Kennet & Avon revisited – “A pub crawl by any other name!”

Tuesday May 29 2012

Following on from our highly enjoyable canal cruise in March, a reprehensible drunk came up with the idea of a walk from Freshford to Bradford On Avon on the canal towpath with the object of revisiting some of our haunts.  With the help of the National Rail website I established it was possible to leave Exeter just before 10 with a train to Freshford (changing at Westbury) and returning from Bradford On Avon at 21:23 all for the princely sum of £9.60 – thank you Senior Railcard.

A few weeks ago (at the height of the wettest period for ages) I floated the idea to Garry who was excited enough to pass on the invite to the rest of the crew.  Garry and I agreed on the 29th of May as the first convenient date in his hectic social calendar and coincidentally the day after my 63^rd birthday – a sort of celebration?  An invite was sent to all of the crew but unfortunately only Phil was able to join us – isn’t it incredibly difficult to find a mutual date for 6 retired fogies!  Paddy would love to have joined us but was concerned how his back would hold up with our speed walking !!

Incredibly for the end of May the forecast for our day was at least dry and it was certainly sunny when I made my way to Taunton station to join up with Garry and Phil already ensconced on the train from Exeter.  Strangely soon after we left Taunton the skies became overcast but we consoled ourselves with assurance the day would stay dry.

A change at Westbury entailed a 50 minute wait extended by 10 minutes by the late running connection from Brighton which arrived with a police escort in our carriage. The delay at Westbury provided Garry with the opportunity to mug me for my train fare plus a tenner conned out of me by the actions of the useless reserve West Brom keeper whose mother sadly forgot to keep her legs closed enabling the cheating chaps from North London to deprive my glory boys from a third place finish – oh thank you Mrs Fulop!

So very slightly later than planned we arrived at Freshford to start our walk from the station with our first stop to be The Hop Pole Inn at Limpley Stoke.  I had previously found directions with road names but climbing the hill from the station it soon became apparent that West Wiltshire District Council doesn’t agree with such conveniences – mind it does seem you’re stepping back in time and perhaps they still believe a German invasion is imminent.  The village of Freshford is very pretty and so it was a nice walk bearing in mind it was all road and by good fortune we found our way with ease  

Within 25 minutes our immediate destination hove into view

and we prepared ourselves for our first pint.  Now it is always a danger when retracing your steps that places you go are rarely the same with ones memory playing nasty tricks on you but on this occasion such concerns were groundless – the Bath Gem

was excellent although you may struggle to appreciate that as the lads didn’t look that cheerful! The food too was as good as we remembered and in the end we had to have 2 more pints to prove our memory not playing tricks.

So eventually leaving (the pub was closing) we passed the village library

and the station

although the last train stopping here may have been the Titfield Thunderbolt.

The landlord at the pub had suggested we vary our walk slightly by following a footpath a cross the meadows by the river towards Avoncliff instead of the canal towpath. This we decided to do and it was convenient for some

and the river was indeed attractive.

After some 20 minutes we did have to join the towpath for the final short stretch to the Viaduct which was once again convenient. 

The canal level was much higher than we cruised this stretch in March and I’m not sure Garry’s help was now needed.

Soon we were at the Viaduct

and the second right hand turn which caused the helmsman so much grief

before we moored that Tuesday evening those weeks ago.

As then we considered it was time for an immediate pint in the Cross Guns

although it was now warm enough to sit at the tables by the river –fortunately the pub had recovered these after the majority floated away in the flooding at the beginning of the month.

Again it would have been rude to only have the one pint – in truth we had to in order to find out if the second one would be better than the first –

it wasn’t!

A shame although Garry and Phil explained that the Lithuanian barmaid was clueless at pouring a pint!

Onwards to Bradford along the stretch of canal which seems to be one long line of moored boats in various states of repair

or offering produce for ones delight

- we gave this a miss.  Again the towpath hedge came in useful for some

 

whilst another party member attempted to relive his childhood.

Before you knew it we were in Bradford On Avon with a view through the bridge into the lock

and from the bridge looking back to the spot we had moored that first night.

 

Whilst there a boat came into the lock and we were given a show of working a boat single handed

Impressively he was soon on his way.

We strolled off into the town stopping to look at The Three Horseshoes

and the chippy

we planned to visit later and we took in the river bridge.

 

In deference to Phil’s planning on the actual trip we thought it would be only fair to visit one of the other pubs he had identified – The Castle Inn.  Actually the hills up to this establishment seemed a lot harder than before but the effort was indeed worthwhile

The beer was delightful and the barmaid ..........................................knew her beer!

As the time was pressing on and we needed food we made our way back down to the town passing back over the river bridge and another fine Bathstone building

to an excellent fish and chip supper and a couple more pints of Bob’s (halves for Phil and I on the last round) in the Three Horseshoes.

Our trains were on time for the return journey with only a short wait at Westbury for the connection.  I was dropped at Taunton just before 22:40, some 10 minutes too late for the last bus home – this I knew would happen so the 35 minute walk was no shock and when added to the 5 or so walked earlier it was not a strenuous day - although my body may think the 8 and a half pints was!

Just a great day –Paddy, John, Brian - a great shame you weren’t able to join us but I’d love to do it again so maybe another time!

Day 1: Hilperton to Bradford on Avon

I met up with the rest of the crew at Sainsbury’s in Taunton for a pre-adventure beverage (of the coffee variety!) and a quick stock up of essentials led by our Chief Purser and Master Chef for the trip, Garry Vercoe.  Then onwards for the 50 mile drive to Hilperton, near Trowbridge for the boatyard and for the majority their first taste of canal boating.

After being shown our home for the next 4 nights we were subjected to a 10 minute DVD explaining locks, swing bridges and other potential hazards before being unleashed on the British Waterways network – the fools!  The first potential headache was actually getting out of the boatyard as in their infinite wisdom they had allocated us a boat hemmed in by others and not facing the way we were planning to go – or more correctly the way our chief navigator planned.  With the assistance of a boatyard employee (who had also displayed a very helpful knowledge of local pubs) we were eventually on our way cruising to our first stop at Bradford on Avon – a voyage of some 3 miles.

As I’d foolishly admitted to previous canal experience and was standing near the tiller I “volunteered” to steer the first half before handing over to Garry who then performed splendidly for the remainder of the voyage – including traffic lights at a bridge under repair and negotiating our first lock of the trip at Bradford on Avon.

However he did disgrace himself with girlie noises due to getting slightly damp from a trickle of water leaking around the lock gate – a 70’ boat in a lock with 18” to spare you have to be at back to get bottom lock gates open. He was upset we ignored his pathetic screams!

Exiting the lock and our night mooring was found 100 yards away – but only 20 from the back door of The Canal Tavern.

So as the sun was above the yardarm somewhere we adjourned to the hostelry for our first beer – well my first one as the rest of the crew had been at the bottles whilst I was steering.

The evening was then spent sampling ales interrupted only be fish and chips and a massive route march as Phil had an itinerary of dubious pubs he wanted to visit which all seemed to be uphill –

The Canal Tavern – as described conveniently by canal but a Wadsworth pub with resulting awful beer

Three Horseshoes – a local’s pub (which other landlords said we were lucky to exit alive) but we found it friendly with excellent beer

StationPlace Fish and Chip Bar – a sit down meal in the winners of the Wiltshire Times “Best Fish and Chip Shop in Wiltshire 2011.” It was excellent!

The Bunch of Grapes – very expensive with Irish landlord holding an Irish Quiz night – mind numbing so we left after 1

The Castle – worth the find (after several wrong turns) with good beer and barmaids

And then back to Three Horseshoes for one final pint before last orders.  Brian then disappointed as although “time” called barmaid continued to pour pints only to tell him she couldn’t serve him more – still kept pouring for locals whilst telling him.  To be honest we didn’t need more especially as we had to bear in mind the onboard facilities may not cope!!!  

Day 2 : Bradford on Avon to Avoncliff

Gary displayed his culinary skills in stunning fashion producing a breakfast with eggs, bacon and fried bread so we were able to set off fully recharged.  It would be a leisurely cruise to our lunch stop near Limpley Stoke with the vast number of moored boats on the stretch from Bradford keeping our speed down to a mere 2 mph.  There is a side effect of reduced speed in that boat does become less responsive to steer but as John proved there can be a benefit of these moored craft in that you can bounce off them to get back online.

John testing out the boat's swingability

Avoncliff Aqueduct

Mooring for lunch a five minute walk from Limpley Stoke we proceeded to our lunch time refuelling stop of The Hop Pole, a lovely 17^th century monks retreat which was reputedly used in the filming of the “Titfield Thunderbolt” and the “Remains of the Day” – lovely pints of Bath Gem and great sandwiches.  Again we were made most welcome although without us spending £40 on beer and £30 on food lunchtime trade would have comprised two lady walkers drinking tea and a grumpy old local straight out of Fawlty Towers!

We then motored on to go over the Dundas aqueduct where we turned the boat in the opening to the derelict Somerset Coal canal before going back to our overnight stop at Avoncliff.

But not everyone was on boats

Dundas Aqueduct

To get to our mooring we had to go back over the aqueduct a trick of navigation mastered with a round of applause for the helmsman steering superbly for the first 90 degree turn onto the structure – only for his reputation being destroyed by the opposite turn at the other end – I say what a stupid place to put a bank!

Evening food and drink enjoyed at the Cross Guns Inn although the best beer was not one of their own from the local Box Steam Brewery but an interloper from Brighton.

http://www.crossguns.net/history.html

Another splendid day where the kitty took a hammering!

Some videos -

Cruising after lunch - http://youtu.be/dzHW0k0kEEg

Crew disembark to visit Hop Pole Inn - http://youtu.be/MlLvq08xP4M

Day 3 : Avoncliff to Seend Cleeve

After another excellent breakfast (dare we say better after purchase of non-stick pan) Phil had his first steering adventure taking us from Avoncliff for the first 3 miles or so – he acquitted himself superbly, especially as this included our attempt to emulate the Titanic by having water a couple of inches deep flow through the luxury front cabin occupied at night by Phil and Paddy.  We’d cruised the couple of miles back to Bradford where after the lock we planned to take on water and make use of the facilities for personal clear outs thus saving the boats for night emergencies – with the age of our crew highly likely!  Plans scuppered by selfish other boater getting to water tap first meaning we had to pull over to get crew back on board after working the lock a 100 yards or so passed the water point. 

Bradford on Avon lock - Garry's favourite watering spot

Whilst tethered to the bank waiting for crew and the two who had disappeared to Sainsbury’s for bread, Phil raced through the boat doing his best Corporal Jones impersonation claiming water flooding through front cabin.  We mocked him thinking he was suffering from lack of alcohol (it was about 10) only to find he was serious.  As it was not dirty canal water we assumed we had not hit an iceberg and so were not holed below the waterline but must be coming from our own water tank.

Fortunately we were due to pass the boatyard within an hour so phoned ahead for them to be prepared.  As Garry and John were not back from shopping our captain decided he would stay ashore to tell them what had happened and walk with them along the towpath whilst Phil, Paddy and myself would start off – we hadn’t previously appreciated that Captain Jeffery clearly has Italian ancestry!  As it happened the walkers caught us up within a short time and were able to leap aboard at one of the bridges.  Brian then thought he ought to study the manual and found reference to pump switches in the front cabin.  Paddy pressed these and hey presto the water stopped. As he immediately thought it was our fault he turned white and used language only previously heard some years ago when Garry found his train to attend cricket didn’t stop Taunton Saturdays.

Safely back to the boatyard the engineer leaped onboard and announced it wasn’t our fault as a filter on the water pump had blown and he set about a repair.  Another member of the staff from the yard then appeared with a gigantic vacuum and sucked some 500 litres of escaped water out of the boat – it was amazing in less than an hour the boat had been dried and our water tank refilled.  Strangely the engineer had said this was an incident he’d never known before although he had diagnosed problem within 5 seconds.

We left the yard and motored for an hour and a half to Semington where we planned to moor up for a lunch of bread, cheese and wine – some members of crew had been topping up with bottled beer on leaving the boatyard.  They will remain nameless but it wasn’t me.  After lunch we then motored on through 4 locks and 3 swing bridges to our night mooring opposite the Barge Inn at Seend Cleeve.  The afternoon had been splendid with blue skies and warm sunshine.

and every opportunity is taken to save stress on the boat's facilities

Moored up at 4:30 we set off to investigate the two local pubs only to find the Barge didn’t open until 5:30.  Undeterred we knew there was another (The Brewery) within a few hundred yards only to find this didn’t open until 6:30 – alien hours these Wiltshire villages keep.  We walked further into the village but no other hostelry appeared so we made our way back across fields to the Barge for opening time.  Sadly it was another Wadsworth pub with the most expensive beer of our trip but nowhere near the quality.  So Brian, Garry and myself only stopped for a second whilst the others returned to the boat for showers and we then moved onto the Brewery Inn to establish a bridgehead for the evening beer and food – a great choice although 1 or 2 regretted the flirtation with the orange cider at the end of the evening – I thought it was fine!

A Swing bridge video - http://youtu.be/NY-Mjm2kP2Q