On my last day in Wiltshire I had promised myself a visit to Caen Hill Locks on the Kennet & Avon Canal. The satnav had another meltdown whereby the map on the dashboard screen showed the arrow (my car) to be driving through farmers' fields and not on the A road that I was on. Despite this I managed to get to Devizes and eventually saw a sign for the Locks.
This was my first view as I walked from the car park. At this point I made the (in hindsight) mad decision to walk the whole flight of locks. Locks 22 to 50. This point was lock 42.
And without checking the distance!
I walked downhill all the way to lock 22 spotting a heron on the way.
It was quite a cold day when I started out but then the sun came out and I got quite hot due to all the layers I was wearing. But it was worth it to see all the locks. I've been wanting to visit for at least 10 years.
It took me 2 hours to walk the 4.4 miles. I was quite tired - to put it mildly.
I started my journey towards the Midlands with a slight detour to Adlestrop to take a photo of the station sign. There's no longer a station there but the sign has been preserved.
This was because I have loved the poem Adlestrop by Edward Thomas since I was a child.
Then on to my final visit - Chastleton House.
Sadly I didn't take a photo of the front of the house. This is the back.
Back to the car and the final miles back home.
Now for some stats:
4 days, 3 nights,
317 miles of driving
276 photographs
3 lunches with 3 different friends
one 4.4 mile walk
3 National Trust properties
2 hotels
and one very tired me when I got back.
However it was well worth it.
Now back to the textiles!
Thanks for joining me today
Bernice
