Great Canal Journeys - Kennet and Avon

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this blog.  I am continuing to work on the Great Canal Series.  I found the first episode of the series and today Timothy and Pru are taking a boat on the Kennet and Avon Canal.  The run time for this episode is 46:31.

The Kennet and Avon Canal is known as the K and A.  It is a canal that both Pru and Timothy are very familiar with.  They kept a boat moored on this canal and helped with its restoration.  When it was restored they were the first boat to navigate the whole canal.  The canal linked Bristol to London.  Pru and Timothy start their trip in Bath and they have hired a boat.  The boat is a bit longer than they are used to.  I rather enjoyed Timothy pooh-poohing the television on board.  They are heading to Devises to a canal festival.

Before they leave Bath, they will take the Bath Canal Flight, a series of six locks.  Immediately they have to avoid a collision with another boat.  The lock is notoriously difficult to get into even with another boat coming out of the boat.  Pru does not like steering the boat much, so she has to do the leg work on the lock.  She really shows her spryness as she works on the lock.  The pair are adorable in this section.  Tim enters the second deepest lock in the country and he is careful in his navigation.  They managed to get three locks done and they were in luck, another canal boat was spotted. 

The two boats go through the final three locks together.  It is the first time this couple has taken a narrow boat out, hopefully, Timothy gave the pair some tips.  I wonder what that couple from Australia thought about running into this pair.
Eventually, they arrive at Sydney Gardens, a place that was well-known to Jane Austen.  It is one of the treasures of Bath.  The canal goes right through the middle of the gardens.  They meet with a local historian to talk about the gardens.  When the canal was built the builders either had to pay or build a long tunnel.  The builders paid to go through the gardens and they had to make this section of the canal as elegant as possible.  However, traces of those workers remain with the rope marks left in the stone.

Timothy and Pru continue on their journey and reflect on their life together.  Pru is starting to show signs of dementia.  So she is forgetting things more and more often.  Timothy puts it beautifully when he says there are some things aging faster than other things.  They are going to continue to enjoy the things they love to do while they can.

The next day arrives and they are doing some exploring on foot.  They tour a pump house on the canal and watch repairs done on a water wheel.  The pair return to the canal and reflect on helping restore the canal.  They even stuck in with clearing debris from the canal.  They were the first to travel the canal after its restoration.  Nowadays there are more people on the canal and so Timothy has to carefully navigate around all these boats.

Timothy and Pru arrive at Bradford upon Avon where they tie up.  It is a bank holiday and there are tourists in town.  They get ice cream at a local café.  The local owner opened his café just before the restored canal was opened.  Bradford is swimming with people when back in the day you could easily find a seat in the café.  Then there is a cute discussion on the canal watchers who watch the canal boats.  A variety of industries have sprung up on a canal and even a chair salon!  Pru’s hair gets a refresh.  Where else do Pru and Timothy’s travel takes them?  What troubles do they encounter?  Do they make it in time for the canal festival?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

You can see the love on Timothy’s face when he sees Pru or talks about her.  They are a sweet couple.  I will still recommend showing this to a geography class.