie, even though I still hit stuff and over-steer. I’m getting better though. Another thing I’ve noticed is that I’m far less concerned about what’s coming up, where I’ll moor, or how long it’ll take. I’m more laid-back about everything, it all seems to work out fine. It’s particularly good if I start looking for a mooring by the early afternoon, there’s always plenty of spots. They fill up later. Having said that, there’s almost always remote spots along the towpath, just pound in a couple of pins and you’re done. Along these canals there’s miles of ‘proper’ moorings though, with either Armcote (metal railing to moor to) or rings in the ground. It’s an indication of how many more narrowboats use this area than down along the Kennet and Avon. That was almost all bank-side mooring with pins.

The people seem to be a bit different up here, I guess it’s a function of just how many boaters there are. Way more owners, fewer hire-boats. And they seem a bit less inclined to talk. I had been led to believe that people up here would be far friendlier and more talkative than near London but I haven’t found that. I suspect it might change when I get on the Grand Union Canal. The Oxford Canal (which I’ve been on for the last while) is a narrow canal with narrow locks. Only one boat at a time. The Grand Union has wide locks, like the K&A did. This allows two boats at a time, and encourages cooperation and chatting. So we’ll see, maybe things will change. I did meet several people today along the towpath and had good chats, they all seemed pretty friendly. It’ll be interesting to compare once I get moving again.

I am leaving in the morning, but still don’t know which way! I’ll figure it out soon I hope. I have some time to kill before needing to be anywhere so I might just head up a random canal and seem where it goes. I should be careful though, there’s lots of locks and long tunnels around here! I might end up going up a flight that I have to come back down. That can be a long day…

 

 

So I upped stakes and left Oxford a day sooner than I had planned. It was so hot, I didn’t think I could manage more sweltering museums (pretty bad, huh?) so I headed north. After a couple of fairly long days, I got to Banbury and moored up in the centre of town, just past the lock. It was a really pleasant town, lots to see and do.

I stocked up on groceries, did some laundry, went to a very cool OLD chandlery (more on that in a bit), and met some YouTube stars! It was great to have a chat and get to know you a bit more Kath and Annamarie.

So Banbury is known from a nursery rhyme, unknown to me but everyone here seems to know it. It’s about Banbury Cross, a woman with bells on her toes, and more. In the centre of town is a beautiful statue in it’s honour:

Tooley’s Boatyard is the oldest chandlery and boat repair yard in the UK (according to them). Apparently, when they built the monstrous (and somewhat ugly) mall along the canal, they weren’t permitted to tear the boatyard down. So they built the mall completely around it! It’s got a terrific little museum, tons of old stuff for sale or on display, and a great place to get work done on your boat…

After overstaying a bit, I headed north towards my next goal, Braunston. However, I didn’t go far, about three hours, and found a gorgeous spot to moor up. Quite remote, quiet, and beautiful scenery. Exactly what I had read about, and came here for.

Turns out it was a good day to stop a bit early. It rained! Not for too long but it was enough to cool the boat a bit. The water levels have been quite low of course, there’s been no serious rain the country for many weeks. I’ve been scraping the bottom a lot when passing other boats, got quite stuck a couple of times. It’s very muddy however, and not that difficult to push or drive off.

Some are doing their best to help the situation:

 

What can I say about a place that saved a blackboard that Einstein used during a lecture to write some equations that showed that the universe changed size over time? Even if he did make some arithmetical errors, this is the type of history that is everywhere in Oxford.

Oxford is one of the oldest, and most respected places of higher learning in the world. Everywhere you look through the town it’s full of specialized colleges, libraries, churches and divinity schools, and students. It’s exciting, invigorating, and a mecca for a geek! I’m in heaven.

I had a tour of the Bodlean library, where there are manuscripts and books from the beginning of books. They still have some chained to the shelves, the way they used to be. I also saw the spot where they filmed the “Restricted Section” in Harry Potter. Chained books and all. (no pictures allowed).

The Bridge of Sighs. Named either after the one in Venice, or because the only bathroom is across the other side. Depends on who you believe.

I went through the History of Science Museum, and saw the Einstein blackboard, many microscopes and other ground-breaking scientific instruments (the ACTUAL ones, not copies). There are the actual notes of many important discoveries and ideas. So much science history here that it’s quite overwhelming.

I watched as proud and relieved students graduated and prouder (and more relieved) parents took photos and cried. If ever there is a degree to be earned that means something, I have to think it’s one from here. I don’t mean to disparage other universities, but this is Oxford for God’s sake. The home of learning in English history (sorry Cambridge).

The Radcliffe Camera, an actual working library (well, more a reading room now for the Bodlean Library). Seldom open to the public, it’s another iconic symbol of Oxford and learning.

I’ve moved on from Oxford now, the next blog will likely be from Banbury. I’m going to stop there for a couple of days for laundry and some shopping. Please keep commenting, it’s great to hear what you have to say. I miss everyone, but continue to be having a fantastic adventure. Thanks for all the positive thoughts!

While in Reading I restocked some things, bought some new items, and visited London. It was a great little break, ending with an amazing overnight trip back up the K&A to The Cunning Man Pub. This was the location of my misadventures with water in my fuel on my first couple days out, so it had some memories. However, this time it was memorable for other reasons. Chris and Julie (from the Crick Boat Show camping blog post fame) dropped by and we puttered up the 5 miles and 4 locks for an overnight visit. It was fantastic. Just toodling along, it felt like a long-weekend in 24 hours. We caught up, drank a little, and just had a very enjoyable time together, again. Can’t wait to do it when they’re able to.

So now I’m heading up the Thames toward Oxford. As fast as I can. It’s not that I don’t like the Thames, it’s beautiful countryside, it’s just not a friendly little comfortable canal. There are far too many huge fibreglass yachts speeding past me (both directions). And one of them asked me if I was from Texas! That didn’t sit very well. Then the same fellow said to avoid a certain pub because the only have ‘pub food, not a real restaurant’. I didn’t stick with that boat, needless to say. It’s a bit sterile on the Thames. Very wide, very distant compared to the intimacy of the K&A. But, there have been some things to see. Amazing estates, wildlife, cool boats. And this. Such a typical English scene, a medievel steeple and nuclear power station in the same frame. I love this place.

I’m looking forward to Oxford and the narrow canals northward. Still making plans as to where I’ll go but I think after a stop in Braunston (narrowboat central) for some shopping, I’ll head to Stratford on Avon for some more (real) Shakespeare.

Oh, and I’ve made a valuable addition to the boat, as it’s the hottest summer since 1976 apparently. I have been pretty much roasting in this metal tube, not getting any work done on it. It’s simply been too hot. So I bought a fantastic awning:

I’ll add more to this later possibly.

Okay, it’s later (the next day, Friday the 13th so the computer tells me). I’ve made it to Oxford, have a great mooring (again!) within walking distance to the city centre and in a nice neighbourhood. Oh, and literally across the path from a pub name The Punter. My luck continues. Here are some pictures from the last couple of days, I’ll probably do another post about Oxford. I just got told what I need to see in Oxford, sounds like it’s for me (museums, old buildings, libraries).

Wow, what a city. London really has it all…shows, events, history, traffic, people. And an endless supply of each. I spent Friday going from museum to museum. British, Natural History, Science, even the Royal Geographic Society (not really a museum but very historically significant). I geeked out all day! Yes, there’s the man himself, he presides over the Natural History Museum main hall.

For the evening’s entertainment, my friend Joanne and I went to the Leicester Square Theatre to see a production of Romeo and Juliet. Now, I’m a bit of a Shakespeare fan, but this one ANYONE would like. It’s called “Shit-Faced Shakespeare”. Their blurb states:

Shit-faced Shakespeare is the hilarious combination of an entirely serious adaptation of a Shakespearean classic, with an entirely shit-faced cast member.

With one cast member selected at random and given four hours to drink before every show we present to you classical theatre as it was always meant to be seen. With a gin in one hand, a cup of wine in the other and a flagon of ale in the other… What could possibly go wrong?

I actually had pain from laughing, it was as funny as advertised. Absolutely a must-see (unless you REALLY like Shakespeare, then you might find this a bit blasphemous).

Saturday was filled with a visit to the Tower, the World Cup (WIN!!!) at an outdoor pub in the shadow of the Tower Bridge, and pausing to watch the London Pride festivities. So much glitter! The train on the way home was filled with song (“It’s Coming Home”), rainbow flags, and facepaint. Truly a weekend to remember.

 

The weather continues hot and dry. And I mean hot (for here). Living in a metal tube that’s fully exposed to the sun all day is becoming a little difficult. I’m not complaining yet, just wishing the awning and large rechargable fan I’ve ordered would arrive! Hard to sleep…the cold showers all day and night only help a bit. The cold ciders day and night help somewhat more.

 

I’m on my way back along the K&A, returning to Reading. This is where I’ll turn up the Thames toward Oxford. I had considered going downstream to Hampton Court or Windsor Castle but there’s so much happening on the river that it seems kind of congested and I’ve been warned against it. So I’ll turn north and head toward the smaller canals up in the Midlands. The trip toward Bath was certainly made better with the company I kept. Guy, Rose, Bob, and Cate from Into the Blue were amazing, we had the best time together. And I learned lots from Guy, even if I’m not following him out on the Severn! Here’s Bob and Guy, and the group at a pub deciding on drinks.

Somewhat to my surprise, I’m not minding retracing my route. It’s a different perspective, and a second chance to see and photograph stuff I missed on the way ‘up’. There’s been all kinds of little things that I seemed to have skipped, I’m enjoying the new and even liking seeing the familiar places again.


I’ve now parted company with my latest boatload of friends. Rich and Jane (and Dorothy and Olaf) were great fun and I loved the time with them. I met them near Bath, on board were also Karen, Jill, and Jo but there were some crew changes and only Rich and Jane continued. We did the flight up together and now they’re heading back down to return their hire boat… I’ve continued on toward Newbury.


Okay, since I didn’t post that last section due to limited Internet and a somewhat busy party schedule, I’ll just add to it. After saying goodbye to Rich and Jane and their puppers, I arrived at Newbury again. Having found another great mooring in the 14 day area, I decided to spend a bit of time. I had previously tried to go to Highclere Castle to see the Egyptian exhibits and relive some Downton Abbey memories but it doesn’t open until the middle of July. But, and this is interesting…

A couple of years ago Lady Carnarvon was doing some research for a book about famous visitors to their home. On a page in the guestbook from 1866, along with Benjamin Disraeli and his wife, were the names John Macdonald, George Cartier, and a man named Galt. She decided to look into who they were, and quickly discovered that they, along with others, had visited the castle several times in the process of negotiating for, and writing, the British North America Act. As I’m sure you all remember from school (hehe), the BNA formed the constitution of Canada at it’s formation as a country in 1867. The drafts, written largely at Highclere, were taken to Queen Victoria (and Parliament and the House of Lords) by the 4th Earl of Carnarvon for final approval. As an added interesting note, the Queen approved the name “Canada” but only if it included “The Dominion of”! Nobody at the time minded apparently, so we had Dominion Day instead of Canada Day for all those years. (I still like the sound of Dominion Day better).


Once all this had come to light, Lord and Lady Carnarvon decided to showcase the documents, photographs, and history of these events. They now open the castle on July 1st for special access. And I was able to go! They had lots to see and read about, and most of the house was open for viewing (except, unfortunately, the Egytian exhibits). They limited the number of guest to 150, instead of the usual 1000 per day as in the summer. So it was very relaxed and simply lovely. Nothing like afternoon tea at Downton Abbey either! (no pictures inside the house unfortunately).

Thanks so much for sharing the day with me Jo, it was so nice to have such great company! I am going to send the Castle some Canadian flags, there was an appalling lack of them.


After leaving Newbury, I started sharing locks with Annie, Juliette, and Roger. They are lovely people from Chipping Campdon (I love that name), cruising on Annie’s boat. We spent a couple of days together, firstly because they needed a CRT key to open the lift and swing bridges, and later because we were having so much fun together! We visited some pubs, bought some Indian take-away and just generally enjoyed each other’s company.

So, now back in Reading. I’ll do some cleaning, some shopping, and some maintenance in preparation for the Big River (the mighty Thames). I will be doing some tourist stuff too, in London. I can’t miss the opportunity, it’s just a short train ride away and the boat is safe in the marina.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far. Be safe, and feel free to add comments. I love hearing from you.

After sampling the delights of Bath, and meeting some really extrordinary people, I’m heading back toward Reading, with plans to either visit Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Palace, or head straight up the Thames to Oxford. I’ll decide on the way. There likely won’t be too many photos for this stretch since I’ve covered it already. If I see anything new, I’ll be sure to document it. It’s back up the Caen Hill Flight!

I thought this would be a good time to put down some of my thoughts and impressions of the whole adventure. I’ve already covered (ad nauseum) how much fun it is so I won’t go into that. But there are some things that have come out of it that are quite interesting (to me, at least).

I had done a lot of reading and YouTubing before coming over here so I thought I was at least somewhat prepared. There is lots said and written about the ‘bad’ side of the canals and canal life. I guess because it’s seen as an inexpensive way to live, it attracts a certain segment of the population. Like much of England, and the West in general, there’s a large, obvious disparity in how much has been spent on boats, let’s just say. There are many, many rather run-down looking narrowboats and various other types scattered along the canal. Due to the licensing system, they have to move at least every 14 days, a minimum of 5 miles (and can’t just ping-pong between the same two points). So they tend to move a few miles and moor up, doing this a few times before returning. The rules aren’t very clear and there’s lots of controversy. I was a little concerned about this whole thing, and what ‘sort’ of people I’d run into. Well, I can say, they are awesome. Down-to-earth and friendly to a person. As an example, I was working on the boat the other morning and a tattoed and pretty rough-looking chap walked by with a big tray of fresh eggs. I asked him where he got them, thinking I could go and get some too. He pointed back toward the road, said just a couple of doors down, then handed me the tray and asked if I wanted some! Amazing, a total stranger and just offered me some of his food. I might have been cautious to even talk to him before coming here.

There’s been other things that I’ve learned:

-narrowboats are heavy. And momentum is a thing. It’s almost impossible to get them to do anything gently, it’s pretty much full power and full tiller until things start moving (which might take a while). Just cruising along straight requires a fairly subtle touch but if it requires a real turn, push the tiller AND the throttle all the way! Just be ready to switch back the other way as quickly to counteract.

-going astern for any distance is not impossible, but isn’t any fun at all. But I might have discovered the secret, I’ll have to do more experimenting. I think what it is, the ‘prop walk’ (boaters will know) is greater than the effect the rudder can have so if you try to go faster, it’s worse. Damn thing snakes all over the place. But if you just get it moving slowly and gently, you end up with some steering (sort of the opposite of going forward!).

-pub food is awesome. One meal a day is often enough. I don’t know if that’s the food or the libations that come with it, but I’m a fan.

-hire boaters aren’t all idiots, and boat owners don’t all know that they’re doing. I’ve stopped judging until they run into something (hopefully not me).

-locks are a nice change from standing and steering. If they’re far enough apart, that is. The Caen Hill Flight (which I’ve moaned about previously) is a pretty long day of 29 locks without a break. Best done with another boat, preferably one with a large crew; I can’t imagine doing it alone. I did the first few days of the trip entirely on my own, probably 6-7 locks each day, and was pretty much done in at the end of each day. Mind you, I was just starting out and made plenty of mistakes. I tended to miss steps and have to go back, or just take the long way around. I’m must more efficient now, I can probably do a lock in half the time and a quarter of the energy expenditure! But actually they’re interesting and fun. Swing bridges too. Except the ones that a singlehanded cruiser CAN’T do (yes, they exist). The landing is on the wrong side, you have to sort of back in and tie your stern to the bridge…it’s messy.

-my hot water stays hot enough for a shower for at least 24 hours without having to run the engine or furnace.

-my favorite cider is Thatchers Haze (because that’s what’s within reach at this moment)

-never miss the opporunity to say hello to the person walking by. You never know what you’ll learn.

-check your oil and filters regularly.

-don’t mess with a parent swan. Or any swan. Geese are friendly by comparison.

-wave to kids. Even if they don’t wave back, their mother will.

Some pictures:

Dorothy, chillin on my couch.

Farm fresh

Anyone have any idea what the hell this is?

Don’t hit my boat, I just varnished it.

Even small village churches are cool.

So, I’ve been here in Bath for a couple of days. The first night I wandered about the city a bit but it was rather late, I’d been cruising all day, and I was bit tired so called it early. But Bath has one of only four bridges in Europe with shops lining it…

 

I had hoped to do the touristy thing the next day but decided to join some friends

and move down the locks toward the centre of the city. That didn’t prove too successful, there were no moorings anywhere! They continued toward Bristol while I worked my way back up three of the locks before finding a lovely spot to moor for the night.

On the way though was the second deepest lock in England, at 19.5′. I managed it on my own with no issues. It’s tough to control the boat from above, I did it by tying to the long poles running up the sides (a slip line) and opening the paddles just enough to keep it from banging into the walls. Just climbing up after entering was an experience!

Here’s my view for the evening…

I couldn’t leave the boat however, as it was a disabled spot and I had to stay in case it was needed and I could move the boat. Nobody ever came however.

So it’s now the next day, I quickly moved up to the top of the locks and found an amazing mooring, right at the top of a path leading directly (5 minutes) to the centre of the city. I walked into town with a fellow (Rich) that works in the Roman Baths, so he got me in right away, bypassing the line!

A further tour of this beautiful city, and back to the Bath Abbey. It dominates the skyline, and is quite a beautiful church. However, they’re doing a huge renovation of the floor. In Victorian times the stones on the floor were removed and replaced rather haphazardly. Most were monuments (perhaps had people’s remains under them) but were often broken an replaced in the wrong places. In addition, the floor has subsided in locations where heating pipes were added so it all has to be catalogued and removed again. Volunteers are attemping to glean as much information as they can from the writing on the stones, often very difficult to do. Once the floor is stabilized again, they’re going to pipe hot spring water (from the Roman Baths next door) underneath to both heat the building and keep it at a constant temperature. Very cool (and expensive) project.

 

Okay, gotta send this, have wifi at the pub! I’ve been sending a lot of pictures, which requires quite a bit of bandwidth. So in the next few days I might bore you all and write some words. They’re easier to upload through my phone… I’ve had a lot of experiences, met a lot of people, and had plenty of time to think as I putter along at a couple of miles per hour. I might start putting some of those thoughts down.

I miss everyone and hope you are all well. Please feel free to Email, WhatsApp, Hangouts, Viber, or Messenger me (or just comment on the blog), I’d love to hear from you.