Day 13 Tyle Mill to Newbury Aware that BW are currently opening Padworth Swing Bridge only 4 times a day, we resolved to make the first swing at 08:30 and aimed to set off at 07:45. We were a few minutes late untying and, as we rose through Towneys Lock, it seemed we might be marooned until the next scheduled opening at 11:00. However, I biked on ahead and the friendly BW guy was quite happy to wait a little while for Lynne to bring the boat through. It is the computer which controls the bridge which has failed, not the mechanism itself. Apparently Ctrl+Alt+Delete doesn't work. Spent an hour at Aldermaston topping up our perilously dry water tank at which point the sun disappeared, but we pressed on regardless. Few boats about and all but the 'leave empty' locks were against us. Passage of Old Heales Lock took 37mins. We have mostly rigged a line from the bow when going solo up the locks with paddles in the top gates, finding that the time taken to tie it on is more than balanced by the increased speed with which the paddles can be opened. Stopped for lunch for half an hour or so above Midgham but no one caught us up. 'Chris' [we now know his name] was there to help us through Monkey Marsh Lock but we could've done with him at Long Cut Swing Bridge which was so stiff we had to enlist the help of a bystander to open & close it. Rang BW who said they would send someone to oil it. Sideswiped a Dutch Barge at Widmead - he was lunching on the lower lock moorings opposite the bywash outflow so he deserved it :-) Finally teamed up with a cheery liveaboard couple and their daughter on nb Gilda Rose at Bulls Lock and we ascended to park almost opposite the Newbury Boat Co's service wharf at 17:25. Treated ourselves to a Chinese takeaway for dinner, ate too much of it and became somewhat comatose.
9 m 6 fl; 12 locks; 8 bridges; 7.36 engine hours Baz
