We went to see fourteen locks today.
This is a place near to Newport, where some people are attempting to renovate a number of the locks that used to be used as part of the Newport canal. To be honest they seem to be only just starting, as they have an awful lot to still do, but on a nice day its a pleasant enough place to visit.
After parking “up top” we started our walk down the locks, the first few are very well renovated, and the surprising thing for me was how deep they were. As a hights shandy I couldnt get near the edge, but Kate was straight over to it without a care. First thing for her was to get down the ladder and into the lock itself. As these are being renovated they all have very little water in them, so it was quite a climb for her, by the time she got back up she was a little tired!.
Next stop was a thin wooden block which was placed to help hold the water back before the lock, about ten foot high, she wanted to tightrope walk across it – I thought she’d fall in, she didn’t so she had to do it again coming back over, showing us how she could go one legged on the “beam”.
Once we got passed around four locks you could see that was as far as the renovation had gone, but we continued down the path, under the motorway and then along side the M4 between the tunnels and the Jnt 27. Even though I have driven along that stretch many times, I have never noticed people walking and cycling along it.. So we got down to what we figured was the last lock and turned back. Unfortuntaly it is not a circular route, so we had to retrace our steps avoiding unleashed dogs and cyclists back up to the car.
Not a bad walk, the top section is okay for a visit, the rest of the walk not so much…
We cycled up to the Rose when we got back, for a quick beverage in the sun. Luckily I only had one, as on the way back Sian had a puncture, so I raced home to get the car and save the day!! ;o)