I Really Can't Think of Anywhere I'd Rather Be!
Saturday was such a glorious day that I had a trip out on my favourite stretch of the Basingstoke Canal - From Winchfield Hurst to the Greywell Tunnel and return.
I was on the water at about 10.30 and set off west. This property (complete with bronze horse) is about half a mile from the start. The garden is always immaculate with the grass kept short by grazing sheep.
I can't remmember where I got the idea for this shot.
I must clean my canoe more often!
This is the canal just after Broad Oak Bridge, about 2 miles into the trip.
Another half mile brought me to the old wharf at Odiham where I had my first cuppa stop. I'd been collecting floating bottles from the canal so this was a chance to unload them at the waste bins by the picnic spot.
Pressing on, I passed grazing sheep and a few dog walkers. There were a few hired row boats on the water but no narrow boats moving. Fighting the temptation to stop for a quick one at the Swan I continued on under the lift bridge at Warnborough Green (with half an inch to spare) and on past King Johns Castle.
It was from here that King John rode to the Thames at Runnymede on 15th June 1215 to sign Magna Carta. Among the many rights established that day was the unhindered right of navigation on the country's rivers (the Magan Carta ordered the removal of fish weirs etc that were an obstacle to navigation). With trial by jury now under threat for many offences and the right to remain silent removed from motorists, you have to ask how much progress there has been in the last 800 years!
Just beyond the castle is the current limit of navigation.
There is a further half mile of canal in water up to Greywell Tunnel but this is now a nature reserve. It gave me the excuse to stretch my legs as I walked past nesting swans......
...the remains of a lock chamber .....
.....and a family of ducks ......
to Greywell Tunnel.
The tunnel is still sound and in water apart from a collapse at the western end where a tree has fallen through the roof, blocking the tunnel. It is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest being home to a colony of bats protected by a locked gate at the eastern portal. There is an ambitious plan to restore the tunnel and the few miles of canal on the other side but perhaps some things are best left as they are!
Returning past King Johns Castle, the water so clear that I could watch the fish swimming by I came across another hire row boat making it's zig-zag way along the canal.
....and back under the lift bridge at Warnborough Green. Another waste bin gave me the chance to unload some more of my collection of bottles.
Back at Odiham, this time I succumbed to the temptation of a cold pint of cider (not my usual drink but just right on a day like this) before a late lunch break and a second brew up. And then a leisurely (the sooner I got there the sooner the trip would be over!) paddle back to the start at Winchfield Hurst.
A dog walker called out to me "That looks like a good place to be on a day like this!"
I replied "I can't think of a better place!"
And despite thinking quite hard for a while, I really couldn't!!
Reply With Quote
