A day of First’s

 

A first for us. This is our mooring at Reading on the river Thames and its the first time we have ever used a tree to tie to.

Entering Reading after pulling pins at 07.15 and we start heading off the Thames and towards The Kennet and Avon canal.

Another first for us and that's traffic lights on a canal . It says we have 12 minutes to get to the other end. But with a good old flow coming towards us we will have to speed up to get through in that time. We are on the K&A canal now ,but it is mostly the river Kennet until we get to Newbury and then a few river sections after that.

Wow!! How strange is this. Going through the middle of a shopping centre. Its a shame for Carolyn as there are no moorings so we can’t stop and we only have 12 minutes to get through.

There is even a Dinosaur crazy golf course and a Jamie Oliver’s Restaurant behind that.

Some of the locks on the K&A are a real challenge. After a night of heavy rain and only just enough room for one boat on each lock landing, Keith has to position Nb Oakfield up against the lock gates for Inca to get half on the landing stage.

We made it through the traffic lights with 2 minutes to spare and soon left Reading and headed out into the country. Most of the canal here is actually made up of the river Kennet and in some places is no bigger than a large stream. With lots of twists and turns it makes it great fun to navigate.

Yet another first and a lock with no sides. Its called a turf sided lock. Due to a great deal of leakage through the turf sides you have to leave these locks empty when exiting them.

And finally the last first of the day. This is the first Scalloped lock we have ever seen. It was originally a turf lock. Now it is grade 2 listed and is a scheduled ancient monument… Careful Gary don't catch the side !!

They just love it, the look on their faces tells you that.. An electric swing bridge…All that power. They have the power to stop traffic and the power to crush a Narrowboat in a bridge ole. I think at the next electric bridge i will operate it and Carolyn can steer through it.

Now moored above the electric swing bridge at Theale where we will have a night here before continuing our journey West..

                                                                                             Happy Days