More hassle from the K&A

Just as I was beginning to be reconciled to the K&A, a little bit, it all went pear shaped again.

We had an excellent evening with Graham and Brenda yesterday, showing off the boat, then having a jar or two in the Row Barge, then back to the boat for a cup of tea.

Up we got this morning, having decided to get through Woolhampton swing bridge before the rush hour. Having got down the lock without any trouble, I waited with a radio in front of me on the slide whilst Sheila went to swing the bridge. What I heard from her after a while wasn’t a message to come on, but that the bridge had failed. The barriers went down, the wedges withdrew, but the bridge didn’t swing.

I rang the BW emergency number, and we waited for more than 90 minutes, in the rain, turning back cars from both ends. Most drivers were OK, if resigned, but just a few seemed to think it was our fault. Several commented that this was a regular occurrence, ever since the control systems were ‘upgraded’ two years ago.

When the BW guy turned up, it soon became apparent that it wasn’t going to be a quick fix. There are two cabinets full of electronics, plus one for the hydraulic pump, plus the control plinth itself. It was half ten before he managed to get it to the point where he could persuade it to open for us, and we were on our way.

As expected, the river gave no trouble, with a bit of a swing one way and then the other, but nothing Sanity Again couldn’t handle. Pulling up at the landing below the bridge involved burning some diesel, but then I got the stern into the slack water below the bridge abutment and hopped off, stern line in hand.

Sheila got her key back (it had been stuck in the plinth all this time) and we set off for Aldermaston. That bridge was fine, though the piling gang working immediately below it made for interesting navigation. The weather continued wet off and on all morning.

We didn’t have any fresh bread on board, as we’d expected to be able to shop at Theale well before lunch, but the Visitor Centre at Aldermaston sells sandwiches. Down Padworth Lock, and it was nearly feeding time and we needed a break, so for once we stayed on the lock landing to scoff sarnies.

The next bridge is also called Padworth, and as it swung, it stopped half way across for a while. Sheila took her finger off the button, pushed again, and round it went. Sighs of relief all round.

We zoomed on down through the very pleasant river section, working bridges and locks without further trouble. Arriving at Theale at three, we found the 48 hour moorings, which had been deserted on the way up, full of rather scruffy liveaboard type boats. We have to be here tomorrow to meet my sister, so we’ve stopped on the bridge landing, which fortunately, and unusually for this canal, is about 150 feet long.

Hopefully one of the boats on the moorings behind us will go tomorrow, and we can pull back for the second night. Meanwhile, this bridge has failed, and there’s a day boat tied in front of us, waiting for BW to turn up.

The other bit of bad news is that the weather is forecast to get worse, with heavy rain and wind on Thursday, just when we will be working down through Reading.

Heigh ho, at least we’ll be off the least pleasurable canal I’ve ever cruised, bar none.