It was raining this morning but I had faith that we would be clear of it by about 1030 so we just held on and lo and behold I was correct. We pushed of and went slowly to the lock hoping somebody else would welcome the break and set off, but it seems they didn't have the same faith as me and had gone earlier. So we headed up on our own.
As we passed under the railway bridge before the lock we saw these flood heights carved in the stone. These are about 5 metres above the present water level.
Helen did the first lock and found it a bit stiff and the step up to the beam to cross was too much for her little legs. I took over and it was just as well as it was the Deep Lock that is supposed to be the second deepest on the system. To me the beams of these locks seem to be shorter than would be idle and they are heavy work. It also looks like these locks are made in Netherlands. I've never seen that before and the voluntary lock keeper didn't know the answer either. This lock is deep as it replaced two locks.
Wash House is quite picturesque with its wide basin and painted bridge. The steel bridges were made by Stothert's in Bath. Stothert's were opened in 1785 in Bath. They made all things metal and especially cranes and other dock equipment and I saw it all over the 'Empire'. They became Stothery and Pitt in 1845 when Robert Pitt joined.
Abbey View Lock is well named as you can well see. There is a rubbish point here too.
All that is left of the John Rennie pump house. Believe it or not this is the chimney of it built in the 1830's. There was a pumping station at the bottom of the flight to pump water up to this pound and then a pumping station here to pump it up to the top pound. Some chimney!
Top lock of the Widcombe Locks with the plaque commemorating the reopening of the canal due to the great efforts of the Trust.
Further views of bath stone terraces from the top lock.
We were going to stop for water at the top of the lock but there was a wide beam filling and one waiting so we moved on to Bathampton.
Cleveland Tunnel is really just a road but it has the old Kennet and Avon Company offices above. We did see a hole in the roof and it is rumoured that it could be a route for delivering paperwork directly.
This is the very ornate other end of the tunnel.
The Sydney Pleasure Gardens were completed in 1795 so the Canal Company had to pay a high price to push their route through the gardens. They also had to put these ornate bridges in in 1800.
We stopped at Bathampton to fill up with water and then moved on a little to find a place to moor which we did. After lunch we went for a walk to find some milk and stretch our legs. We found that there was a new looking pump out point, elsan and water just round the corner that isn't on any of the maps or guides we have.
On the other side of the valley this folly is conspicuous. It is Brown's Folly and was built in 1845. It was to provide employment during an agricultural recession and was named after Colonel Wade Brown who instigated it. It is not open to the public at the moment but it is in a 100 acre site of special scientific interest that includes old quarries.
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