Wilcot Woop!

My Sexy Bike in the Sexy Countryside

After two days in Devizes we set off for Pewsey. This time with me at the Helm for the first time - steering our precious home into a lock and navigating various challenges, including meeting a widebeam head on and having to reverse into a mooring to let it pass, mooring up along side another boat, and a few tight bends. It was loads of fun and I didn’t sink our boat!




We are ‘piggybacking’ Delilah (our car) at the moment so it all gets a bit complex but I normally t put my bike in the back of the car and drive on to the next destination, park and cycle back to the boat along the towpath. It’s a pain really but one advantage is it allows us advanced knowledge - for example I might cycle past a much better mooring than the area we were aiming for or some sort of navigational point (like a shopping trolley submersed in the middle of the canal). Anyway, this is what we did today - so it’s been a long day by car, boat, and bike to get to our final destination of WILCOT.

  From Devizes the canal route to Wilcot/Pewsey is stunning. The Nicholson guide doesn't really do it justice - it’s breathtaking and incredibly remote. The silence is overwhelming (switch of the engine for a bit!) nothing but the buzz of bees in the Rapeseed fields, birdsong and the occasional moo from a cow.

Wilcot is pretty to moor up in for the night - but quite limited - I mean there isn’t even a shop. So make sure you have some grub on board or you’ll have to drive to Pewsey for the Co-op.

There is a pub in town just past the centre of the village (The Golden Swan) which we wanted to eat at but they were full (so book in advance). There's a huge garden, with lots of interesting places to sit and space for lary children to run off steam in - and a very 'local' snug - featuring a parrot that looks like he's been badly stuffed but I think he is in fact just very old. There are camping facilities towards the back of the pub - and if I was the sort of person who liked sleeping in a tent then this would be an alright place to do it (right next to a warm pub).

Goodnight Wilcot