We had a morning to kill in Bath and as the weather was so good and because we’d enjoyed it so much we decided to head back to the canal.
Feeling like Bath natives rather than tourists we headed out without the need to refer to the map retracing our steps across the Pulteney Bridge (which doesn’t look much like a bridge to me) and then on to Sydney Gardens where we picked up the canal. The first time we did this route we turned off and headed up to the view over the city skyline, this time we continued on along the canal until it meets the River Avon.
As we walked along, on the opposite bank, there were a number of very attractive houses with small gardens that led down to what I assume must be a private mooring. Many had miniature narrow boats tied there which were probably half the size of a usual narrow boat brought about by the width of their house plots not allowing a full-sized version. It must be very pleasant to be able to nip to the bottom of the garden, hop into your boat, and go off for a day trip.
There is a run of five locks (13 to 8/9) that you pass along this stretch of water. Each lock is narrow and appears to only allow a single boat in at once. This must make it a very slow process to navigate through them all. I guess these days pretty much every boat would be there for pleasure so the time doesn’t really matter but it must have been a real drag when you were trying to get your goods to Bristol or London as quickly as possible. Or, maybe, if you have one of those pint-sized boats and want a quick picnic downstream!
We picked up the Avon and then completed the circular walk back to town where we finished off our trip with a trip to every charity shop I could find in Bath!
