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Single handed Grand Union to Kennet and Avon


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I’m planning to take my 59’ narrowboat down the Grand Union and up the Thames and on to the Kennet and Avon in May this year. I’ve navigated solo for some time and have done the  Leeds and Liverpool and the Huddersfield canals. I’m aware of the tide times and have booked passage through Thames lock, I have an anchor and VHF. What advice would you offer especially with regard to moorings (I don’t mind paying on the Thames) I’m unfamiliar with the lower end of the GU, the Thames and the K&A.

Any advice appreciated.

sorry typo should be 50’ narrowboat not 59’

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I've done that, but my boat is only 23'.....

The lower Grand Union towards the Thames isn't a great place for mooring, unless it's changed greatly in the past 6 years. The basin at Brentford is fine, and you're near shops there.

Lots of places to moor on the Thames, but often time limited. If you have time, go down the Wey Navigation and the Basingstoke Canals. Well worth it, but mooring is not quite as easy, and again time limited.

Loads of places to stop on K&A, but be sure you have a gangplank, or be prepared to jump! Many folks down there have a hole in their plank so they can pin it in place, as it's hard to get close into the side. I went all the way to the Bristol Floating Harbour. It's such a great canal for Kingfishers!

Have a great trip!

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The K&A locks are no more nor less of an issue than those on L&L. Both have bridges to move!

 

Last year we moored at Hemel, Stockers, Oxbridge and Brentford on the way down to the Thames. It was an early tide so we needed to be at Brentford for the night and that is the most difficult. We and another boat arrived at the penultimate lock quite late and ended up going down to moor on the pontoon below, on the basis that there was almost no chance of anyone coming up (almost all of the boats on the semi tidal section are permanent houseboats!) Much better than the wall above the tidal lock - which have done before. In any case we found the next morning that it was quite full anyhow.

 

Whilst there are challenges with the lower GU our experience is that they can often be overstated and , unless you need to be in a very specific place, mooring will not be a major challenge.

 

There has been a significant growth in recent years in the number of long stay boats on K&A and have spread well away from Bath and Bradford. Even so, my observation (we now live metres from the K&A but not with our boat) is that overnight mooring is rarely a major problem but do remember what MaryP said about a long (very!) plank. This less about maintenance and more about what the canal was built for ie not long term (or even overnight) stays. In other words, the sides, even the towpath side, have very shallow edges and in places the towpath is weak and prone to collapse.

 

But both are great canals for afficianados!

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I would add make sure you have a couple of very long lines because if you are single handing and find an unmanned Thames lock it is a bit difficult unless there are other boaters to help. It can be a long walk from the boat lines to lock operating pedestal and back. At least going upstream you can tie the lines off without getting the boat hung up.

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9 hours ago, PetersNarrowboat said:

Having done the Kennet and Avon I plan to re-join the Thames upstream to Oxford and complete the Thames ring back to Wellingborough. Doing it clockwise means I go upstream on the Thames giving more control.


Ah I see, fair enough. I assumed it was a one way trip.

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On the Thames, heading upstream, I've used
* Teddington lock cut
* Kingston above the bridge

* Hampton Court (get lost in the maze)

* Sunbury - on left a mile above the lock

* Laleham , on right before Penton Hook lock. 

* Half a mile above Bell Weir lock, on the left. 

* Runnymede, good walks.

* Windsor (posh but expensive)

* Cliveden (NT moorings on right, very fine, you can pretend you are John Profumo if you wish). Good island moorings too (but NT still charge you!)

* Cookham above the road bridge on left

* Bourne End, on right after the village

* Marlow

* Hurley in the backwaters (ask the lock keeper).

* Henley, lots of locations

* Sonning below the lock.

That should be enough...

Edited by Scholar Gypsy
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Are the EA 24 hour moorings still there at Boveny church. Above the lock and by the Eton College boat house?

 

Also the EA morrings opposit the big house at the top of the Shiplake houses, footpath into Sonning?

Edited by Tony Brooks
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On 07/04/2022 at 06:42, PetersNarrowboat said:

Having done the Kennet and Avon I plan to re-join the Thames upstream to Oxford and complete the Thames ring back to Wellingborough. Doing it clockwise means I go upstream on the Thames giving more control.

 

We've done it both ways but I'd suggest anti-clockwise as I had to remove lots of items from the prop/weed hatch just before going out onto the tidal Thames section from Thames lock! I doubt that end of the GU has improved.

 

Good luck, it's nice on the Thames. Are you going to go up to Lechlade?

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Just to add, that the rule on the Thames is to turn your engine off in locks and tie both ends. I can recommend this, as I fell in Sunbury Lock, and if I had been single handing, and the prop had been moving, I might not be here typing this! I now do this in every lock!

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On 07/04/2022 at 14:09, Mike Todd said:

The K&A locks are no more nor less of an issue than those on L&L. Both have bridges to move!

 

Last year we moored at Hemel, Stockers, Oxbridge and Brentford on the way down to the Thames. It was an early tide so we needed to be at Brentford for the night and that is the most difficult. We and another boat arrived at the penultimate lock quite late and ended up going down to moor on the pontoon below, on the basis that there was almost no chance of anyone coming up (almost all of the boats on the semi tidal section are permanent houseboats!) Much better than the wall above the tidal lock - which have done before. In any case we found the next morning that it was quite full anyhow.

 

Whilst there are challenges with the lower GU our experience is that they can often be overstated and , unless you need to be in a very specific place, mooring will not be a major challenge.

 

There has been a significant growth in recent years in the number of long stay boats on K&A and have spread well away from Bath and Bradford. Even so, my observation (we now live metres from the K&A but not with our boat) is that overnight mooring is rarely a major problem but do remember what MaryP said about a long (very!) plank. This less about maintenance and more about what the canal was built for ie not long term (or even overnight) stays. In other words, the sides, even the towpath side, have very shallow edges and in places the towpath is weak and prone to collapse.

 

But both are great canals for afficianados!

Also long lines for when mooring up, as having walked your long plank, it’s handy to have the lines in your hands especially when it’s windy. My personal preference is to make my lines fast on the boat, and thus the need for long 

lines. The canal is often a shallow saucer shape in profile, so a deep boat has to moor several feet out. I bought a much longer plank when I had a boat on the canal. The comment about a hole in the end of the plank is correct, but it can also be used to put a line through, so that when you almost inevitably make a bog of the first attempt at dropping your plank from boat to bank, you don’t lose control of the plank.

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14 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

Also long lines for when mooring up, as having walked your long plank, it’s handy to have the lines in your hands especially when it’s windy. My personal preference is to make my lines fast on the boat, and thus the need for long 

lines. The canal is often a shallow saucer shape in profile, so a deep boat has to moor several feet out. I bought a much longer plank when I had a boat on the canal. The comment about a hole in the end of the plank is correct, but it can also be used to put a line through, so that when you almost inevitably make a bog of the first attempt at dropping your plank from boat to bank, you don’t lose control of the plank.

I agree. I think long lines are good when single handing! Especially in places like those huge locks on the Severn, but I find them useful everywhere. Yes, mine are always attached.

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Where’s the place on the K&A where you’ve a lift bridge ( key operated ) and a lock above? With a pub in between. 
 

Being on my own I found that a bit trickyish with the water running fast. 
 

Going up I made sure the lock was empty and ready before operating the lift bridge, I think I even asked someone to operate it for me, then headed straight in to the lock. 
 

You can tie up between the bridge and the lock but with the water running fast I preferred not to. 
As you approach the lock the river joins from the left. 
 

Oh, and there’s a boat moored below the lock, off side, with lots of big tyres down the side because I guess plenty of boats get caught by the flow and hit it hard. 
 

The River Kennet can be exciting when on a good flow. 
 

 

Edited by Goliath
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1 minute ago, Goliath said:

Where’s the place on the K&A where you’ve a lift bridge ( key operated ) and a lock above? With a pub in between. 
 

Being on my own I found that a bit trickyish with the water running fast. 
 

Going up I made sure the lock was empty and ready before operating the lift bridge, I think I even asked someone to operate it for me, then headed straight in to the lock. 
 

You can tie up between the bridge and the lock but with the water running fast I preferred not to. 
As you approach the lock the river joins from the left. 
 

Oh, and there’s a boat moored below the lock, off side, with lots of big tyres down the side because I guess plenty of boats get caught by the flow and hit it hard. 
 

The River Kennet can be exciting when on a good flow. 
 

 

Exciting is one word for it. The Brewery Gut in Reading is indelibly etched into my memory.

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8 minutes ago, Goliath said:

Where’s the place on the K&A where you’ve a lift bridge ( key operated ) and a lock above? With a pub in between. 

 

That's Woolhampton bridge and lock. It's a bit of a bugger alright. The best thing to do is set the lock and open the gates before you open the bridge. Then when you do open the bridge go through at high power, keep left (the flow from the river emerging on the left will take you to the right) and don't stop until you are in the lock, then go back and do the bridge. 

Edited by booke23
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21 minutes ago, Goliath said:

Being on my own, I found most locks on the K&A took a lot of thinking through. 

 

Yes that's true, especially on the River Kennet section. Some of the locks are very large and when going up, you have to take care not to open the paddles fully at first! DAMHIK!!   

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