Caen Hill

Caen Hill

The Caen Hill flight of locks is one of those feats of engineering like the Golden Gate Bridge or the Eiffel Tower where a particular type of technology was stretched to the limit and has an absurd beauty as a byproduct of engineering necessity.
Caen Hill
This is what they looked like when we were most of the way down, after several hours hard slog. We teamed up with another boat as these are double wide locks, and with Nick driving, and Margaret, Paula, and I (plus the crew from the other boat) working the locks we had enough workers for someone to go on ahead to the next lock and get that set up while our boats were still on the way down.
Open Lock

This meant we sprinted down the slope, covering two miles in a little under five hours. Then off to a pub for lunch.
Three Magpies

The food was really good.
Smoked Fish Board

Time for the obligatory group portrait.
Group Selfie

Then on again, past waterlilies growing in the canal.
Waterlilies

After twenty nine locks in the morning, the seven we did this afternoon were almost relaxing. Anyhow,
36 locks today
a new record for us. Thanks to Nick and Margaret for their help.

Boat paint job of the day: Iris May.
Iris May
Or she may not.

Sign of the day: Quirky Furniture
Quirky Furniture
How much more interesting if it had been quirky pies and delicious furniture.

Disappointment of the day: The Disappointment
The Disappointment

3 thoughts on “Caen Hill

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *