Images of England – Page 3

Words on Wednesday

Caen Hill Locks are the longest continuous straight flight of locks in the country. Completed in 1810 by the famous canal engineer John Rennie.

The 16 locks that take boaters up the steepest part of the flight are a scheduled ancient monument.

In order that boats could climb or descend the steep hill, 29 locks were built between Town Bridge and the bottom lock at Lower Foxhangers. In the middle of this is the ‘staircase’ of 16 locks known as Caen (pronounced cane) Hill with enormous side pounds that hold water to fill the locks. It has a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles.

The side ponds keep it topped up with water – each holds 1 million gallons.

There is a café at lock 44 and mooring between locks 44 and 45.

Hard work operating those locks! It takes 4 – 5 hours to navigate the entire flight. There are volunteer lock keepers to assist, but we didn’t see anyone on the small section we walked by.

The Kennet & Avon Canal runs all the way from the River Thames to the River Avon, connecting the town of Reading with the World Heritage Site of Bath and Bristol. It is 87-miles (140km) long and is made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a 57-mile (92km) canal section.

The Canal & River Trust cares for 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales.

Monochrome Madness | Trees

One thing that I noticed whilst living in Shropshire was the way the trees looked, especially in winter. Weirdly shaped limbs reaching for the sky, often looking as though they were leaning over to have a conversation. I called them my Ent trees.

Ents are a species of sentient beings in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for “giant”.