I'm not going there again

Didn't he find the other three?

I did the K&A from Reading as far as Bathampton winter of 2001. I remember the 11th September shit. At the time I was traveling in tandem with my mum. We both had 55ft narrow boats and she was like "let's get it all done" and I was like "I can't really be arsed" anyway I suggested turning round at Newbury but she was determined and we ended up wintering around somewhere called Limpley Stoke.

Happy days lots of flowers on top of boats but winter was bad she was always incredibly depressed. I really like winter it's nice and one can burn wood but the mum she was super depressed. Ironically she killed herself in August but it was several years after moving off the boat. Probably because of knowing winter was coming up and August is a wet month and that is what they do in that part of the family. Hanging or jumping off buildings or the 12 bore.

Happy days boating with the mad mother and the lurchers always remember the good times !

Probably a slightly unusual way to spend your 22-32 years old life.

There r places I wouldn't go back to but I can't remember what their names are..
This means if I do go again I'll remember when I get there that I wasn't gonna go there...
Its nowt top do with getting older .. Ive never been able to remember some names of places.

I was told that the K&A restoration was heavily influenced by some eco worriers who had a thing about water voles. So a lot of the bank protection piling is below the waterline and the banks are available for the wildlife.

Admirable if true but also slightly irritating it you arrr trying to moor a boat.

I was thinking about your OP in relation to a specific place and, like you, think yes, it wasn't great, but Ill move on through.  However, having read this post  think I would agree that I, too, would probably not "do" the K&A again (well, certainly not for a long while yet).

I got there early in the year in anticipation of pottering for a few weeks or months.  As it was still "pre season" every visitor mooring along the entire waterway bar some at Newbury had been given over to "winter moorings".   It became a bit depressing not being able to reach a water point, a halfway decent mooring or access to shops/other services.  To my shame, in desperation and realising there were no other boats  moving, I actually moored on a lock landing very late one afternoon.  Just eating dinner and a boat turned up (the only one I'd seen moving all week) so I left my food on the table, never picked up a coat but helped him down the lock as I was "in the way".  He moored on the landing at the bottom ........ 😊

Yes, I agree with them that there's, sadly, one canal I probably won't travel again - shame, because atop the lock at Little Bedwin I watched barn owls fly - and had a nosey at Gillian Anderson's country pile, saw some lovely places and met some great people.

Then again ....

And if you have a dog or dogs of course, the wild nature of some of the necessary moorings won't suit, and adds another problem.

I don't know if we'll go back metanoia  ... I'm better with clear solid ground under me these days

Rog