Bath

The next stop on on our way to Bristol was in Bath.  Matthew, Catherine and Joanna joined us for a weekend and Catherine was reminded that studying is still required even when she was away from uni.

 
Bath has one of the largest communities of liveaboard boaters outside of London.  Consequently it can be very difficult to find moorings unless you get right into the city where the moorings are 24 or 48 hour only. 

 
The canal architecture is ornate as it passes through Bath.

We spent quite a bit of time wandering around Bath but, as usual, didn’t seem to take many pictures.

 

 
More proof of my cackhandedness appeared again when we were moored in Bath when I assembled a barbecue for use on the towpath.  It was only when I finished that I realised I had put the handle on the base.

 

There is a flight of six locks in the middle of Bath taking the canal down to meet the River Avon.  The penultimate lock is the second deepest in the country with a drop of 19’ 5”, about three times deeper than the average lock.  As you can imagine the gates are massive and Karen could not move them on her own.  Fortunately there is a road bridge crossing the end of the lock and some white ‘venmen’ saw her struggling and stopped in the road and leapt over the fence to help her.

Leaving the last lock at Bath we joined the River Avon and this sign told us we were on the last leg to Bristol.

 

Next trip, Bristol harbour…