Self Contained Accommodation offering Bed and Breakfast in Chippenham, Wiltshire

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Caen Hill flight of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Rowde and Devizes.

Caen Hill flight of locks.

The 29 locks have a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles (72 m in 3.2 km) or a 1 in 44 gradient. The locks come in three groups. The lower seven locks, Foxhangers Wharf Lock to Foxhangers Bridge Lock, are spread over 1.2 km. The next sixteen locks form a steep flight in a straight line up the hillside. Because of the steepness of the terrain, the pounds between these locks are very short. As a result, 15 locks have unusually large sideways-extended pounds, to store the water needed to operate them. A final six locks take the canal into Devizes.They are a 15min drive from Chippenham.

Near the top is a very pleasant tea and refreshment room.

 

(photo by kind permission of www.hobbiesphotographic.co.uk(link is external))

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