We set off at about 9.15am and arrived at the first lock about ten minutes later. There were 7 to do before we got to the Caen Flight proper, and the only other boats on the water were boats hired from Foxboat Marina which was just before our first lock. We had negotiated that Chris would do the first 7 locks and then I'd take over so I was on the towpath to take a photo of us starting up the main flight. I did the next 8 locks, the first 4 of which I did on my own. For those of you who fancy an intellectual challenge, I have drawn a diagram of the process of doing a lock on your own.
By my calculation, you walk 10 lengths of the lock (6 on the left and 4 on the right), that's 700 feet, plus the width of the lock over the bridge 6 times which is about 120 feet, plus the distance to the next lock - say 200 feet, 3 times, 600 feet. So the total distance one person walks around the lock when doing it on their own is 1420 feet - 473 yards or so!!
So 4 locks at least a mile! So I did the first 4 locks on my own, there wasn't a single Canal and River Trust volunteer to be seen. But we got to Lock 5 on the way up the 16 and they started coming out of the woodwork! And then we had fantastic help - they prepared the next lock ready for us to go into, they wound the paddles on one side and opened the gates, and so I had a lot of help for the rest of my allotted locks, and Chris had help for all of his!! (Not that I'm bitter or anything!)
There were some good views to be had along the way today.
This was the view back along the canal after the first three locks before we got to the Caen flight proper.
And here we are starting the flight as a boat is finishing the main flight coming down. It is quite a daunting sight!
And when you are in the flight going up, you really can't see them all stretching before you - but you know they are there!! Looking back down does give you some sense of achievement though.
You can see the white building at the bottom of the lock. Still quite large here. We've just passed a boat going down which you can see in the lock in the picture.
And the view from the tiller! There was a lot of wind today - I believe it has been much worse further north, but it was good to have the next lock ready to drive into so you didn't have to battle the wind in the short distance between locks.
The CRT Volunteers were really lovely. They came here once a week and enjoyed the physical demands of the job, the social aspects and the planning - which boat is going to be getting into that lock first, so should it be empty or full now? They were really helpful and very encouraging!
When we got to the top of the flight the cafe was open so we decided to stop for lunch, which was an excellent decision - soup and cheese scone or soup and a toastie. With coffee - a great reward for the effort involved. The next 6 locks were to take us up to Devizes proper. A boat had just come down (with the couple we had gone down the Bath locks with as it happened!) so we exchanged some cheery words with them, and then pressed on. Many of the lock gates leak and so the plants on the lock gates are well watered. They look a bit like the vertical gardens you see on some posh buildings in London!
There were quite a few people watching us do the gates along this stretch. A Polish family who asked lots of questions and were keen to help. At the next lock there was another family who were waiting for grandpa and dad to come and pick them up. Alfred (6 and a half) and his little sister Molly (4 perhaps) were very interested in what was going on, and they and their mum and grandma helped me open the gate. It was very heavy, and not very well balanced so I was very grateful, and they were very proud!
We finished the 6 locks before 4.00pm and found somewhere to moor and go into Devizes to buy some food. We think we are going to be away from civilisation for the next couple of nights, so meals on board would be helpful! We then moved onward to a community called Horton where there are moorings and a pub. We were moored up just before 6.00pm, so I've written this before we go and have dinner. For me, the following is 'shot of the day'. You can see what an achievement the engineering is to get from the bottom to the top and give you this view.
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