Two days after exploring the remarkable Crofton Beam Engines, we returned to the Kennet & Avon Canal aboard Tilly Mint to enjoy the journey through the landscape that those engines have helped sustain for more than two centuries.
Beginning in Hungerford, our route carried us through the peaceful countryside of the North Wessex Downs towards Crofton—a journey combining narrowboat life, beautiful scenery and some extraordinary waterways heritage.
Beginning in Hungerford
Our day began in the historic market town of Hungerford.
Known for its antiques shops and ancient Hocktide traditions, the town is surrounded by some of southern England’s most attractive countryside. The Kennet & Avon Canal passes quietly through it, offering a particularly inviting starting point for a journey by boat.
Once aboard Tilly Mint, we prepared to cast off and leave the town behind. Ropes were released, the engine settled into its familiar rhythm and we returned to the wonderfully unhurried pace of canal travel.
Into the North Wessex Downs
Beyond Hungerford, the canal enters a tranquil rural landscape within the North Wessex Downs.
Trees and hedgerows lined the water while open fields stretched towards the surrounding hills. Sheep grazed beyond the towpath, birds moved between the branches and the occasional waterside cottage appeared through the greenery.
From the stern of Tilly Mint, the landscape unfolded gradually. There was time to notice reflections moving across the water, listen to birdsong and enjoy the small details that would be missed when travelling by road.
The gentle sound of the boat moving through the water provided the soundtrack to our journey.
Life at narrowboat pace
A day aboard Tilly Mint was never simply about reaching our destination.
Canal travel creates its own rhythm. Locks and bridges divide the journey into a succession of small tasks, while stretches of open water provide time to relax, talk and enjoy the surroundings.
There is always something requiring attention: the position of the boat, an approaching bridge, activity at the next lock or wildlife deciding that the centre of the canal is the only reasonable place to be.
Yet none of it feels hurried. Progress is measured in miles rather than minutes, and the journey becomes every bit as important as the destination.
Approaching Crofton
As we continued towards Crofton, the engineering behind the canal became increasingly apparent.
The Kennet & Avon must climb to its summit before descending again towards Wiltshire and the Avon Valley. Maintaining sufficient water at this highest section was one of the greatest challenges faced by the canal’s original engineers.
Every boat passing through a lock carries water downhill. Without a reliable means of replacing it, the summit pound would gradually become unnavigable.
The solution was Crofton Pumping Station, built between 1807 and 1809 to raise water from the springs and reservoir below into the canal above.
Seeing Crofton from the water
Approaching Crofton aboard Tilly Mint gave us a different perspective from our earlier visit on foot.
The tall chimney and historic engine house rise beside the canal, immediately distinguishing the site from the surrounding countryside. It is an impressive reminder that even the most peaceful waterways depend upon substantial infrastructure.
Inside the Grade I-listed pumping station are two working steam-powered beam engines dating from 1812 and 1846. The older Boulton & Watt engine is celebrated as the world’s oldest working beam engine remaining in its original location and capable of performing its original purpose.
On selected steaming days, the engines still lift water into the summit pound—living machinery continuing the work for which it was created more than two centuries ago. Crofton Beam Engines
Engineering brought to life
Having recently explored the engine house, we could now connect the machinery inside with the waterway outside.
The great beams, pistons and pumps were no longer isolated museum exhibits. They formed part of the landscape through which Tilly Mint was travelling and helped explain how boats could continue navigating this elevated section of canal.
That connection made Crofton particularly memorable. The engines are magnificent examples of Industrial Revolution engineering, but their real significance becomes clearest when viewed alongside the canal they were built to serve.
Watching the water beside our boat, it was remarkable to consider the effort required to maintain something that appeared so calm and natural.
A pause beside the canal
Crofton provided an ideal place to pause and enjoy the surroundings.
The grounds overlook the canal and nearby railway, with the Wiltshire countryside extending beyond. It is a landscape shaped by several generations of transport history: canal boats moving at walking pace, trains passing nearby and historic steam engines standing between them.
After exploring, there was time to relax and reflect on the journey before returning to Tilly Mint.
A picnic beside the canal is one of boating’s simplest pleasures. Food somehow tastes better after a morning on the water, particularly when accompanied by attractive views and nowhere urgent to be.
Heritage that remains alive
The Kennet & Avon Canal has survived because generations of volunteers and campaigners refused to allow it to disappear.
The same spirit is evident at Crofton, where volunteers maintain the buildings, boilers and engines, operate the machinery and share its history with visitors.
Without their skill and commitment, the pumping station might have become a static monument—or been lost entirely. Instead, it remains connected to the working canal and continues to demonstrate the ingenuity of its original designers.
The Canal & River Trust describes the 1812 and 1846 engines as being among the world’s oldest working steam beam engines. Seeing their setting from the canal reinforced just how exceptional their survival is.
A journey through two landscapes
Our cruise from Hungerford to Crofton brought together two contrasting elements of the inland waterways.
There was the natural beauty of the North Wessex Downs: green fields, mature trees, wildlife and tranquil water. Alongside it stood the engineered landscape of locks, reservoirs, channels and pumping machinery that makes navigation possible.
Neither exists independently of the other. The apparent tranquillity of the canal is sustained by centuries of engineering, continual maintenance and the efforts of those who care for it today.
Travelling aboard Tilly Mint allowed us to experience both.
More than a destination
Crofton Beam Engines may have been our destination, but the journey from Hungerford was an essential part of the experience.
At narrowboat pace, we watched the landscape change, worked through the canal’s structures and gained a deeper appreciation of the infrastructure supporting the water beneath us.
It was another memorable day aboard Tilly Mint—and a wonderful reminder that Britain’s canals are not merely routes through the countryside. They are living pieces of history, best understood by travelling slowly through them.