Monday 29th April To Friday 3rd May

In 2012 we had our first canal trip on the Kennet & Avon Canal starting from Hilperton near Trowbridge in Wiltshire.  For our eighth successive excursion we again returned to the same base for our potentially final cruise vacation.  Through these years we’ve had five stalwarts (Paddy, Garry, Phil, John and myself), introduced two new crew members (Patrick and Roger) and reintroduced Brian who came on the first two.  So for this cruise we comprised a crew of 8.

With this number of people you need the biggest boat on the canal network at 70' and this substantially reduces your options of bases to centre your activities, especially as the majority of hire companies these days take fright at large single sex parties demanding a cash deposit of £1,000 before letting you out on the water.  Over the last three years we have used the boats of ABC Boat hire who have been excellent with their pricing and general assistance. 

Prior to arranging this trip, some members of the group had been unsure they wanted, or more accurately felt able to continue - Old Father Time is taking its toll on all of us so possibly this will be our final cruise.  But never say never!

Having established that the week beginning 29th April fitted into the diaries of all 8 of us - no mean feat I tell you for a group of retirees - I researched possible boat yards.  First thoughts were of hiring in the Birmingham region, a fascinating canal cruising area with more miles of canal than Venice, but sadly none of the yards in that area could accommodate us for the required period.

I then found that the boatyards at Hilperton and Aldermaston on the K&A did have boats available but as we went out of the latter only two years ago, Hilperton was agreed as the favourite with the plan of going down into Bath.

A factor to be considered when looking for appropriate boats is the internal layout.  Long gone are the days when we can climb up into those incredibly narrow top bunks so another attractive feature of the boats from Alvechurch is the choice of four different layouts.  Luckily they do have one where we could have eight single bunks all on the lower level.   So there wasn't any headroom restriction and you didn't have to witness the unedifying sight of old men scrambling.  However one unfortunate consequence of an eight man crew was for Patrick.  Every trip so far he hasn't had to share a space but this year he did have that challenge.  He did his best to adapt........