Back on line in Hungerford

Well, we’ve made it back to Hungerford and a 3 connection, and it’s very hot. We shared down the last few locks with Little Mel, whose crew seem to feel much as we do about the canal; yes, it’s very nice scenery and so on, but nothing that can’t be had elsewhere with a lot less effort.

Never mind, it’s clear a lot of people do enjoy boating this waterway; presumably they are fitter/younger/more masochistic than we are. Oh, and fair play, the Bruce Tunnel is a delight, wide, high and straight.

We’ve restocked from the Tesco that used to be a Somerfield, and have spent much of the rest of the day reading quietly in whatever shade we can find. We’ve got a number of social engagements coming up; Derek and Sheila Mills from Clarence tomorrow, Graham and Brenda Keens from Jannock on Monday and my sister from Brooklyn, NY for three days from next Wednesday.

And I used to worry if moving aboard would reduce the number of folk we could have a drink with.

It’s too hot for me to feel very inspired today; I’ll try and get back into the swing of it over the next few days.

Meanwhile, here are some photos from the furthest west we got along the canal:

So many of the locks have to be left empty, it was a joy to find one that could be treated in the ordinary way

BW fondly imagines that this constitutes a visitor mooring here at Pewsey.

The same mooring from a longer viewpoint; it was nearly deep enough to get Sanity Again right up against the bank.

A hot day in Hungerford

Hungerford is a lovely town with lots of useful shops and facilities; it’s just a shame that the visitor moorings are so limited. We arrived quite early, despite another late night last night, having a good time with Mel and Bungle, and the only decent mooring left was the one that was marked as priority for disabled boats such as the Bruce Trust hire boats.

We had time to do some shopping, buy a couple of pump out cards from the Tea Shoppe (yes, really, very handy) and eat lunch before one turned up.

Since we were having to move, I reversed Sanity Again to the winding hole (not easy on this shallow canal) and so winded and went onto the service block, where we pumped out, having evicted a lunching hire boat.

Then another reverse back through the bridge to the winding hole, and back to grab the last sort-of-mooring on the towpath; shallow and on pins, but it will do for the night.

Perhaps someone will persuade Hungerford to invest a bit more in VMs - I’m sure that they are getting a lot of trade from passing boats.

I’ve decided to go for the O2 PAYG mobile internet deal as the back up to the 3 contract; bought it online today, so that it will be delivered to Elanor before she comes to join us next weekend.

I think that’s enough for today; it’s incredibly hot again and we’re a bit short of sleep and so rather niggly with each other.

Hopefully I’ll be in better form tomorrow, assuming that the internet connection is holding up.