A boat trip to the hospital.

In prison but we still get the choice of transport to Jaq`s physio classes. By boat beats the bus or car and we are always guaranteed a mooring space, no charge. At Warwick hospital a two hour car park charge is £3($4.50). In London at the Royal Free it`s double that. 

I guess we have two prisons here say Dartmoor and Brixton, U.S. readers that`s rural and urban. So our trip begins in rural Radford Semele and ends in urban Warwick with little snatches of rural along the way.

There is on this post a heck of a lot of pictures, think of the numbers 5 and 8, possibly multiplied, added,subtracted, showing our trip but i make no apologies as being stuck here in the five mile prison blogging subjects are few and far between and this one just escalated. Just to emphasise the prison aspect this is the same route we take to go shopping or to get water and diesel but if you pick a bright sunny day it can be a mini holiday from clink. Click here if you don`t understand the word clink.

 Leaving the fields in front of the church and Radford Hall we

 pass under the main Leamington to Southam road.


Through the bridge and immediately on the left is the site of the Radford Hall brewery that closed in the 1960`s.

I would prefer that the old brewery building was still there. The canal is to the right.
 
 Windows on Warwickshire

 Now we are passing through Sydenham Farm housing estate and the bridge ahead was the access to a wharf cottage on the left perhaps to serve the farm or nearby sewage beds, maybe both.

 The tickle family were farming here in the 1920`s and in 1954 purchased the farm for £12,000($18,000). Not sure of the size but today 2,000 homes, 3 schools, 2 pubs and some shops occupy the site. With the industrial area it must as far as i can measure total 80 acres or more.  I wonder what it all sold for in 1959.

 Moving on we are now entering the outskirts Leamington Spa and housing like these streets of terraced houses stand as if defeated of any further advancement by the canal.

 Then comes our first winding/turning hole. This was once an arm built in 1892 so that boats could tranship cargoes to the railway. It was about a 120yards long.

A 1934 view of the arm from the Britain from above site.

 Before we go any further let`s just take a look at this 1885 survey map with 1923 revisions of our journey so far.
A is the mooring at Radford Semele. Look to the right here and you can just make out a narrowing of the canal and a footpath. Earlier maps show a Drawbridge here and in the hedge along the towpath is what looks like the original stonework for it.
B is the 1st. bridge we came under with the site of the brewery on the left.
C is the access bridge to the wharf cottage.
D is the canal basin/arm.
Sydenham farm buildings are in the centre and you can see the size of the farm enclosed by the railway and canal.
Maps from national library of Scotland.

Housing now almost on the towpath facing the old arm entrance.

More terraced housing standing like soldiers waiting for orders

Gardens reaching down to the waters edge.

All that remains of the old L.N.W.R. Leamington to Rugby line that ran past the brewery and the Radford mooring crossing the canal again at Radford lock.

After crossing the canal the railway went through here.

Start of the Rangemaster factory

Now we are in Leamington and this was the location of Eagle Foundry built in 1833.
Flavel took over Eagle foundry in 1856 and one of it`s early products was the Flavel Kitchener.(left)  Flavel became Rangemaster/Aga who still manufacture here and on the right is pictured the one millionth stove to be produced about a year ago.
  


Eagle foundry from the canal about 1850.

Flavel factory 1937. Notice the footbridge over the canal still part of the present day scene.

Passing under bridge 40 that leads to the old high street area of Leamington and the main town centre. Could do with a lick of paint.

On the left after bridge 40 was the site of Leamington gasworks built 1819. Canal boats delivered coal and Thomas Clayton boats took coal tar away.

Same view showing the Gasworks about 1930. The gas holders can just be seen behind the White building but were dismantled in 1982

Now starting to move away from Leamington

Even a place like Royal Leamington Spa has it`s share of litter louts.

The last of perhaps what might be rentals, identical chairs on each balcony, before the canal takes on
 

a rural feel in this cutting.

One of three canal side pubs within the prison limits.


Plenty of housing along here but looking at old maps reveals just fields.
 
 

An aqueduct takes the canal over the London-Birmingham tracks.

Now we have snatches of open fields although distant housing can be seen. At times we have seen sheep grazing here.

Across the canal again a hint of openness. A 100+ years ago just Jephson`s farm is marked here amongst fields. 

Next the canal crosses the River Avon on yet another aqueduct. This is where some modern day canal builders want to have locks down to the Avon to make another route to Stratford on Avon and onto the River Severn at Tewkesbury. I did read the idea of using the R. Leam and joining the canal at Radford. Not in my lifetime but who knows what the future might bring.

Aqueduct over the River Avon.

A now and then shot of the canal at Emscote road bridge 46. Tesco is to the right if that helps those having boated this way. The working pair are just about to go under the bridge. Picture dated pre 1960.

In 1805 Emscote corn mill was established here with the grinding wheels powered by canal water. It was altered in 1885 and 1905 and ended life as the Fleur de Lys pie factory that the flats are named after.

Late 1880`s maps show a boat building yard and slipway next to the bridge. Also at this time a tramway is shown crossing the bridge. This turned out to be not something to do with the canal but horse buses.

The horse buses were replaced by electric trams in 1905 when the Tesco site became a power station and a Tram depot.

The 3 mile route between near Leamington and Warwick ended in 1930. Boating would have been much more fun to see these going over the bridge.

 Electric Tram in the depot on the Tesco site. The power station was fed by coal delivered by canal and used water from the  River Avon.

This is the site of Emscote Mills where the Nelson family made Gelatin from hides, calves hooves and animal tissue all of which came by canal boat. This is the same Nelson family that had quarries and lime kilns at Nelson Wharf that I blogged about here. Lime came from Stockton to Emscote to be used in the gelatin production. As at Stockton the Nelson family built housing here and a social club(right) for it`s workers and it`s all still there today.

 Emscote mills in 1900. A good place to start if you are like me a history buff is HERE. The first picture you will see is an aeriel view of the works. The canal bridge to the right in the aeriel view is 48. The works stretched almost up to the present base of Kate Boats. At bottom of page there are a large number of links with some interesting reading.

 To the bottom right the canal crosses the two aqueducts then passes the corn mill and tramway depot. Under Emscote road bridge and a very short distance brings us to the Emscote mills gelatin works. Mills with similar names, the other mill was originally called Emscote corn mill and went on to be called Navigation mill.


OK so by now you might be tired of this epic blog but I can only apologise but I got carried away as i kept finding out bits and pieces of the route to the hospital. Just about there now so we can just cruise past what was mostly the gelatin works

A bit tight, about 8 feet.

Kate Boats hire base.

Good sign, summers on it`s way.

Here we are this is our mooring opposite the hospital, the footbridge is just ahead. Unlike Radford we are near to housing but that is a small price to pay for the convenience. We have to come this far for water, about quarter mile further on. Every opportunity we always return to Radford which has become our country estate.

All that remains is to make sure our cell door is firmly shut before we settle down.

All finished, all readers having kept going to to this point deserve a medal, well done. That number of pictures I mentioned at the beginning was correct...58.
I am now going to lie down....for a year.

Almost Like Importing Coals to Newcastle???

  As we tarry awhile here in Warwick while I continue to heal, a dear friend in Burlington, Ontario sent me a link to a news clipping titled "Fairbanks to the Rescue: Railroad to Haul Snow to Barren Anchorage for Iditarod"  about Alaska--or to be specific--about the total lack of snow in south central Alaska where Anchorage lies. There is so little snow that it is being hauled down from Fairbanks, up in the interior as the region is known, by train cars and loaded into dump trucks to fill Anchorage city streets with enough snow to facilitate the start of "the last great race," as the Iditarod sled dog race is known and which begins March 5th. The ceremonial race start is in downtown Anchorage on 4th Avenue and is the only part of the race other than the finish line 1049 miles farther north, where there are throngs of spectators watching and cheering. Of course I knew about the dearth of snow from my sister Susan who lives in Anchorage. She shockingly confided to me last month that her neighbor was out mowing his lawn!!! But of course, there is no such thing as global warming...
     Anyway, if you love dogs, if you have great respect for working dogs, and you find challenges against the forces of nature too fascinating to pass up, then please do familiarize yourself with this race. The Iditarod Race commemorates The most famous event in the history of Alaskan mushing: the 1925 Nome Serum run. A diphtheria epidemic threatened the Native village of Nome, above the Arctic circle; especially the Alaska Native children who had no immunity to the "white man's disease". The nearest quantity of antitoxin was found to be in Anchorage--537 miles south as the crow flies. Although there were planes available at the time, both were out of commission with mechanical issues.
   With the Governor's approval an alternative delivery was planned. A 20-pound (9.1 kg) cylinder of serum was sent by train 298 miles (480 km) from the southern port of Seward to Nenana, where it was passed just before midnight on January 27 to the first of twenty mushers and more than 100 dogs who relayed the package 674 miles (1,085 km) from Nenana to Nome. The dogs ran in relays, with no dog running over 100 miles (160 km). If the serum had been transported by sleds all the way from Seward, it would have been a journey of just over 938 miles.
     The first commemorative race was held in 1967 and offered a purse of $25,000.00. In recent past years the purse was $600,000.00 with $50,000.00 awarded to first place and the remainder divided between the top 30 finishers, with every musher finishing below 30th place receiving £1049.00. This has changed in 2016 with the first place purse is $70,000.00, with an equal amount doled out to the first five through the finish line in Nome. The first prize winner also receives a new Dodge Pickup truck.
     Other prizes are given out along the way: a Rookie of the Year award is given to the musher who places best amongst those for whom it is their first time ever racing in the event. The Red Lantern award signifying perseverance is given to the last musher across the finish line; $3000.00 in gold nuggets is awarded to the first musher to reach the half way point of the race, along with a gourmet seven course meal. The nuggets are awarded back in Anchorage at the race awards banquet but the seven course gourmet meal is provided by a chef flown into the village of Cripple on the Southern Rout or Iditarod on the Northern route depending on which route is being run.  After days of eating energy bars and trail grub I imagine it tastes divine!
    There are two routes mapped out for this race and they are alternated with the the northern route run on even numbered years and the southern route on odd numbered years.

     The Iditarod also has an educational component: Teacher on the Trail. Every year applicants are sorted through and winnowed down until one individual is selected to be the Iditarod Teacher on the Trail. This year it is Lauren Wright form Austin, Texas who will be flown from checkpoint to checkpoint to report on the race for teachers and classrooms of school children all over the planet who will follow the race. Lauren will also provide lessons for classroom use. Teachers can send in an application to the Iditarod Education Department. From those applications, three teachers are selected as finalists. The finalists fly to Alaska, participate in the teacher workshop, have an interview, write lesson plans, and attend the banquet, the start and the restart. After the race is over, one of these teachers is selected to be the next years Teacher on the Trail™.
Post Script:

For our American friends and family: 
According to Wikipedia, the phrase in my post title, Carrying coals to Newcastle refers to the fact that historically, the economy of Newcastle upon Tyne in north-eastern England was heavily dependent on the distribution and sale of coal—by the time of the first known recording of the phrase in 1538, 15,000 tons of coal were being exported annually from the area—and therefore any attempt to sell coal to Newcastle would be doomed to failure because of the economic principle of supply and demand.

For our British friends and family:
When communicating with sled dogs the word "mush" does not mean run--it means chow time! Here is the brief lexicon of mushing and what each means:
Hike: get moving
Gee (hard G): turn right
Haw: turn left
Easy: slow down
Whoa: stop
On by: pass a team coming in the other direction

Getting Better!

"Flutter your wings frail bird, and rise an inch above the impossible." ~Anonymous

     Today I had a physiotherapy assessment appointment to determine if I was fit enough to participate in the one hour weekly physiotherapy circuit to rebuild strength and flexibility in my knee. It has been exactly 29 days since my surgery. I am pleased to say I passed with flying colors. I am required to walk with crutches out in public spaces until I have my post op six week follow up on March 14th, but I haven't used them to get around inside the boat since the first week after surgery.
    I have 86% bend in my knee which is good but will hopefully improve with the physio class. I am off all pain meds unless I have a particularly long day on my feet in which case I take 20 mgs of Oxycontin and it is all good for the next twelve hours. The pain med saga has been interesting. Medical professionals always want to shift everyone off opiods (morphine based drugs such as Oxycontin, hydrocodone, etc.) as soon as possible because they are addictive. The drug replacement of choice is nearly always NSAIDS such as Ibuprofen, Aleve, and Tylenol (called Paracetamol over here).
     My predicament is that I am allergic to NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) which make me deathly ill and leave me in excruciating pain--feeling as if a metal rake with sharp tines is being drawn the entire length of my intestines--for days. Acetaminophen (Tylenol in the U.S. and Paracetamol over here in Britain) offers me absolutely no analgesic pain relief--and never has. I am 58 years old. Acetaminophen became available over the counter in America in the late 70's.  I have had many opportunities to use it. I have not once received any pain relief with it--not from a toothache, headache, sprained finger, pulled muscle, nothing; zilch, zip, nada. But is is almost impossible to get this through to medical professionals who think I am saying that Tylenol couldn't possible be strong enough to counter the deep pain one experiences with a total knee replacement.
     They didn't listen to me in hospital either and nurses kept giving me Paracetamol with morphine, telling me the Paracetamol actually works synergystically with morphine to boost the analgesic action of the latter.  I don't know about that but I can tell you I was in agony until they took me off Paracetamol and replaced it with IM ( intra muscular) injections of morphine in addition to Oxycontin pills. As I explained to my doctor, I don't take the medicine to get high--I take it to relieve enough pain so I can function; not ALL the pain, carrying me away to oblivion--just enough pain relief to function. So I was sent home with a prescription for 60 mgs of Oxycontin daily: 30 mgs twice a day. I instinctively knew that was far too much for me. I cut it back to 30 mgs a day/15 mgs every twelve hours and that worked perfectly. Being an anomaly is never fun but when it comes to medicine it is frightening sometimes, trying to make one's self understood and advocate for what one knows one needs in the face of medical professionals who "know in text book fashion what is best for you."
     Several of the Physiotherapists who visited me on the boat tried to insist I take Paracetamol anyway, "...as it does no damage to your body and it will boost the analgesic action of the Oxycodone." I replied, "Did you know that caffeine also boosts the pain relieving action of all analgesics?" Surprise, surprise. "Not only that but Acetaminophen is VERY hard on your liver--very hard and taking it twice a day for six weeks would do my liver no good at all at a time when I need it to function well to keep my system clean. Paracetamol is in fact too damaging to my liver to take without getting anything positive from it in return when I can simply drink a cup of tea or coffee with my pain pills and get the same analgesic boost without liver damage." I am happy to say the physio guy checked into my assertions and reported back that they learned something new and valuable from me, so that is a good result! What I can say is throughout this entire journey my care has been splendid--as good as the best care I've received back in the States, and I am eternally grateful.
     The other thing I've been dealing with is what happened while I was on the operating table. I know from having a son in law who is a medical surgical technician that once a patient is under anesthesia on their table, the patient's body is hoiked, twisted, lifted and placed in all kinds of bizarre postures to ensure the surgeon has the maximum access to the surgical site. This can result in patients coming out of surgery with pinched nerves and partially dislocated joints. I was careful to take a close inventory of all my bits and bobs before gong into surgery. When I came out of the recovery room I discovered my fourth and fifth fingers on my left hand were completely numb as was the bottom half of my palm directly under both affected fingers. My left S-I (Sacro-Iliac) joint which most folks commonly refer to as their "hip" was excruciatingly tight. In fact it felt as though it had been hammered into place somewhere up between my shoulder blades! S-I joint issues always affect the function of the knees. It was also causing me pain which made it impossible to get comfortable for more than a few minutes in any one position and this was affecting my sleep. So I made an appointment to see a local osteopath. I had actually seen Elizabeth before back in late August and it was she who told me she could do no more for my knees and really I needed to see a specialist and have my knees replaced. She wrote me a referral letter to the GP here in Warwick.
     Elizabeth told me that the nerves for the hands travel from the spine across our back and near our back ribs. If our back ribs become dislocated they can pinch those nerves causing numbness. I didn't feel any pain in my back rib area but after she worked on me my ribs were tender and the feeling came back to my fingers. As she worked on my left hip and leg, loosening the too-tight muscles of the S-I joint, I gained more bend in my new knee and the pain which kept me from sleeping has gone.
     I should have been started on the Physiotherapy circuit training course after week two at home but Warwick hospital has done so many hip and knee replacement surgeries in January that they have had to add classes and the glut of patients in the queue required me to wait until next week to begin. After we walked back from the assessment, Les took NB Valerie to the water point at the bottom of Cape locks, turned the boat around, and while he filled up with water, I washed the windows. It felt great to be working outside in the afternoon sunshine without a coat, enjoying the fresh air AND I even managed to get on and off the boat at the bow--the first time I've been able to do so in over three months.
     We cruised back down to moor up across from Radford Hill Farm once more, out in the quiet open countryside. Our dinner tonight is a celebration of sorts: breaded scampi, hand cut oven roasted chips, and petit pois peas gently warmed in a honey and mint butter sauce. We will play a couple rounds of London Underground--a game our friends Jennie and Chris lent us to try out. We have several good BBC programs downloaded to watch, and life aboard NBV is moving on at a lovely pace toward the time when we can once again up sticks and actually gets some serious cruising under our belts!

Cape locks and Saltisford arm

Still in the five mile prison but time is passing quickly and it`s now three weeks since Jaq`s surgery and one week since the 40 plus metal clips were removed.
It`s also just over a week since I attended the funeral of Valerie`s sister Pauline. Two lovely ladies gone from the lives of so many.
While I was gone the Physio came to the boat and was very impressed with Jaq`s progress and especially the amount of bend in her knee she has achieved. No more boat visits and with just hospital physio appointments in the gymnasium we decided to head for the open fields of Radford Semele. We can cruise back to the hospital for water and appointments as and when we need to.


About once a week we cruised up to the Cape locks for water and being able to swing the boat around had no need to go through the two locks. However as Jaq mentioned we needed coal so one trip I had to go back to my single handed days and take us up through the locks.

At the second of the two cape locks is the Cape of Good Hope pub.

Here it is courtesy of Warwickshire records office around 1900. The original pub was the first building with the second section being cottages. If you look at the modern day picture notice the end of the building is not painted White. This is a private dwelling with an entrance at the side. It appears the pub was unable buy all the cottages and this one, of  I think four originally, is the sole survivor. I do wonder though why it`s door is at the side.

Less than half a mile past the pub is the entrance to the Saltisford Arm that was when built the terminus of the Warwick and Birmingham  canal. It is now a registered charity that welcomes not just boaters but local residents who have daytime access to the gardens and canal bank.

Just a boat length from the bridge the building on the left is the coal store. I would say what you see here is about a third of the original length.
The building in the far distance is next to the winding hole(turning point) that can be seen in the Google shot below.

In the Google shot above you can see on the extreme right the end of the arm where it meets the railway. Notice just above here the Dun Cow pub and note it`s position on the old map below, showing the original canal terminus, to get some idea of locations. A is the bridge at the Saltisford canal trust entrance.

The Birmingham-London railway line still crosses the canal and if you walk under the rail bridge the one remaining piece of the canal can be seen, a bridge, arrowed is now the access to residential homes built on the site.
Below the present day Google view south of the railway line.

All that`s left of the Gasworks built in 1822 is the front. In the picture above Google shows  two white circles these are the octagonal buildings that held the original gasholders as pictured below.

The only thing left of the old canal route south of the railway.

Saltisford Wharf was the terminus for the  Warwick-Birmingham  canal. This was then joined to the Warwick-Napton canal that in turn met the Oxford. In 1895 the Warwick companies merged to form the Grand Junction that became in 1929 the Grand Union.
The Saltisford trust is a great mooring to visit Warwick. Five minutes walk past the gasworks and your in Warwick centre. First night mooring in the arm is free and there is electric hook up and water if required plus usual boater service block.

Update From Jaq

"What ever doesn't kill me makes me stronger." ~ Nietzsche

This is the first time since surgery that I have had the energy to go online. My days are hemmed in by exersices every two hours and walking the length of the boat repeatedly. I grab snippets of sleep when I can. I spend a lot of time thinking about my sister Susan, who had both knees replaced at one go. She is my hero.

 Nights are hardest because there is simply no position that is comfortable for more than mere minutes. It is also the time, other than when doing exersices, that pain strikes. Each day brings improvements. I don't wet myself now trying to get my legs under me and move at a snail's pace to the toilet before my drug addled bladder gives way. I have learned to pace myself, and my left leg has taken on an independent life of its own--as though it is an individual with its own agenda. I catch myself asking, "What does the leg want now?" Ah yes it wants some of those deep bending exersices to loosen the stiffness; it wants to stretch out straight, etc. etc.

The Eskimoes have over 150 words to describe snow and ice. It has occurred to me that there are at least that many words for the different type and dagree of pain. There is the sharp-deep stabbing pain that takes my breath away. There is bone deep pain, solid as granite, that makes me grunt. There is the pain that comes with repetitive exersices that settles into my gut like a fist and makes me nauseous. There is the short, hot prickling pains as nerves remember themselves and fire up again. There is another pinching pain amongst the staples enclosing my incision. There is a weird flowing pain that moves around the ends of my femur and tibia, like some skulking thing looking for a place to settle.

Through it all Les is my shining star. He is patient and kind. Les can lay his large, rough man-hands, hot with life pulsing energy on my leg and the pain dissapears. His love for me is a HUGE blanket in which he has wrapped me snug and safe. The job of caretaker is exhausting, and while Les says I am easy to look after, it is all the other daily activities combined with caring for me that knacker him out: cooking, cleaning, laundry, bringing in coal, etc.  etc. I am not used to sitting still and doing nothing. It is maddening, and it feels odd to be on the other end of this stick.

Friday morning it was time to go for water. We also needed to buy more coal. Les took the boat up through both Cape Locks single handed, filled the water tank, put on a load of laundry, fixed lunch, then we cruised into the Saltisford Arm to get coal. After he loaded ten bags of coal on the roof with Ian's help (Ian manages the daily operations of the Saltisford Arm Trust) Les took us back down both Locks and moored up to walk in to a nearby chemists and get my pain med refills.

Back he came, livid with anger as they could not find the prescription, and all the chemists were at lunch. Away he went again at 2 pm and the problem was that while the bright young thing at the doctor's surgery assured me it would be easy to have the prescription sent to the chemist electronically, and the doctor I spoke to over the phone assured me of the same, my prescription was for morphine--a controlled substance which cannot be sent electronically. Bless the chemist's heart; she drove down to the doctor's surgery and picked up the prescription in person and called Les when it was filled. Les walked back in a third time and came back with drugs in hand. We had been going since 9 am and it was 330 now. Time to shove off and cruise down to the Tesco moorings, which took about forty minutes.

 I had drawn up a grocery list, such was the extent of my capability for the day. Les went off with the trolley and came back an hour later with food. Then he went back out and took a jerry can on the trolley over to the Tesco petrol station, filled it up, and schlumped it back to the boat to top up our diesel. Back inside, Les worked while I directed his efforts and we finally sat down to a mouthwatering dinner of ciabatta pizzas. Les adjusted the aerial and we sat together watching telly while the forecast driving wind and rain lashed outside NBV. Those who live aboard know one has to move when a weather window of opportunity allows in the winter. We spent two nights there and took the chance of a break in the storm fronts off the Atlantic to cruise to the winding hole near Aldis while washing a couple loads of clothes, and settle back on the hospital moorings again yesterday. Les had just got us moored up and the TV aerial in place, the coal bucket filled, and two bags of wood tucked near the stove to dry when the sun disappeared, and winds and rain returned with a vengeance.

Today Les is off down south, three trains, to a family funeral in Watford. I am on my own, snug and warm with all my needs thoughtfully addressed before my Best Beloved went out the door into the dirty weather at 8:10 this morning. He won't return until late tonight, but Les made a delicious pot of stew yesterday which will warm him up this evening. I am waiting for the physiotherapist to come and take me through me exersices.
Thank you everyone for your good wishes, loving kindness, help, prayers, positive thoughts and healing energy sent our way. It is all working!! P.S. Physiotherapist just left after telling me I am a star patient and my progress is brilliant! Woot!

A bit of help needed

Jaq is making good progress but finds the exercises grueling but appreciates they are the answer to getting fully mobile.
Pain seems to be easing as she finds the need to take less of the Morphine liquid to back up the regular pain meds so that is a sign things are improving. 
The 40 staples closing the incision closed are to be removed Tuesday next so another step up the ladder to recovery.

We have had friends, readers and fellow bloggers, you know who you are, help with things like diesel and gas etc and offers from many others. A big thank you to every one of you.

Now a bit of help for two blog readers who have E-mailed the request below. As Jaq or I have never ventured along the K and A we are at a loss to give any advice to Betsy and Ian so fellow boaters and hirers help is needed.
If you offer advice via comments I can publish them but if you have any lengthy suggestions use my e-mail and I will forward them on. 
Any links to boat companys will make life easier for your fellow readers.

Hello, and hope all are recovering well! We are an American
 couple (husband born in England but moved to US at age 8), and we are 
trying to plan a canal boat holiday for this summer. We have family in 
Winchester, south of London, so we have been looking at the Kennet and 
Avon route, so that we might have a chance to visit them. We are looking
 for about 5 days on the water. 
 
One company has suggested a 
route between Bath and Bradford on Avon, stopping before the Canal Hill 
locks and return, but we had the idea that the east side of the big 
locks would be more scenic. Can you counsel us on this? We are really 
operating blind being that we are so far away and don’t’ have any 
knowledge of the waterways. 
 
Also, can you recommend a canal boat rental company on the Kennet and Avon route?
 
We are so appreciative of any information and advice you can share with us.
 
Thank you,
 
Betsy and Ian E