Kennet & Avon Canal and the Slipway Problem

We are fast discovering that the most challenging (and frustrating) aspect of exploring canals and rivers in our Winsome pedal boat, is trying to find spots where we can launch a 17 foot boat into the water and leave the car for the day. We can happily launch Winsome straight over a canal bank but only if it has a right angle edge and a drop of less than 2 foot into the water. There are plenty of such spots on canals but (a) they are rarely close to convenient parking and (b) without walking every canal bank concerned, we have no way of finding out where they are. We will certainly note them in this blog whenever and wherever we find them!

So, we tend to have to identify slipways in advance and head for those. But finding slipways using a combination of the current canal guides, relevant websites and Google is proving problematic.

The bad news is that listed slipways sometimes turn out not to be or sometimes belong to private marinas who will charge you more to launch and recover than our entire British Waterway (BW) licence for the year. The local BW office (when we call or email them) are usually polite and friendly but seem bemused by the strange notion of launching anything smaller than a narrowboat (for a season) or larger than a canoe (for a day). They are even unaware of the existence of some slipways – even when these are on their towpath. If BW want to encourage more day visitors onto the canals, then they need to provide more slipways and provide better information about those there already are.

However, the good news (we are discovering) is that, if you are lucky enough to find a slipway, you can pretty much guarantee to be the only boat launching there all day (or all week or month maybe) so it’s a delightfully low stress activity and very quick and easy to execute. If only finding them was similarly hassle free. We have so far had to call off two trips because we simply couldn’t find anywhere without making the long journey to look.

Anyway, having been told about a delightful 8-9 mile stretch of the Kennet & Avon canal which is lock free from the Eastern outskirts of Bath to Bradford on Avon, it looked like a perfect Winsome day outing. We called the Bath & Dundas Canal Co. at Brassknocker Basin but discovered that their slipway is only available to the public for 3 days mid-week and then only, they said, with 3-4 days notice. (Having visited here by car and seen how narrow and busy this boat park and hire spot is, we were not surprised).

Fortunately, we then found the Bradford on Avon Marina who were very happy to accommodate us for a very reasonable £10 (including parking).



With so much space and no interruptions, the boat was off the roof, assembled (engine, seats, fenders, lines, etc), launched and ready to go in 20-25 minutes. Perfect.

Heading West, our hope was to get through Bradford lock (unfortunately, the only available slipway landed us the wrong side of this) and head for Bath over the famous Dundas Aqueduct. After ¾ mile, we reached the lock and moored up to go and inspect it from a Winsome perspective. The lock itself looked fine but it was very busy with a small queue of boats waiting and (not surprisingly) an expectation for two boats to fit into the lock at a time. So, we watched the first two boats go through and could suddenly see where canal “barges” get their name from – especially when driven by people who have only been in charge of a boat for, perhaps an hour. For example, the skipper of the boat on the left happily employed the other boat, the lock walls and the exit lock gates as ready alternatives to engaging reverse gear.



We decided that we weren’t happy to risk Winsome sharing such a ‘barging’ space. Also, it brought home to us that queuing for locks might be fine when you are boating for a week but, when you only have a few short hours and hope to complete a 10 mile or so passage, then queuing (and the risk of further queues on the way back) is not an attractive option. So, we executed a neat 3 point turn and headed East instead vowing to return this way on a quiet mid week day, in say, November when, hopefully, there will be no queue and no “barges” to share the lock with.

The passage East was attractive but a bit less varied and interesting than the one towards Bath. However, the good news is that it was a nice clear run of 4.5 miles before the next lock and we spotted two water voles (which we understand is the preferred marketing term for water rat)one on the bank and one swimming across our bow. We also found the number of live-aboard boats fascinating having never seen so many before. We wondered when this guy last took his boat anywhere.



A rare half hour of blistering sunshine gave the crew a chance to try out his new golfing umbrellas as a putative Winsome sunshade – he seemed pleased.



One of the diversions en route was the impressive Staverton marina where, pedalling under its impressive bridge entrance,



we found an entire modern housing complex attractively located around a marina. What a perfect spot for a Winsome owner (we thought) but disappointingly (and slightly unnervingly) the place seemed to be a ghost town – despite the sunny afternoon, we saw only 1 inhabited balcony and 1 inhabited boat – where were all these people?



We were also intrigued by one person’s approach to docking their 60 foot narrowboat conveniently outside their house.



After an hour, we reached Buckley’s lock and the junction with the derelict Wilts and Berks canal.



A helpful boat owner advised us that the local pub sold excellent ice creams and he was right – mango or strawberry made with clotted cream. Yum.
Suitably iced, we turned for home – pleased that the erstwhile sunshades work equally well as umbrellas given a sudden downpour.

We had one slightly tricky moment on the return journey, as we speeded up (on a long, straight stretch) to overtake a 60 foot narrowboat which was travelling just slightly too slowly for us only to struggle to pass him (given the dragging effect of his wake) before encountering another narrow boat heading towards us. That took some puff! Phew. We have noticed this dragging (almost sucking) effect before when passing narrow boats (on narrow strips of water). We close a boat in front very quickly (if it’s travelling at 3mph, say) but then, once abreast of it, we struggle to pull past it.

Anyway, all in all, not quite the passage we had planned but still another enjoyable day’s cruise of around 11 miles.

Lake Coniston

Fresh from our triumphs on the Lancaster Canal, we repaired to Lake Coniston on Sunday July 8th to meet Mike Byrne, who plans to pedal Winsome the entire length of the Caledonian Canal next month. We arrived at 9am to an almost empty boat centre, meeting Mike and his girlfriend Verity in time to demonstrate the delights of unloading and assembling Winsome.



There is a slipway charge at Coniston based on boat length, and ours came to £12.50. The slipway itself is ideal for Winsome, being hard and shallow with a jetty alongside. We managed to launch without getting wet, and could then pull the boat alongside the jetty.



Mike and Verity set off for a short cruise in very promising sunshine, while we waited for the cafe to open at 10, ordered a cappucino and sat at one of the beachside tables waiting for Mike to return as the lake started to come to life.



Coniston is about 6 miles long and there are no large settlements on its banks. The National Trust owns a good deal of the shore, and the lake appears to be reserved for unpowered and electric boats. At the Coniston Boat Centre you can launch unpowered and electric craft, hire wonderful classic rowing boats, and less attractive but more practical electric launches. You can also hire or bring your own canoes and kayaks, or take one of the frequent boat trips.

Easily the most spectacular trip boat is the very elegant steam launch Gondola, captained and crewed for the day by two gentlemen of taste and sagacity in equal measure. They were clearly smitten by Winsome, and honoured her with a blast on the steam hooter every time we crossed wakes throughout the day.



When Mike and Verity returned, we dragged the boat out of the water up the beach, using the inflatable boat rollers. On his Caledonian Canal voyage, Mike will probably need to do this overnight, definitely if there is rough weather. He returned to Scotland with a better idea of how easy (or not) it is to handle a 70KG, 5.5M plastic boat in what were ideal conditions. Fortunately for him, he should have more people on hand when he needs to do this for real.

By the time Mike and Verity had departed, Winsome had attracted a fair number of curious admirers, and she was much photographed.



We had arranged to meet some family and friends for the rest of the day, and everyone - even the New Zealander - enjoyed a quick spin in Winsome.





For lunch, we decided to leave the crowded beach at the boat club and head for a picnic rendezvous at the other end of the lake. The others had to go by car, and would have missed some of the splendid scenery you can only appreciate from the water.



.. not to mention the scuba divers who appeared out of nowhere to startle our dozy crew



We tied up for lunch at a public launch jetty at the other end of the lake. Canoes and Kayaks can beach almost anywhere, but Winsome is more sedate and needs a smooth beach or ideally a jetty like this one. Park a Moor is the nearest jetty to Peel Island, widely thought to be the model for a fictional island on Lake Windermere which features in the famous children's book "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome. Those of us who had read the book were keen to see the island close up, and a series of circumnavigations were duly arranged.





Alas, few children of today would be allowed by their protective parents to sail unsupervised to an island, let alone spend the night there. We were delighted, therefore, to see what looked like a full re-enactment of at least some of the sense of adventure. Red-hatted pirates and a Skull and Cross Bones flag were to be seen, and the secret harbour housed two period sailing dinghies.







After our lunch and boat trips, we parted company with our friends and set off back to the top end of the lake, this time following the western shore.



The weather remained sunny, though the strengthening breeze was now producing a slight southerly swell, which became more pronounced as we neared the top end of the lake. This made for some fine dinghy sailing, and even some quite large yachts went out - some of them gamely beating their way south, others gently motoring south for (one hopes) a downwind return.

After a quick look at the very top of the lake, we returned to the slipway and recovered the boat to the intense admiration of everyone. Time for a final cup of tea at the excellent beach-side brasserie, and we were on our way home.

Coniston really suits Winsome, being almost a designated "green" lake. One could even believe that the boat in its present form might be a viable rental product on Coniston - the captain of the Gondola reckons Coniston's visitors to be gentler and "more sophisticated" than the more exuberant Windermere trippers, who were thought by the boat hire company there to present too robust a challenge for such a delicate craft!

All in all, a great day out. Winsome maintains her 100% record of never failing to deliver her potential, but the standard is getting higher and higher.

Lancaster Canal

The Lancaster canal runs from Preston to Kendal. Only the Southern part is currently navigable but this includes a 41 mile lock free stretch which makes it an attractive proposition for Winsome.

As we needed to travel up the M6 in order to demonstrate Winsome to some folks on Lake Coniston, it seemed a waste to zoom straight past the Lancaster canal without sampling what it has to offer – especially as one gets tantalising glimpses of it from the motorway.

So, a few days before we set off, we tried to find where we could launch a 17 foot pedal boat for a day on the Lancaster canal. We found 3 slipways listed by British Waterways and called up all 3 to enquire about launching a day boat on their slipway. Unfortunately, we discovered that all 3 were owned and operated by private marinas and would charge us £30 for the privilege (£15 each way). It seems it’s cheaper to launch at the height of the season at Henley-on-Thames than on the Lancaster canal!

So, we contacted British Waterways to see if they could advise us on a means to access their canal for less than the cost of our annual BW licence! Sadly not. The BW staff we managed to talk to didn’t know of any public slipway. Once again we found that launching on canals as day visitors is not a recognised nor particularly welcome concept on many inland waterways.

But we are persistent, so Saturday morning saw us, map in hand, inching our way along the A6 (which runs alongside the northern end of the canal) trying to find possible launch spots. Thus we happened on the “Canal Turn” pub at Carnforth – we drove into their carpark, stepped across the towpath and there was a slipway! Not a great one but certainly good enough for us. We called the telephone number advertised on the BW sign nearby and spoke to a friendly official who didn’t know about the slipway but thought it probably belonged to BW given it was on the towpath side!



The only problem was where to park so we tracked down the landlord of the Canal Turn pub who was very friendly and quite happy for us to park and offload the boat as long as we patronised the pub which we were certainly very happy to do!
Launching was straightforward and with the added pleasure that the marina slipway (which we could see directly opposite) would have set us back by £30!

The first part of the canal running south from Carnforth is close to the A6 which makes it slightly noisy but not unpleasantly so. A sudden downpour might have dampened our spirits but the latest addition to Winsome’s onboard kit of two large golfing umbrellas means that such sudden showers no longer hold any fear for us.



Nearing Hest Bank, we encountered the Hatlex Swing Bridge. We moored alongside and both went ashore to investigate whether we could open the bridge and, if so, how. Having tried our BW key in the padlock and discovered it didn’t work, we then spotted we didn’t need to unlock anything, simply push.

So, the helmswoman nipped back to Winsome whilst the crew put their back into swinging Hatlex bridge open. Unfortunately, the conditions were extremely gusty and, in the absence of the considerable (and delightfully sociable) ballast usually provided by the crew, a gust caught the bow as I approached the bridge and swung Winsome hard around across the narrow canal. Without being able to get up speed (no room) and without forward ballast (no crew), she would not turn back into the wind. By this time, the boat had turned right around and I pondered reversing through the bridge but decided it would be easier to take her to the bank and rope her through.

If one is Winsoming any distance single handed, Nick has provided a forward chamber which can be filled with water to balance the boat and prevent this kind of thing happening. Unfortunately, we might need to find a very quick way to ballast the boat for these 2 minute solo trips through windy bridges at slow speeds.

On the return trip, the operation looked less risky due to having a following wind but, as there were a group of curious ramblers huddled on the towpath watching us, I took ballast on board (in the form of a helpful female rambler) for the short passage under the bridge. Unfortunately, one might not find such obliging well ballasted ramblers whenever one encounters such a windy solo moment. Food for thought.

Along the last mile of the canal entering Hest Bank, rows of houses of all sizes and ages run down to the canal.



Pedalling past such a creative variety of garden-ends and pontoons proved one of the more entertaining aspects of the trip. It was easy to spot whether the main interest of the residents was in boats, garden plants or simply sitting relaxing by the water.





On arrival in Hest Bank, we moored alongside and employed our new waterproof seat covers in case of further rain. These are simply elasticated rucksack rain covers and serve the purpose perfectly. We just wish they weren’t such a loud orange colour.



Hest Bank runs to an excellent Deli sandwich shop and that served our lunch needs well. Bacon and Salsa, we discovered, is a combination worth trying.

After lunch, we explored another mile or so South of Hest Bank before turning reluctantly around and heading back the 4 miles or so to Carnforth and a welcome drink in the friendly Canal Turn pub.

If we can find other places to launch and recover on this interesting and attractive canal, we will be back.

The Grand Western Canal

Another forecast break in the monsoon and we set off for the Grand Western Canal, an isolated contour canal in Devon, running from Tiverton to the Somerset border. This canal was originally part of a grand scheme to link Bristol to Exeter and provide a more reliable route between the midlands and the south coast. The Grand Western Canal was the only part of this scheme built. It was completed late and way over budget, and never quite established itself before the railways came and took away its market. Although closed to boat traffic for 50 years, the section of the canal from Tiverton to Lowdwells was saved from landfill and is now run by Devon County Council as a country water park. As it doesn't belong to British Waterways, you need a separate licence.

The only public slipway on the canal is at Boehill, near Sampford Peverell. This is very near to Junction 27 on the M5 and Tiverton Parkway station. Tiverton itself is 6.5 miles away by canal, and there is no longer a railway station in the town itself. It is a small irony that while the railway killed the canal as a commercial transport system, the canal has been returned to life as a leisure facility and wildlife habitat.



It was a very straightforward run down to Boehill along the M5. We bought a day licence for £3 and day parking for £1 from the Minnows Touring Park, a touring caravan site on the canal, although (as it turns out) not the actual slipway. We filled out the rather grand form and were duly issued with a paper licence "plate" to stick on the boat. We followed their directions to the slipway which is accessed down a narrow track. This would be a nightmare for someone towing a trailer if they ever met anyone. Fortunately, the track opens out to a very nice slipway area with plenty of room to turn round or, in our case, to unload and assemble the boat. It might not be so stress-free if the slipway was ever busy, and it will require some logistic skill for the canal to host the 2008 Trail Boat festival unless they are planning an additional slipway at the showground.

Once assembled and launched, one half of the crew set off eastwards back to the caravan site while the other returned to park the car there for a very reasonable £1 charge. We arrived at about the same time, turned the boat round, and set off westwards towards Tiverton. The promised break in the weather had not entirely materialised at this point, but the rain was losing some of its enthusiasm.



By the time we had covered the short distance to Sampford Peverall proper, the rain had stopped and there was patchy sun. And it was starting to dawn on us what a really beautiful canal this is. The water is wonderfully clear, and the banks are lush with vegetation.



The many fishermen we saw looked like they expected to catch something. There were kingfishers, and water lillies, and ... duck weed.





Duckweed has a bad reputation among boaters because you often find it on stagnant water, and such water tends to be impassable. But that's not because of the duckweed, which as far as we could tell was simply floating on the surface. As you can see, Winsome cut through it with no apparent effort. I'm guessing it isn't the duckweed but the fact that it hides underwater debris that accumulates on the relatively static water duckweed tends to colonise. In fact, there were no underwater obstructions we encountered, and duckweed is a sign of healthy water - which the Grand Western Canal certainly is.

About halfway between Sampford and Tiverton there is a canalside car park with a lifting pedestrian bridge. We think Winsome could be launched over the bank here, although the safety boulders planted by the CC to stop cars running into the canal would need to be avoided. The lift bridge is a recent construction on an older abutment, and is very finely balanced. You need to open its combination padlock (you get the number with your licence) and then reach up and pull down on the counterweight bar to lift the bridge onto a catch which holds it in the vertical position. When you release the catch, it drops down smoothly but alas not quite completely. This means you have to walk onto the partially open bridge to complete its descent, which is quite noisy - but fun!






We made good progress - our usual 4.1mph on the GPS - along the canal and under its many beautiful bridges. The bridges on the Mon&Brec are somewhat "rustic" by comparison, and I wouldn't mind betting that having so many bridges built with dressed red sandstone must have had some impact on the budget - that, and the late decision by the builders to avoid locks on this section of the canal. This makes it longer than it might have been to follow the contour where feasible, but incorporating costly cuts and embankments where it isn't. That, and the need to divert around the the rather fine house of the Bishoip of Exeter of the time to keep the canal 100 yards away from his doorstep. In the early 1800's, having a canal on your doorstep probably didn't do a lot for property prices. In 2007, of course, everyone wants to be close to the water, provided, of course, that doesn't mean being regularly inundated.



So in about 2 hours we arrived at the canal terminus at Tiverton, which is some way from the town centre (actually at the top of a hill). It's not clear the canal builders expected this arm of the canal to go much further in this direction. At the terminus there is a visitor centre, a floating canal shop (closed when we got there) and a ranger station on the other side of the canal accessed by an intriguing self-operated ferry.





There was also a horse-drawn trip boat, with horse waiting to go. Below the canal at the terminus is a car park and a delightful thatched tea room offering exactly the kind of "light lunch" we were up for after our morning cruise. Not even an unconvincing rain shower could spoil this.

After lunch we returned to the basin to discover that the horse-drawn boat had gone. Hoping we would have no trouble passing her, we set off ourselves. We were surprised to find that it took about a mile to catch the trip boat, and when we passed her the horseman said they reckoned to cover about 2.5 miles in an hour. We would have been gaining on her, therefore, at about 1.5 miles an hour.





We stopped on the way back to examine some of the many water-lily colonies. We had learned from the guide book that, when the canal was under threat in the early 1960's, there was a water-lily business harvesting these delightful plants for wreaths!



We arrived back at Boehill with enough time to spare to explore the upper reaches. The ranger had warned us that the vegetation in the eastern half of the canal might be more obstructive, but what prompted us to turn back was a family of swans with cygnets. We had already made the mistake of splitting a swan family, and this does not go down well. In any case, we'd done our 15 miles for the day and needed to recover the car and get the boat out. This was done with consummate method and skill, and we were on our way in 20 minutes - just in time to join a 20 mile traffic jam on the M5.