November and early December 2019

Towards the end of November and in early December we enjoyed a couple of short walks. The first was to Caen Hill on the Kennet & Avon Canal, one of the longest continuous flight of locks in the country – a total of 29 locks with a rise of 237 feet over 2 miles with a 1 in 44 gradient. We actually spent our time near the middle group of 16 locks that form a steep flight in a straight line up the hillside (some ¾ mile). Because of the steepness of the terrain, the pounds between these locks are very short. As a result, fifteen of the locks have unusually large sideways-extended pounds, to store the water needed to operate them. Unfortunately the ground was very wet and we could not really enjoy walking around the pounds.
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Our other walk was a walk through Fairford Park including the Cascades.

The rain over recent weeks meant the Cascades were really like waterfalls.
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In early December we caught the National Express Coach from Cirencester to London. Our first stop was for lunch at a Lebanese restaurant, Comptoir Libanaise, in Chelsea. Straight after lunch we walked to the Saatchi Gallery to see the Tutankhamen Exhibition. The exhibition contained 150 original artefacts from the tomb of the young pharaoh found in November 1922 by Howard Carter. The exhibition was quite breathtaking especially considering that the items were some 3350 years old. It was certainly worth the visit.
Photos below give an idea of the quality and beauty of the artefacts. Once the exhibition closes in 2020 the artefacts will return to Egypt.