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Kennet & Avon Canal Walk
The Kennet and Avon Canal is the name given to an 87 mile east to west waterway between Reading and Bristol, comprising 2 lengths of navigable river joined by a canal. Between Reading and Newbury, the waterway follows the River Kennet. From Newbury to Bath, the waterway follows 57 miles of canal dug between 1794 and 1810. Between Bath and Bristol, the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon.
The waterway opened up a new trade route between the south west of England and London, dispensing with the need to go around Land’s End, along the English Channel and then round to the Thames Estuary. Towns and cities along the route such as Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Devizes, Trowbridge and Bath all benefited.
The opening of the Great Western Railway between London and Bristol in 1841 saw the start of a slow but steady decline in the use and fortunes of the Kennet and Avon Canal; in fact, the canal was barely profitable right from its initial opening. By 1951, years of neglect had resulted in it becoming almost impossible to navigate the whole length of the waterway. In that year the Kennet and Avon Canal Association was established with the aim of ensuring no further deterioration of the canal took place. In 1962 the association became the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust.
Since then, under the guidance of what was British Waterways along with the Trust, years of hard work, much of it by volunteers, resulted in the formal re-opening of the canal by Queen Elizabeth II in August 1990. The re-opening ceremony took place at Lock 43 of the Caen Hill Flight.
Since 1990, the waterway has gone from strength to strength. Obviously, it is no longer used for trade but instead it is used for leisure purposes.
A history of the Kennet and Avon Canal, including it’s decline and subsequent restoration can be read here
The Kennet and Avon Canal is fondly known as the ‘K&A’ and from here on I’ll refer to it as such.
Downstream of Reading, the Kennet flows into the River Thames. Downstream of Bath, the Avon flows into the River Severn at Avonmouth. This section is referred to as the Avon Navigation. The Severn Estuary has a tidal range of almost 50 feet, 2nd only in the world to the Bay of Fundy in Canada. The Severn’s tides are responsible for pushing water along the Avon through Bristol for at least 10 miles. Spring tides often push water even further upstream.
Today you could theoretically navigate from the Thames Estuary to the Bristol Channel; however, with 22 locks along the Thames and 105 on the K&A, it certainly wouldn’t be a fast journey! In addition to its locks, the K&A has more than 200 bridges. The locks & bridges are all numbered; starting from Reading, the lock numbers descend, whilst the bridge numbers ascend. All the locks are named and most of the bridges are too. 25 of the bridges are swing bridges.
So much for the K&A itself. The Kennet & Avon Canal Walk does what it says on the tin. It follows the towpath as much as possible for the entire length from Reading to Bristol. Between Bath and Bristol the path is shared with the River Avon Trail. The River Avon Trail continues for a few miles beyond Bristol to Pill, a village in North Somerset. Pill has a small harbour and is about ½ mile from the imposing M5 Avonmouth Bridge which crosses the Avon.
The River Avon Trail is a long distance path in its own right but I’ll include the short distance between Bristol and Pill as though it’s part of the K&A Walk.
On its way from Reading to Bristol, the K&A Walk passes through numerous towns & cities including Thatcham, Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Devizes, Bradford-on-Avon and Bath. Also, along the way, there are engineering marvels of the canal era such as Crofton Pumping Station, home of the oldest working steam engines in the world, the spectacular Caen Hill locks and the aqueducts at Avoncliff and Dundas.
By definition, a canal walk is unlikely to be arduous, with no real climbing involved but that doesn’t mean the landscapes along the route shouldn’t be interesting and varied. The K&A Walk is no exception, since it passes through the chalk hills of the North Wessex Downs in the east and the southern fringes of the Cotswolds in the west. This largely rural walk features rolling fields, quiet woodlands and pretty valleys and the changing landscape offers plenty of opportunities to spot wonderful plants and wildlife.
There are very good transport facilities along the route, both bus and rail and since it passes through several towns and cities, accommodation is not a problem either; in fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking Brunel simply chose to construct his railway right next to the waterway!
If you really want to continue along the Avon beyond Pill you can walk under Avonmouth Bridge and try to reach the point on the south bank where the river flows into the Severn at Avonmouth. If you have a head for heights, you can also cross the Avonmouth Bridge and carry on into Avonmouth itself on the north bank. However, be advised that the Avon’s mouth is dominated by 2 large, deep-water docks that comprise the modern-day Port of Bristol; on the south bank is Royal Portbury Dock, whilst on the north bank are the Avonmouth Docks. Both docks are out of bounds to the general public.
One thing you can do though is to either walk or get a bus to Portishead Marina from Pill and walk along the path towards the docks. From here you can look across the River Severn to the 2 docks. In the following photo, the mouth of the River Avon is between the lighthouse on the south pier of Avonmouth Docks and the pier of Royal Portbury Dock.
Having walked the Thames Path many times, I’m obviously familiar with the ugly horseshoe bridge over the mouth of the Kennet at Reading which is the starting point of the K&A Walk. Whilst walking the Wessex Ridgeway, I also got to know a very small section of the K&A at Devizes. After a subsequent visit just to see the amazing Caen Hill Locks in Devizes, the deal was sealed; my next walk for 2026 would have to be the K&A Walk and I’d go east to west. Bristol is a way nicer place to finish than that bridge at Reading! Beyond Bristol, I’d carry on to Pill to complete the River Avon Trail.
With no need to worry about public transport, I initially decided to play stages by ear, knowing that I can comfortably walk 20 miles a day. However, in the end I opted to use the stages of a fellow walker who opted to base his walks on railway stations.
These are the walks I undertook –
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Reading to Thatcham
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Thatcham to Hungerford
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Hungerford to Pewsey
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Pewsey to Trowbridge
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Trowbridge to Bath
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Bath to Bristol
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Bristol to Pill
Only Pill does not have a railway station. It does however have a very good bus service between Bristol and Portishead – the X4.