We absolutely love canals, or perhaps the honest truth is that Jo likes canals and I love them. Not sure what the real attraction is, perhaps it’s the mix of quiet countryside with a bit of history and a lovely place to walk. Whatever the reason, we’re both suckers for a canal and a canal walk.
Taking Willie Nelsons advice (as always) we were On the Road Again and spending a few nights in Newbury, Berkshire. It was the Premier Inn again, and we were just planning on a few days checking out the area and exploring.
The Day of Four Counties
So a fabulous road trip from Newbury took us north past Oxford to the beautiful little town of Bicester, in Oxfordshire. Bit of a wander around there before heading east to Buckingham (in Buckinghamshire) before looping round west to Brackley in Northamptonshire and across to Banbury back in Oxfordshire. Spot of lunch there before going off south west to Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds before drifting south to Oxford again and back to Newbury. Phew!
A massive day out and a few miles on the clock but we saw so many places that we’d not experienced before. What a fabulous part of the world. Definitely be back to see more.
The Kennet and Avon Canal
Next day was our canal walk and we began in Kintbury for an 8 mile round trip walk into Hungerford and back. Slightly cloudy but perfect for walking. The canal officially runs for around 87 miles between Bristol and Reading but it’s really split into three sections.
The River Avon runs from Bristol to Bath, with the River Kennet going from Newbury to Reading. The actual man-made canal joins the two rivers up. Completed in 1810 it is actually 57 miles long and was only recently restored in 1990 after years and years of neglect. They’ve done a brilliant job though as it’s now a beautiful wildlife conservation area and a lovely walk.
It’s all about the locks as you walk these canals and some of the names are absolutely fabulous. We passed by Kintbury Lock, Brunsden Lock, Berks and Hants Lock, Wire Lock, Dun Mill Lock, and finally Hungerford Town Bridge. Every one has it’s own story and is riddled with history.
Sitting overlooking the river eating our lunch we watched a group of people taking their first paddle boarding lesson and enjoyed seeing them get their confidence and get to grips on the water. Felt like we were doing it with them. We could do that.
Another aspect of canal walking that we really love is seeing all the amazing boats moored up along the waters edge and chatting and saying hello to so many different canal-types. It seems to be such a friendly world where everyone appears to be enjoying the experience together. Often wonder if we could live on a canal boat but the cold and wet winter weather soon dispels such thoughts.
Such a great day out, we need to start researching more canal walks! And try and return to do more of the lovely Kennet and Avon. Sounds like a plan.
11/09/2021
JWalking 
Such a great outing..and perfect place to visit.
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Oh it was such a lovely few days and the canal is fabulous to walk along. Can’t beat a canal walk!
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A brilliant walk, I often walk the dog along the canal in Pewsey. I’ve thought about canal life too, but I think it’s quite restrictive. Love the idea of a camper though, freedom of the road! A long weekend on a traditional canal boat would be lovely though.
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We love Pewsey, did a lovely housesit there a while back. Lovely little town. Gonna be back in Wiltshire for a few weeks soon so will definitely get back to Pewsey. Think you’re right about a long weekend rather than life on a canal boat.
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This looks so cool. Saving this post for our UK visit one day! cheers!
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It was such a great walk, hope you get to see some of our canals when you get to England someday.
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Thanks for this post. I am loving learning about all these wonderful walking paths. Great inspiration for when we can travel again. Happy trails, Mel
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So pleased you liked the post Mel. We loved Ur walk along the canal and will certainly be back as soon as possible.
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Have to try this walk when we get the chance. Lovely part of the world.
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It really is a lovely area, we’ll definitely be back to walk more of the canal very soon.
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What a lovely walk. I’ve not yet had an opportunity to visit Hungerford.
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It’s a lovely English town with so much character. Not a lot there but we love it.
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Must admit I like a canal, you can spend days going pretty much nowhere! I had a colleague who lived on one, absolutely loved it, but she said it was a bit of a chore scraping the ice off the inside of the window in winter!
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Yeah not sure about living there but we certainly love a canal walk.
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I’ve walked some of this. Aren’t canals joyful? Especially when the sun shines.
I was back in Leeds recently.
https://stillrestlessjo.com/blog/
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We love canals, lovely easy going happy places. Didn’t know you were back in Leeds, sorry completely missed that Jo. Hope you enjoyed the trip?
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It went too quickly, Jonno, but I loved every second 🤗💕
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What a lovely day out. You certainly made the most of it and covered a lot of territory.
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It was so good, lucky with the weather though which is certainly getting more unpredictable. Need to explore more canals now.
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I watched some of the locks being used when I went for a walk in Bath and came upon this canal there. So picturesque and I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to rent a barge and do one of these trips!
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Fascinating places aren’t they. Quiet and peaceful but full of life. We would love to rent a barge someday.
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Same here! I think it would be a wonderful way to cruise around the countryside of England.
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Definitely. In the summer or autumn though.
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I enjoy a canal walk, and particularly like reading the names on the boats. The punny ones are my favourites!
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So much to see when you’re walking a canal isn’t there? Full of life yet quiet and relaxing. Great boat names make it even more interesting.
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These canals are such a feat of engineering and we always loved learning more about them when we were out and about! Thanks for the tour and such beautiful countryside in a wonderful part of the world.
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It was such a lovely day out and a fabulous walk. Can never get enough of exploring and discovering the history of our canals, always fascinating.
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How perfect. I watched a doco on TV recently about that canal.
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It’s just a lovely quiet relaxing place and so good to wander along. Love it.
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I enjoyed taking that walk with you through picture perfect English countryside. It’s fabulous that it’s bern brought back into a good state, I love it when disrepair gets repaired.
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They have worked so hard over the past 20 years to repair most of the canals in England so it’s fabulous to walk and explore now.
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I like canals too, especially the boats. I went on a canal boat holiday many hundreds of years ago and enjoyed it. Love all the pubs along the river.
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Always so much to see on a canal isn’t there? And you are so right about the pubs, always great.
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I do miss an English pub, there’s not really many like them in Australia
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It’s a shame that the Military Canal down here isn’t quite like those more regular canals. This one just looks so much more interesting especially with all the locks. Top day out though.
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Brilliant day out. Getting a bit obsessed with canals currently.
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Another lovely walk. Sounds like there was lots to see on this canal walk. Friends bought the shell of a canal boat a few months back. They are in the middle of refurbishing it. They are retired and use to go abroad quite regularly, However, since the pandemic, they have decided no more going abroad for them, from now on they will be holidaying on canals in their boat!
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What a fabulous idea, refurbing a canal boat! Not sure we have the practical skills to undertake such a huge task but it sounds like a great challenge. I think a lot of people will be finding other ways to holiday that don’t involve going abroad now.
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