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Thursday 24 April 2014

Top of Crofton Thu 24 April 2014

Yesterday evening between the rain showers we walked into Froxfield to look at Somerset Hospital, this is now sheltered accommodation for women over 55 years old DSCF4792  

We had quit a bit of rain overnight and the trains didn’t disturb us so much, maybe we are getting use to them.

This morning CaRT started work dead on 8am putting more soil on the off side bank behind the coir rolls. The boat they are using seems to reverse like a pig and it took him some time to get down the pond into position.DSCF5203

We were away at 0945hrs and the weather was improving nicely. Little Bedwyn lock lays very close to the railway and the foot bridge crosses first the canal and then the line. The train is neverDSCF5205 far from the canal, so you just have to live with it.

We stopped at Great Bedwyn to take on water and then go for a walk around the village. The Cross Keys pub is closed at the moment but says its expecting new management, but who knows when. We walked round to the stone museum but the site is up for sale as a housing plot. The old museum is now The Post Office which is next door to the site and is covered in old stone works.DSCF4796 

As we left the moorings after lunch a boat left the service point just ahead of us so we were able to team up for the next 4 lock. This is the first time we have shared since we were on the Thames. Great Bedwyn has a church with an interesting tower which is the only bit you can see from the canal.DSCF5211

The other boat was only going as far as Crofton Pumping stationDSCF5215 so it was there that we said our good by and continued on up to the summit alone. As we worked our way up the flight, leaving each chamber empty as we went a kite kept a close eye on us circling round and round. As you can see it has a broken feather.DSCF5218

Once at the top of the flight we looked for somewhere to moor for the night. We made our first attempt just passed this familyDSCF5226 but couldn’t get anywhere near the edge. There were two boats moored along this section, the first in nice and close, but the second a S M Hudson boat had his bum hanging out. As  we passed he called out that if we went through the bridge we wouldn’t have a hope of mooring, so we backed up and moored between the two with our bum hanging out as well, but at least from here we could jump ashore at the bows.Map Croften top Today’s Map

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