What a difference a day makes.

We set off despite the forecast rain as I was convinced that it would never amount to much and so it turned out. I only had a waterproof on for 5 minutes but it was a bit miserable.

This is the first lifeboat I have seen that still has the ship's name still stenciled on. This one was actually a four leg semi submersible  oil drilling rig. It was built in 1982 in South Korea and is currently moored midway between Scotland and Norway. It will never have been to it's port of registry, Port Vila, in Vanuatu.  I wonder if they know that they are a lifeboat missing?

We stopped for water just past the Barge Inn. The water point is not really marked on the towpath and of course somebody was moored on it. We managed to squeeze in and filled up quickly with good pressure. We were soon on our way again

A better view of the Alton White Horse.

The canal navigates round Picked Hill. Is it just me or can you make out a walking cave man in the chalk outline?

Lady's Bridge is more detailed than most as the Canal Company had to pander to the wishes of Lady Susannah Wroughton to allow them to build the cut through her land. Not only did she get a nice bridge she also had the canal widened to make it seem like a lake. You can see the black and white poles that mark the deep water through the 'lake'. Tixall Wide it isn't!

We found a mooring at Pewesy Wharf and after lunch headed in to town for a look around and a bit of shopping.

This was above an empty small water trough off the road into the town. I have not seen this type of thing before and liked the poem a lot.

The Old Fire Station has been taken over by the Pewsey Carnival Committee. The Carnival in the village is the longest running in Wiltshire, since 1898.

At a road junction in the village is this statue of King Alfred who wandered around these parts. It is also around here that he made a pact with his brothers that whoever survived the battles to halt the Vikings trying to invade Wessex. King Alfred managed it in the end. It is actually to commemorate the coronation of King George V in 1911. The thatched building behind was built in 1823 as the local workhouse.

We found that the Heritage Centre was open and we dived in just as it chucked it down with rain. the £2 entrance was actually well worth it as we spent over an hour looking at all aspects of the places history. The museum is housed in the old foundry of Whatley and Co that made all sorts of engines and castings for other equipment. They made parts for guns and ammunition in WWII. After doing some shopping at Coop. we wandered back a different way. 

The cottage is Ball Cottage which is the oldest in Pewsey and was built in the 16th Century. I loved the street light and sign posts.

We wandered back on a track to keep clear of the main road and found a path back to the canal that was a little muddy in one small area but crossed the River Avon on this small bridge and came out at Just's Mill that has a fen in the old days.