Historic Devizes.

Still moored at Devizes
401 locks, 544½ miles, 17 Tunnels, 13 swing bridges and 9 lift bridges since Nov 2006

This morning we went into town to get last minute provisions as we plan to be away early tomorrow morning to get through the flight early.
After lunch we went back to the museum but were unable to gain entry due to the place having been burgled early last evening. The cheeky ratbags had kicked in an upstairs door basically in broad daylight. They don’t appear to have stolen anything but caused plenty of damage.
This is the second break-in in a month. The trust had improved security after the first burglary but obviously not enough.
Dot decided to return to the boat to do some baking and get tonight’s roast pork in the oven as that will take a couple of hours to roast.

I wandered off into town for a photo shoot and because of the age of the town there was plenty to photograph. If you stand by the war memorial in the centre of town and turn around a full 360 degrees you will see so many different architectural styles, Tudor, Regency, Edwardian to name a few, without taking a step. Do the locals appreciate it all? I very much doubt it.

The beautiful old 12^th century church of St Johns is absolutely amazing on the outside but the inside is being renovated due to a fire so I was unable to go inside. The town did have a castle that dated back to 1080 which is how the town got its name. This was rebuilt numerous times over the centuries but no longer exists. The town also boasts another 12^th century church, St Mary’s.

Snuff Street, how quaint, doesn’t leave much to the imagination and yes it was where snuff was made. The houses in the street must have very low ceilings as the upstairs windows look as if they are at floor level. Over the centuries the town has changed from being an agricultural based town to textile manufacturing, brewing and the tobacco trade. These days the Wadworth brewery seems to dominate the town’s skyline.
The arrival of the canal in 1810 linked Devizes with London and Bristol docks and later, in 1857 the railway linked it with the rest of the country. Unfortunately the town lost its railway connection in 1966 thanks to Dr Beeching
While thinking about the canal I feel I must say something about the moorings in the wharf area. Since we have been here we have noted the various boats on the 48 and 72 hour moorings and it has become obvious that several boats have overstayed their welcome but has anybody from BW been along to collect the overstayer’s fee of £25 per day, I doubt it. BW are missing out on potential revenue here and helping to give everybody a fair crack at the available moorings. More mooring wardens or lengths men and fewer pen pushers in the admin depts. is what are required all over the country, not just here.

Wadworth's Brewery in the market square