Whaleshares Logo

Along the Canal, Newbury - Beautiful Britain

viking-venturesPosted for Everyone to comment on, 4 years ago3 min read

The year we lived by the canal, these were common sites. I returned two years later to take pictures - and again a couple years after that.

Newbury is a beautiful market town divided by the Kennet & Avon Canal which provides a continuous waterway from London to Bristol. The canal is only about 4 feet deep - deeper on the upstream side of a lock (the most dangerous part of the canal as the undertow is treacherous.) As a result, a new swimmer is taken to the deep end of the pool and told to jump in and get out again. (The teacher is standing there with a pool noodle for them to grab onto - and to jump in if someone needs rescuing.)

The point is to show them that yes, they will come back up, at which point they swim to the edge and get out. I expect that lesson has saved many lives over the years. My eldest son (age 8 at the time) was terrified at first, but by the end of the class, he was grinning from ear to ear.

Here, we are walking upstream from the Wharf Road/Victoria Park Bridge towards the Newbury lock. You can see the Newbury Town Hall Clock Tower the next block over.

IMAG0021_2020edut.JPG
(Image available at RedBubble and Picfair)

Most bridges along a canal have a towpath that goes underneath. This is so that people and horses could tow a barge along the canal in the era before the motors that propel all modern long boats.

These towpaths largely still exist for people to walk along, but this bridge doesn't have this, so we had to go up to the street level and cross to the other side.

IMAG0024_2019edit.JPG
(Image available at RedBubble and Picfair)

On the other side, we are greeted with this view. During our year in Newbury, my family spent a lot of time along the canal - especially at the locks. We would greet the dogs and my sons would help boaters with the lock gates (something they were delighted to do.)

Locks are meant to be left as you find them. Some of them prefer to be left full, others are left at the low level. I suppose it has to do with the health of the lock gates... This one has been left at the low level.

07Apr09_25_2020_edit.JPG
(Image available at RedBubble and Picfair)

And now you've experienced a little more of the time I spent in England. Newbury was a great place to live.

Photos taken by myself in 2007 with my Vivitar.

Crossposted at Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu

Past issues of...

Beautiful Britain

Berkshire (pronounced BARK-shire)

Newbury Town Hall
Victoria Park Bridge/Wharf Road Bridge

Warminster and Surrounding

From Atop Cley Hill
King Alfred's Tower - Stourhead, Wiltshire



Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble)
verified author on Goodreads
(Buy my books at Books2Read and at LBRY)
find me on Twitter
blogging on: Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu

Discord Link

Sign Up to join this conversation, or to start a topic of your own.
Your opinion is celebrated and welcomed, not banned or censored!