Jane’s Walk 2026 – Day 5

After having returned to Bradford on Avon, having stayed the night there with good friends of our daughters in their beautifully restored old house in the centre of town, we return to Semington and set off at a good pace towards Devizes. It is a beautiful sunny day and it is good to be alive.

We meet up with Derek who lives locally and his very active black cocker spaniel, who joins us for a few miles. The canal runs here along lovely countryside and we enjoy the peace and quiet. Further along, we are joined by a couple, Bob and Margaret, who are long-term supporters of ZANE who have joined us on 2 previous walks, and it is lovely to see them again.

Margaret walks with us until we stop for lunch at a pub in Poolshot. Unfortunately, Bob and Margaret have a panic because they find that neither of them have their car key, having left the car in the marina car park where we met them. Bob and Richard return to look for it while we wait in the pub. Sadly, despite searching everywhere, no key is found. After lunch, all 3 of them return to look again, and Tom and I continue towards the Caen Hill locks outside Devizes.

Caen Hill climbs a steep section of the landscape. The canal rises/falls about 72 metres (237 ft) over roughly 3 km (2 miles), requiring 29 locks. 16 locks form the main staircase-like flight with the remaining locks spaced above and below. Boats historically needed a substantial amount of water to pass through them. Because the flights use quantities of water, reservoir and pumping arrangements were developed nearby. The Caen Hill reservoir is an important water management system. With the decline of the Kennet and Avon canal in the early 20th century, the Caen Hill section became badly overgrown and deteriorated. After the major restoration of the canal between 1950 and the re-opening in 1990, Caen Hill is now a major heritage site and an extraordinary example of Georgian era engineering. It was an amazing experience to walk beside these extraordinary locks and watch the hard work undertaken by those bringing their barges through them.

We finish our day on the outskirts of Devizes. We hear from Richard that Bob and Margaret found their car keys on the roof of their car—thank goodness!