I must be getting soft after all this warm weather as it felt quite cool this morning when I got up, only 15C! We soon warmed up with a cup of tea. I wandered in to the village to get the Sunday paper so we had a lazy morning reading the paper and listening to the Archer's, Desert Island Discs and Just a minute. Whilst walking back from the shop near the boat I hear a chrrr'ing. I had never heard it before and could tell it was from a bird in the bush. I stopped to see if I could see what it was but just saw a small dark brown bird fly off and heard it again from a more distant bush. No idea what it was even after a bit of detective work. An ongoing task I think. Later we heard what we though was somebody whistling for a dog. It went on for a while and seemed to moving all round. I went out to see what was going on to see a couple of red kits flying about. They both had nest building material in their beaks and looked to be nesting in a nearby tree. I looked in the book and it says their call is like a dog being called!
This lamp post is in the middle of the road and it to commemorate the fiftieth, or Golden Anniversary of Queen Victoria in 1887.
Some lovely cottages down Church Road in Great Bedwyn.
St Mary's Church in Great Bedwyn with a fancy battlement on it's tower.
We had a lovely lunch of fresh home made bread and cheese. We have been keeping away from bread and cheese recently so it was doubly pleasurable to have both. The Wessex Rose Hotel boat came creeping past too so they didn't get held up very long I was pleased to hear. Once full of bread and cheese we went on a walk to to make room for more.
Looking back to the village of Great Bedwyn. The waving barley makes the picture look out of focus in the foreground.
The path passed through these woods and it made me feel as if I were abroad somewhere as the trees looked like those from the tropics. I couldn't tell what the trees were that have been planted in a long avenue.
Wilton windmill was built in 1821 as the canal had reduced the water to the local water mills. It became disused in 1920. It was left to decay until a group of enthusiasts started to restore it in 1971 and it was completed in 1976. It is now run by a trust.
The walk was very varied and this section was through a rape field. It will be harvested when the 'beans' have turned black.
Wilton was another village with many thatched roofs. We did notice that some had gone down the cosmetic make over. That is that they had just had the front elevation thatched and the rest was as normal. This house did make us a little envious though. We declined going for a pint at the Swan in the village as it was busy and most seemed to be eating.
The summit pound is short on the Kennet and Avon and one problem for the canal is the chalk landscape and no surface water. Fortunately they managed to dam up some spring fed streams around Wilton and form a little lake Wilton or Wide Water. This abuts the canal at Crofton and that is why the pumping station was built there. It is about half a mile long.
The skies started to look threatening as we left Crofton and we just made it back to the boat before the rain came down. I quite like this phot with the sun on the buildings and the dark clouds behind.
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