B2B Day 18 Bath to Holt: Along the Canal Tow-Path

Today's post is for Chris and Lisa. 😊

For an OS map of today's walk (13.97 mi; 22.5 km; 717 ft total ascent) click here.

We spent most of the day walking the canal tow-path from Bath to Holt. It increased our desire to rent a narrow boat some day for a holiday.

Ken at the lock at the start of the canal (he helped people close this gate in 2017).

We really enjoyed this walk, especially looking at the variety of canal boats, some for hire, some obviously people's homes. And we saw one that made a political statement (about which we will not comment).

At one point, there was a bit of a traffic jam, since one boat wanted to go in one direction, and there were many going in the other direction that needed to back up and wait.

The boats about to experience a traffic jam

One thing that concerned Sara was the lack of public toilets and lack of cover on the tow path (for miles). We came towards a large field full of people camping, and on the other side of a bridge there were many, many cars parked in a field. It was some kind of festival where if one looked like a hippie, one would have fit in well. Sara didn't fit in, but she did walk over the bridge to use the portable toilets. In a group espousing peace and love, she figured that they wouldn't mind. It was a fortuitous event.

We ate our lunch on the grass at the Dundas Aqueduct. We saw a repair van parked there that worked on all things to do with boats, and we watched a repair man back the boat near us and return it to the owners/renters. We also had a few visits from a friendly dog belonging to one of the boaters. Ken really liked the two aqueducts we saw, which actually carried the canal and towpath across the river!

Boats at Dundas (repairman steering; aqueduct begins in the centre of the photo)

Sara at the Dundas Aqueduct

We ended up pacing along the canal with some paddleboarders, some canoeists, and some kayakers, sometimes getting ahead of them, sometimes getting behind.

Periodically we would see narrow boats that were small cafes. Ken got a drink at this one.

Sara enjoyed seeing the occasional wildlife: ducklings

and a heron on three different occasions.

The second aqueduct was at Avoncliff.

Aqueduct at Avoncliff (the canal and path are on top)

Narrow boat going over the aqueduct

We ate at the Cross Guns pub and cafe at Avoncliff, sharing slice of sweet potato, chorizo, and spinach quiche. A kind man noticed us taking photos of each other, and offered to take one of the two of us.

At the Cross Guns at Avoncliff (aqueduct in background)

Near the end of our walk, we passed a quiet stretch with not many boats, and Ken loved the trees along one side of the canal, and the peaceful lights and shadows.

As we were about to leave the tow-path, we saw a couple come from a footpath to start walking on the canal path. Ken and I both independently were surprised at how much the woman's figure resembled Sara's, even to the way she walked. It's not often one sees one's own physical "stunt double," but she could have served as Sara's.

Ken navigated us through Hillperton to Holt, and we arrived at our B&B, The Old Stable House, around 6:05. We bought sandwiches for dinner at the Holt Super Store (look on the web--it is a small village shop, not at all like "Superstore" in Canada).

Our accommodation is nice and spacious, but we had a difficult evening. We accidentally broke a stem glass. Then Sara tried to do the laundry (being excited that there was a washer in the accommodation). She read all of the instructions, but ended up with a 90 min. rather than a 30 min. wash cycle. When the water was draining, the drain hose from the washer had slipped out of the drain pipe, so water began splashing all over the floor. The instructions said you could finish washing and then set the dryer afterwards, so Sara set the dryer for 30 min. and pressed start. It began another wash cycle. She ended up taking out the clothes, wringing them out, and drying them on the heated towel rail in the bathroom. We both felt a bit down.