The Kennet Avon Canal

Having just completed this escapade, I thought that I would share with you my experiences in case you would also like to undertake it. The following is therefore a summary of what a friend and I found along the way and a bit about the route.

Day One

We started at Reading Station on Monday and took the train to Bristol Temple Meads. The train service was good with all of the staff being most helpful when travelling with bikes. On arrival at Bristol, a search of my lovely new panniers revealed that I had left the map and route behind! So we started out by leaving the station the wrong way, but by going clockwise around the station we found the start of the route, just behind the station at a new bridge that was that went across the river. Next time, as well as remembering a map, I need to remember to turn left through an arch out side of the station, a whole lot easier and quicker and leads directly to the bridge. We now found ourselves on cycle route NCN4 to Bath. It was well signposted from just before the bridge and was traffic free apart from the first 100 metres. From now on it was the case of looking out for signs on any lamppost, street furniture or what ever else was convenient to stick a sign on. Once on this super highway for bikes and walkers we found that you had to be alert, as the number of bikes using this route within the Bristol area meant stopping or sudden course variations could easily result in a pile up. Be warned that they take no prisoners and overtake without warning.

Once out of town the views were fantastic and well worth stopping for some photos. We stopped for lunch at the George Inn, at around 13.30 close to Bathhampton and a hour later we were on our way again to our over night stop at Bradford on Avon. On the way we had two aqueducts to admire at Dundas and Avoncliff. Dundas is the more interesting of the two being more ornate and having a junction of a canal that runs to Monkton Combe. There are also remnants of a stop lock that used to take payment from those using it (like a toll bridge). This meant that there were originally weighing stations and wharfs located here, most of which have been preserved. The Avoncliff aqueduct felt a lot planer with no wharfs or mooring for the boats using it. The railway also uses both aqueducts with additional arches being added to the structure. At Dundas this involved keeping the same, original look but at Avoncliff a much more utilitarian arch was constructed.

Our next stop was Bradford on Avon which turned out to be a very picturesque place and we enjoyed walking around the town and is a must stop location. We stayed at the Wharfinger House, which is a grade 2 listed building, had storage for our bikes in the cellar (entrance via a side door which was then locked) and situated on the canal that suited us well. That evening we ate in the Canal Tavern, which served good beer, Wadworths 6X, but mediocre food. I feel that one of the other pubs in the area would have been better. 

Day Two

We started riding in a light drizzle, which stayed with us for most of the morning.

After approximately 12 miles we reached another of the highlights of our trip, Caen Locks. This is a series of sixteen staircase locks that run up Caen Hill and into Devizes and is well worth a visit. At the top, we stopped for tea and made the decision not to follow route NCN4 but to follow the canal instead. This route would ideally require a mountain or hybrid bike with front suspension to cope with the bumps that we encountered. If I were to do this route during the winter months I feel that a proper mountain bike with knobbly tyres would be needed but the conditions were dry so that our bikes with road tyres proved more than up to the job. The official route NCN4 that runs close to the canal provides a good alternative for road bikes, since without any suspension the canal route would have been very slow, and dangerous, especially under the some of the bridges. We were caught out initially where the canal footpath went under the bridge only to come to an abrupt halt or to a steep flight of steps the other side. This resulted in some reversing or turning around in a confined space that added to the journey’s interest but was best avoided. As we progressed it become evident that rather than cycling under bridges it was a much easier route to go up and over using the gate at the top of the bridge and cycling over. Lunch was in the Barge Inn, which was on the canal at Honeystreet, which was good. Our next point of interest was Crofton beam engines that we both wanted to see and we made just before closing time. This grade 2 historic site has the oldest working beam engine in existence in its origin location. Here we meet Simon, who is the site supervisor, who showed us around. He was extremely knowledgeable and did not mind a host of questions and our scheduled 45 minute tour turned into a 1½ hour tour. We then returned to the canal and cycled on to the Tally Ho pub at Hungerford Newtown, 2 miles out of Hungerford. We discovered that it is a community pub, owned and run by a group of local directors who felt that a proposal to close their pub and build flats was not an acceptable choice to the locals. So having bought the pub 5 years ago, they were just up to the stage of finding a more permanent landlord to run it for them. We left our bikes in a shed belonging to one of the locals for the night. It turned out that it was quiz night, and the pub was full by 19.30, with most people eating and taking part in the quiz; luckily we had booked a table. The accommodation, beer and food were good with a continental breakfast included in the price.

Day 3

In the morning we were delayed due to a puncture, which took a little time to mend as getting the thorn out of the tyre proved difficult but by 09.30 we were on our way, back to the canal and on towards Newbury, which was our next town. Unfortunately, we failed to take advantage of what Newbury had to offer in terms of cakes and tea; that was a bad mistake as no other places were found!

Just after Thatcham we ran into a problem that forced us onto the roads for a short excursion in order to avoid a stretch of canal bank that had given way and was in the process of being rebuilt. This gave us some grief, as we needed to negotiate a couple of stiles, which meant lifting my bike with panniers, but ¼ mile later we were back on the canal and heading for Woolhampton where we stopped belatedly for our second breakfast of a sausage sandwich, no cakes being available, before rejoining route NCN4 and starting the final push to Reading. We soon started to meet an increasing number of road bikes, mountain bikes and hybrids as we approached Reading and finally popped out very close to the centre and the railway station.

Summary

The route itself could have been done in two days, distance being 100 miles Bristol to Reading but I must say that making it a 3 day event felt just right. It gave us enough time to look around the various locks, beam engines and towns along the way and we did not feel rushed. The GWR express trains require a bike reservation but you also get a reserved seat, which was good.  The local trains, GWR and South Western Railways that we used to get to Reading required no reservations. The paths were relatively empty apart from close to Reading and Bristol to Bath where there was a large number of commuters. Overall it was an excellent trip and one I was pleased to have done.