In which Sid and Doris find the perfect mooring, handy for the Somerset Arms at Semington.
We are sleeping very well on the boat but as you know mules were made to pack and we leave Dundas never looking back. We are now on the way towards the Caen Hill locks so chug past Lydia’s home basin in Bradford.
The tales from the river bank make the miles rush past, at two knots. We pass a variety of Travellers’ boats, though it is clear these are not able to travel and in some cases not actually keep the water out. S knows a bit about boats and he says dry on the inside is a very important thing.
Our favourite on the water is a steam launch which is taking people out for lunch on the water. Very pretty.
Even older than steam launches are pterodactyls which we see along the way in the form of their descendants the herons. Also the first swallow of the summer.
When it is nearly time to stop we find the bank lined with moored boats but press on with hope in our hearts and are rewarded with a slot next to the hump-backed bridge that carries the road into the village. We are by a heritage sign board that explains ongoing attempts to reconstruct the Wilts and Berks Canal. This joined the Kennet and Avon canal to the Thames at both Cricklade, near the start of the Thames, and near Abingdon – handy for Oxford. It seems to have been quite successful and its best years were spent carrying material for the Great Western Railway, which spelt the end of the canal. Doh…
We are allowed to sit outside the Somerset Arms, though a pint of Wadworths won’t win a lot of prizes from the Bonkers judging panel. And so home to Lydia.