In which Sid and Doris plan to menace the peaceful Kennet and Avon Canal in the mighty vessel Lydia.
The Kennet and Avon Canal links Bristol to London, filling the gap between the Avon and the Kennet which in turn joins the London River at Reading. The canal was complete by 1810 but soon in competition with the Great Western Railway which bought in up and ran it down. After the nationalisation of the railways in 1947 the canal became to responsibility of the Docks and Inland Waterways Board, which had no use for it. The cut silted up and the locks rotted away. The canal has been rebuilt by volunteer effort since the late 1960s. Thank you.
Wikipedia has a page about the canal here, telling you about its history and restoration and also giving a useful lock-by-lock map which Sid and Doris may find helpful for timing meal stops, although navigation on a canal is generally unchallenging.
Sid and Doris will be aboard Lydia, an innocent narrow boat chartered for adventures from Sally Boats in Bradford on Avon (bottom left on the map). Lydia was chosen for having a wood burning stove in a tiny sitting room in the bows where to sit watching the abundant wildlife while sipping local produce. Once tied up, obviously. Sid likes to think she is named after Lydia Weld one of the first women to qualify as naval architects from MIT. Also the 22 ton Lydia is welded together. How satisfying. Doris’s more musical take is to sing “Lydia The Tattooed Lady” as performed by Kermit the frog.
We will be setting off on Monday 19th April. Lockdown 3 should have ended, but the front deck of Lydia contains some comfortable seats for drinking beer after mooring up in case the pubs are not yet open. Our plans are to go to Bath and then to Bristol, Doris’s university town and home to many memories, mostly of being rained on.
And yes, we will be taking some mascots. The Collective have been practising their narrowboat formation-sitting.