Day 2 - Caen Hill flight plus a few other locks.

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26 locks today – it was good to be on the move finally. Travelled with Digger and Karen from the Sarah Dand the time passed very quickly, despite the number of boats around – so much easier to share the lock work although a little grease on the paddle mechanism would have been welcome too.



The 16 locks of the Caen Hill flight were apparently dug by hand by French prisoners of war from Napoleonic times. The flight follows the steep contours of the hill so the locks are very close together, necessitating large side ponds to provide sufficient water. Well worth a look on Google Earth as the flight looks very strange from above. Some of the side ponds are mini nature reserves, others are used for canoeing. They are too shallow for narrowboats to enter. There were a pair of swans and 7 cygnets near the top of the flight, happy to take food from people but extremely aggressive to any ducks and ducklings in 'their' side pond.



We are moored at the Black Horse pub, just west of Devizes – noisy but there are compensations.

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Photos

Lift bridge to exit our marina
Note the swan nesting next to it.

Comments

[sgs]

swans
I am going to enjoy hearing about your trip, instant photos and "diary", thank you for doing this for us! Envy is creeping in........enjoy the compensations.