Woolhampton, Kennet and Avon Canal

Lots more hard locks today. This is one of the balance beams at Aldermaston Lock - nothing to hang on to. It took two of us to close the gate!

There are several swing bridges and one lift bridge in this stretch. Fortunately most of them are now fully electrically operated. No rushing to one end of the bridge to put the barrier down and getting to the other end and a car comes along. Just close your eyes and press the button. Sod the motorist!

The lift bridge at Aldermaston is a real traffic stopper. It cannot be operated between 0800 and 0900 and 1700 to 1800. One year I managed to separate a car and it's police escort.

To finish off the morning there is Woolhampton Swing Bridge followed by Woolhampton Lock. Between the two the fast flowing River Kennet joins the navigation at a right angle just before the lock. The trick is to open the lock gates before letting the boat through the bridge.

Mission accomplished. David did it perfectly. But that was because there was no-one looking on.

There was room at the moorings above the lock so we moored up and had a lovely lunch in the Rowbarge pub by the bridge.

While nosing around a Poundshop and saw a string of these puce Gerber flowers. Naturally, I bought them and cut them apart for attaching to cards.

With this card, I covered the left hand side of the front of a white card base with floral paper and added a lacy, flowery, ribbon (with gems in the centre of each flower) down the join.

Three more gems were added to the top right hand corner and the flower to the bottom right hand corner.