Fjordhammer On Tour - Caen Hill Locks & Devizes

Sunsets Over Wessex

Walking Alongside Britain's Former Industrial Veins

The Kennet and Avon Canal has been a standout feature of the Wiltshire landscape since its construction in 1723. Stretching from Bristol to Newbury the canal has 105 locks in total, the most famous being the Caen Hill Locks. The flight consists of 29 locks between Rowde and Devizes. The canals were once the arteries of the nation, triggering the industrial revolution and thrusting Britain to the forefront of engineering and commerce. Even so, surrounded by the wonderful scenery of rural Wiltshire, Somerset and Berkshire, the canal offers a wonderful walk surrounded by fields, trees and water plants as well as hosting a variety of wildlife and agricultural animals to spot along the way. I have done this walk many times, but this time in the searing heat of the heatwave, I was joined by Sabrina and we walked the six miles or so to Devizes together. As we walked past the many locks and bridges we took in the landscape and enjoyed the beauty of nature, watching herons fly and flowers bloom. There is something so simple yet liberating about walking a canal path, the route is usually just a straight forward line that is all planned out for you. Your feet can auto-pilot their steps whilst you fully take in the serenity of the environment around you. Nature just seems to unfurl on these paths, wild hedgerows and tall reeds, even though it was man made over 300 years ago, this particular stretch of the canal very much feels partially reclaimed by Mother Nature. This dusty trail walk set my imagination alight and I connected with a younger version of myself, the kid that would fight orcs, dragons and beasts on walks with his family, fully immersed in his own RPG world. 

"But I Know I've Got One Thing To Do, Ramble On!" - Led Zeppelin

The History

The Canal

One of the 105 locks along the canal

Construction began on the Kennet & Avon Canal in 1718, but the idea of an east-to-west waterway link across southern England was first mentioned during Elizabethan times, between the years 1558 and 1603 as Elizabeth I was on the throne. The essential idea being that the waterway would take advantage of the proximity of tributaries of the rivers Avon and Thames, which are only 3 miles (5 km) apart at their closest. Plans were shelved until the 18th century until in 1715 work was authorised to make a stretch of the River Kennet navigable from Reading to Newbury. Construction began in 1718, under the supervision of John Hore of Newbury, a surveyor and engineer. and despite considerable local opposition at the time the water way was opened in 1723, the navigable stretch was made up of natural riverbed alternating with 11 miles (18 km) of artificially created locks. Historically, the River Avon had been navigable from Bristol to Bath, however the successive constructions of watermills in the 13th century had rendered is useless as a navigable waterway. In 1727, navigation between the two cities was restored. This was achieved with the construction of six locks, engineered under the supervision of John Hore. Whilst these two waterways were constructed separately to suit local needs, their construction eventually lead to plans for a through route to be created to connect the two. 

The Lock Gate

In 1788 plans for a Western Canal were proposed, with the aim to improve trade and communication links to towns such as Hungerford, Marlborough, Calne, Chippenham and Melksham. The engineers Barns, Simcock and Weston drew up a suggested route for the canal, but there was doubts about the adequacy of the water supply. At this point the name was changed to the Kennet & Avon Canal to avoid confusion with the Grand Western Canal (which was a canal also being proposed at the time between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton in Devon and was completed in 1838). In 1793 another survey was undertaken, this time by Scottish civil engineer John Rennie the Elder, his proposed route of the canal was altered to take a more southerly course through Great Bedwyn, Devizes, Trowbridge and Newbury. Rennie's route was the one which the Kennett & Avon Canal Company (chaired by Charles Dundas, 1st Baron Amesbury) accepted. This was funded by subscriptions given to the company from prospective shareholders. In 1793 Rennie proposed a few further alterations to the route, including the construction of a tunnel in the Savernake Forest. Then on 17 April 1794 the Kennet and Avon Canal Act received the Royal Assent and construction on the canal we know today began. The Newbury to Hungerford section of the canal was promptly completed in 1798, and was extended to the village of Great Bedwyn in 1799. The section from Bath to Foxhangers was finished in 1804, and Devizes Locks (a.k.a Caen Hill Locks) were completed in 1810. After 16 years of construction, the canal opened. Along the rout are several major structures; the Dundas and Avoncliff aqueducts, the Bruce Tunnel under Savernake Forest, and the pumping stations at Claverton and Crofton, which were needed to overcome water supply problems and the final task was the completion of the Caen Hill Locks at Devizes. Up until 1841 the canal was the lifeline of trade and commerce in the South West, until The Great Western Railway started to become the default method of moving freight. One of the more noticeable modern purposes the canal had outside of work and tourism was a defensive line. Concrete pillboxes can be seen along the canal, these formed GHQ Line - Blue, which was built in anticipation of a German invasion during WWII. 

The mighty Caen Hill Locks 

The Locks

The Caen Hill Locks are an incredible landmark in the rolling hills of Wilshire, as well as being an engineering marvel. The 29 locks have a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles (72 m in 3.2 km), and are consolidates into in three groups: the lower seven locks are from Foxhangers Wharf Lock to Foxhangers Bridge Lock, are spread over 1.2 k); the next sixteen locks form the steep flight that we see today, in a straight line up the hillside and they have been designated as a scheduled monument. With the gaps between them being short, 15 of the locks have large ponds of water alongside them to help the locks properly operate. A final six locks take the canal to Devizes. It takes approximately 5 to 6 hours to traverse the locks by boat, which given the weight of the locks, is a signifiant work out. 

Caen Hill Locks were John Rennie the Elder's solution to climbing the steep hill on which the locks sit, in 1810 it was the last part of the canal to be completed. There was a brickyard established to the south of the site to aid in the manufacture of bricks for the lock chambers that we see today. This brickyard remained commercially viable and was in use until the middle of the 20th century. An English civil engineer, named John Blackwell, oversaw the locks' construction as Rennie's site agent. However between 1801 and 1810, a tramway had provided the trade link between Foxhangers at the bottom of the hill and Devizes at the top. The remains of the tramway can be seen in the towpath arches of the road bridges over the canal. The canal fell into disuse with the coming of the railways and in 1948 its last consignment was conveyed from Avonmouth to Newbury in October 1948. There was a significant rebuilding and restoring of the canal and locks in the 1960s and what we see today is the product of that. 

Foxhangers. No foxes are hung here, why would you think that? That's barbaric!

The Adventure

We set out at roughly 11:30, lathered in sun cream as we were in the middle of a heatwave, stopping to get some light bites and trail food alongside the most valuable purchase, a two litre bottle of water. Whilst we already had full reusable water bottles in the bag, we thought it was a good idea to have something that would allow us to fill these up, despite how much I loathe buying plastic things. Once we parted with our currency at Tesco, we set off on the hard baked and dusty trail to Devizes. We took the first part of our journey in our stride, although a little damp (understatement of the century) from sweat, we enjoyed the vast plethora of shades and colours provided by nature. One thing about this stretch of canal path is that it rather lacks shade, so whilst regular hydration breaks were taken, our only bug bear was the ever pounding rays of the sun. It was a joy to watch so many people using the old waterway for their holiday getaway, as a local I have had my fair share of helping struggling holiday makers with heavy swing bridges and stubborn locks but to see people embrace the "stay-cation" so to speak, and enjoying what's on the doorstep fills my heart with happiness. We approached our first bridge, and this is when Sabrina eagerly armed herself with her camera and started capturing our adventure. 

A Tunnel To The Past

The Marina Bridge

From this point on we made several stops capturing the wonders and beauty of the wildlife along the canal, from flowers to birds and bees to butterflies. Sabrina had set herself a photography challenge (which she completed before we'd even got to Caen Hill), of capturing various pictures of wildlife which you can see in the gallery below, but my favourite was on the other side of the above bridge where she captured a heron in full flight! The canal path is essentially just a straight line, so there is no real room for deviation unless you want to end up in the water or the various drainage ditches and hedges that run alongside the path.  We journeyed on, me with a determination to keep walking in search of shade as there is perilously little on the main path but I also loved watching Sabrina indulge in her photography passion. As we passed Devizes marina, tucking into the watermelon that we bought along the way, Sabrina captured some reflective shots of the bridge leading into the marina. The perfect selection on the water is a wonder to look at as nature and machinery seemingly coexist peacefully. While Sabrina was flexing her photographic skills to capture this photo, I was just munching on watermelon, as you will see below. The wonderful thing about this time of year is that the flowers are in full bloom, and the vibrant colours that were on show that day, some of the best colours from my recollection were the reds, blues and purples. Alongside these were the reeds, which has a whole host of dragonflies seemingly dancing between their leaves and stems. 

Watermelon Moustache

These reminded me of Alice In Wonderland

We carried on walking until we got to the famous locks themselves, the hill in which they are set into isn't insanely steep but the gradient up the long path alongside them is just enough to get your legs burning as you ascend the hill. There we stopped at the Caen Hill Cafe and indulged in some ice cream (sorbet for Sabrina) and a well earned cup of tea. Sat under a decked veranda we became friends with the local sparrow population, with one I affectionally named Jackie (I'll give you a £5 note if you got the pun reference). It was there that we decided to carry on to Devizes as it was only a mile or so further up the canal. After a quick rest, we were back, in the words of Led Zeppelin, rambling on. We were fascinated by the designs on the canal boats, and on this stretch conversation lead towards us designing our own perfect narrow boat in our minds. We made it to Devizes in good time, from there we went browsing round the shops, and as Sabrina is a keen cook, I showed her round Devizes's Ma Cuisine, a huge kitchenware specialist. I believe Sabrina was amazed but it was hard to tell as we were wearing face masks (the only tangible reminder that the pandemic is still ongoing). After a long browse around the town, we decided upon a beer in the Black Swan. Nothing is tastier than a well earned beer, even though we were hot, sweaty and dusty we delighted in the simple pleasure of a pint in a beer garden. Afterwards we went round to the Snuffbox, the newest craft beer bar in Devizes and somewhere that I wanted to visit. There we delighted in more beer before grabbing some chips, battered mushrooms and curry sauce. Once we has our food we sat by a lock and watched the sun start to set while we ate, the water from the lock roaring like a waterfall as it was at the low water setting. After we were stuffed, we started the long walk back, in which we both realised we should have got the bus back, but as the sun set, the horizon was bathed in a deep orange light, giving way to a bright and silver moon we walked despite feeling weary, we were energised by the moonbeams as we soldiered on. Absolutely worn out, we got home at 22:45 and positively collapsed into bed, another rambling adventure completed. 

Herman The Heron In Full Flight

The Playlist 

The playlist for this particular journey is heavily inspired by my more upbeat folk influences, mixing jigs, shanties and a a smidge of rock in the form of Led Zeppelin. It was on this trip I made the decision to buy my mandolin, and I feel like the playlist should reflect that. Channeling all forms of adventure and wandering, as well as paying homage to the canal workers of the time with the folk elements, this playlist was a pleasure to create as I feel that you can really delve deep into my non-rock/metal side. 

Caen Hill Gallery

View our Caen Hill gallery here!

Wiltshire Sunsets