Leaving the marina in Newbury was exciting but also a little sad. It had become a small home base and we had even got to know our boat neighbours to say hello to. There was only one live-aboard resident there- most people used their boats if and when they had time. There were also a few abandoned boats but according to Peter, the marina owner, as long as they paid their marina fees they were entitled to stay.
View from the boat
The Duke's spot
From the other side of the marina
This time we would have help to move the boat! Dick's sister, husband Colm and nephew Isaac arrived to start the next adventure. None of them had been on a narrowboat before so it was quite funny when Isaac asked if he could push the buttons when we opened the locks? :-)
Dick, Colm and Isaac stayed on the boat and reversed all the way out of the marina with the help of the flow of the river. Kirsty and I went ahead to the first lock which was literally around the corner.
The trip through Newbury was really the first time that we had seen so many 'gongoozlers'. That is the official name for people who like to watch canal boats go by.... It makes you a little nervous at locks because people like to watch the process, and even if you know it well you worry about messing it up! This time there were lock keepers at the main Newbury lock to open and close the lock for us- that was the first time I had actually been on the boat whilst the boat was in a lock!
Kirsty and Isaac in the cratch (front of the boat)
As I've said before- additional pairs of hands do make life a lot easier in the locks, and it was a beautiful day to be out in the English countryside.
Lock filling up
Kirsty armed with her windlass.
We stopped just west of the Hampstead bridge lock as it was closest to the glamping site that Kirsty and Colm were staying in. Armed with the ingredients for a barbecue that we had purchased in Newbury that morning, we set off for the site. The road we were walking on seemed busier than we had expected but we were soon able to drop everything off and head for a walk to the pub. The road was even busier at this point. With no pathways and on narrow lanes it was becoming more and more difficult. Someone stopped as we were walking past his van and explained that there had been a traffic accident on the A34, a major road north/south nearby, and the road had been closed in both directions for some distance to investigate the crash. That meant that some of the traffic was trying to loop around the closure on the small roads. The sooner we got to the pub, the better but it was hard trying to keep out of the way of cars driving way too fast on such small roads. Just after we arrived at the pub, Dick came up with an alternative plan to send Colm back to get his car at the campsite by bus (ours was still back in Newbury), and then Kirsty could drive us back safely instead of us all walking, which would be much safer. Colm admitted that he hadn't been on a bus in a very long time, and later told us that the driver thought it was a bit weird when he got off just a couple of stops later, but the plan worked perfectly. The A34 wasn't opened again until late that night and the unusual traffic carried on for some time.
Once back at the glamping site, which was actually a shepherds hut with a toilet and shower at the other end of the field, Colm lit the fire for the barbecue.
The shepherds hut
Colm cooking the barbecue
Kirsty and ColmAfter dinner we had to do a hasty walk back to the boat as it was just about dark when we arrived home.
Everyone was up early the next day ready to set off again. There was just a few more locks down to Kintbury where we were meeting one of Colm's friends for lunch. In the mean time, Colm and Isaac took their car to Kintbury and blew up their kayak to come and meet us from the opposite direction.
Colm and Isaac
Following behind us
After a very nice pub lunch, and a relaxing afternoon with the other Jackie, Dick went in the car with the family to go and pick up our car which was still in Newbury.
That evening we had a light salad, followed by a game of Scrabble on the back deck.
After a very hot day onboard, we opted to move again early evening into Hungerford into a spot under some trees- we needed some shade to keep cool and would live without the solar power in favour of that. I walked ahead and we found a great spot which was a short distance from the water and elsan disposal point. No toilets or waste disposal though.
This was another spot where we had to walk the plank... The Kennet and Avon canal is more basin shaped than most canals. Therefore it is deep in the middle and very shallow at the sides so you can't often get the boat right next to the shore. That's where the plank comes in!
Whilst mooring up Dick realised that he had left the hammer at the last mooring spot on the side of the canal. Luckily we had found a slightly rusty hammer at another stop that had been left by another boater buried in the grass and therefore we did have a back up. After mooring up, I set out on another walk back to the previous spot- luckily you can't get too far on a narrowboat! The hammer was exactly where he had left it. Hopefully that is our three lost things done- the key, the windlass and the hammer.
The solicitor we are using to buy the house is based in Hungerford and so our afternoon walk was to his office to meet him and pick up paperwork to sign.
The last day of July was very hot again but our spot under the trees was perfect. We also had good access to a supermarket, and public toilets. Hungerford market also happened to be on that Wednesday so I was able to stock up with some great fresh food. At this point we were planning where to go to next!
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