On this trip, me and my mate GP launched from the river bank by Thames Valley Business Park in Reading (video 1). There are a couple of nice “beaches” that make launching a breeze. We set off upstream with Caversham the destination (video 2), via a quick detour up the Kennet & Avon Canal as that joins on to The River Thames a mile or so upstream.

As we entered the Kennet & Avon (video 3) the flow was noticeably faster than we had experienced on the way up to it, so we battled our way upstream against the flow to Blakes lock and the weir along side (video 4). I believe Blakes lock is unmanned so a DIY job and there is a portage point alongside.

The downstream leg was achieved in about a third of the time (video 5)! Just after re-joining The Thames and heading back upstreamm towards Caversham we made a pit-stop for to stretch our legs and to refuel with bacon and sausage baps! The landing point can be seen in video 4 below. The bank was shallow but a bit muddy and slippery but it was the best portage point we could find. Stepping off my kayak my feet slowly sunk about 6 inches into the soft river bed. Ordinarily I wouldn’t care but today I had my fleece-lined wellies on and the water spilled over inside! AT least I was able to disembark by myself, GP required a little helping hand to come ashore (video 6)!

Sustenance taken, we re-boarded and set off on our merry way again towards Caversham Lock. Caversham Lock had a lock keeper on duty so we could just paddle straight on in, rise up and paddle straight out the other side again. It’s not the biggest lock but we were the only ones in it. On the way up to the lock we did notice an even better landing point on our port side for a break, which we made use of on the return leg.