Kennet & Avon Canal

OVERVIEW

The Kennet & Avon Canal was built in order to turn two rivers - the Avon and the Kennet - into a navigable route across southern England. 

Although the canal is fairly isolated from the main canal network in the north, it is possible to connect up with other canals via the links at either end.

The River Avon flows into the Mouth of the Severn beyond Bristol, whilst the River Kennet joins the River Thames at Reading (to the west of London).

Whilst these two rivers do not naturally meet, the River Kennet had been made fully navigable between Reading and Newbury by 1723, and the River Avon between Bristol and Bath by 1727.

Between lay a gap between Bath and Newbury, and the idea was to build a canal that would connect up these two navigations, creating a continuous through from the Bristol Channel to the River Thames at Reading.

At the same time canals were added joining up with this main canal, with the Somerset Coal Canal providing a route up from Paulton and Radstock (joining at Dundas Wharf), and with the Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal joining up the Kennet & Avon at Semington to Abingdon (further up the River Thames).

But whilst this canal did create a navigable route across the country, the canal was not a long term success, with the arrival of the railway in 1841 effectively killing the long-term prospects of this canal.

But whilst traffic declined through the second half of the 1800s, the canal limped on until it became unnavigable in 1951.

By 1962 the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust had formed to restore the canal between Bristol and Reading, and by 1990 the work between Reading and Newbury was completed.

These days it is a navigable canal, but is a challenging route for boats - due to it's shallow depth, particularly on the sides of the canal (with boaters often using planks to board having moored slightly off from the bank edge).

What remains is a very rural canal, without frequent foot traffic away from the few urban locations - but with some particularly muddy sections of towpath at the most rural sections of the canal.

PRACTICALITIES

Walking the canal is pretty straight-forward. Bristol and Reading are very busy transport hubs at either end of the canal - and so these points are very easy to get to.

I walked between Bristol and Bath on the first day, but at Keynsham (near the midpoint between Bristol and Bath) there is both a train station and places to stay.

Bath itself has plenty of places to stay, although it can get busier during the summer months of the year.

The railway then follows the route of the canal from Bath, with stops at Freshford, Avoncliff (Bath to Avoncliff is a walk I'd definitely recommend) and Bradford-Upon-Avon - with a train station off-route at Trowbridge.

The route of the canal then moves away from train lines, with a long detour to Melksham being the next best option for getting on/off the canal by train. 

Next up I stayed over in Devizes, and whilst this town has no trains it is a big town with bus services.

The train network is then rejoined at the station near Pewsey, and then the train and canal run together with stops at Bedwyn, Hungerford and Kintbury - before reaching Newbury.

Here I opted to walk from Devizes to Bedwyn, and stayed over in Newbury for two nights (travelling back and forth from Bedwyn on the first night), but note that I found the stretch from just before Bedwyn to Kintbury to be the muddiest section of my walk.

Newbury is a big town and from here the route continues to follow the train line, with stations at Thatcham, Woolhampton, Aldermaston Wharf and Theale - on the way to Reading.

By going out of season this was a muddy walk, but the hotels were very cheap, costing on average about £40 per night, whilst walking the canal.

USEFUL LINKS

Canal & River Trust Website : Kennet & Avon Canal | Bristol to Reading Canal

STAGES

Bristol to Bath (★★★★☆)

Strictly speaking I should have started at Brunel's Swing Bridge in the west of Bristol to Reading, but for practicality reasons, I started at Bristol Temple Meads train station (I should probably go back and do Bristol to the River Severn one day).

From here there is a navigable section of canal that is followed by a road, but here I opted to follow the River Avon itself, as that offered a towpath.

Very soon that canal section and the River Avon merge in any case, and the River Avon is then followed out of Bristol, and although this is an urban section of this walk, it is a fairly pleasant route with a strip of greenery cutting between the houses on either side.

Here the River Avon flows down a fairly steep valley, but eventually you get free from Bristol and head along a flatter plain, as the hills at the southern end of the Cotwolds come into view. 

After reaching the Bristol-Bath railway I found it wasn't possible to follow the river as intended, so dropped onto the old railway path until Saltford, but then there is a really nice section of river to follow heading round and into the historic town of Bath, with hills returning on either side of the river.

This section included 16.3 miles of walking (16.0 miles along the canal), with the assumption of having to follow the cycle path to Saltford (treating this as if it were walking along the canal). There is minimal elevation.

Bath to Devizes (★★★★★)

From Bath the canal runs separately to the River Avon, and at a higher elevation, and here you get the very best of this canal as you head out along a very pretty (and fairly steep sided valley), with particularly good views as you head across the Dundas Aqueduct.

From here you cross to the other side of the valley, and on past rural villages, with the main highlight of this section coming as you cross the Avon once again at Aincliff.

From here you are soon arriving in the pretty town of Bradford-on-Avon - and then head on passing through the very edge of Trowbridge, before heading across to Devizes, which is preceded by the Caen Hill Lock Flight.

This section totaled 23.0 miles of walking (I didn't follow the canal through Bath - instead exploring the old buildings), with nearly a thousand feet of ascent in total across the full day.

Devizes to Bedwyn (★★★★☆)

From Devizes the canal starts to head out over the most rural section of it's path, and here the main sight is the view out towards the ridges of the North Wessex Downs.

The first village of note passed is All Cannings, and then there are clear views out towards the White Horse (cut into the chalk downs) to the north of the canal. After passing the White Horse it is not far before you pass Pewsey - and from here I continued along a very rural stretch of canal until passing over Bruce Tunnel, and on to Bedwyn.

This was a very rural and peaceful day, but the greenery is offset by a general decline in the quality of the footpath, making some of the walking heavy going.

This section totaled 20.3 miles (excluding walking from the train station to accommodation in Newbury), with very limited ascent across the day of walking.

Bedwyn to Newbury (★★★☆☆)

Heading out of Bedwyn was probably the most frustrating section of the walk - and here I had a muddy trudge through some fairly deep mud as I headed out from Bedwyn, with an improvement in conditions passing through the pretty village of Hungerford, and then heading on to Kintbury.

After Kintbury the towpath was much improved, and this saved by general sanity. From here it was once again an enjoyable walk along the canal, and there is a lovely section on the run into Newbury along the canal.

This was a shorter section totaling 13.8 miles (13.5 miles along the canal itself), with almost no ascent having cleared the canal summit at the end of the previous day.

Newbury to Reading (★★★★☆)

From Newbury the canal heads out across what appear to be wetlands, with a quiet nature-filled run through to Thatcham, despite the two towns essentially being connected up to the north of the canal. Here you find one of the two turf-sided locks on the canal (with the second coming at Theale).

From here the path continued on through very wet countryside - but with a very good towpath keeping the feet dry and the canal heads past a number of lakes on the way to Woolhampton.

My favorite part of the day came from Aldermaston Wharf, which has more of a rural Surrey feel to it, and from here you have attractive countryside up to Theale, after which the path passes through a number of lakes on the way into Reading.

The final stretch heading up through Reading isn't all that great, and then you have the choice of being lazy and cutting across to the station (as I'm afraid I did), or continuing up through a more developed (and prettier) section of canal to meet up with the Thames).

This section totaled 19.2 miles (18.3 miles along the canal), although this would have increased to 21.1 miles if I had continued on round to the junction of the Thames and Kennet, and then on to the train station. There is almost no ascent.