Friday 20th
September; Calcutt Marina to Long Itchington
After an easy run up from Devon
we were unloading the car by lunchtime, and ready to leave before 3 – even
allowing for a pleasant chat with some neighbours, whose boat has been gutted
and is having a new fit-out.
We turned left towards Warwick
for the first time this year. The
weather has been glorious for a while and today’s was wonderful. I think Saturday will be the end of the
summer though.
Our initial plan had been to moor near the Willow Wren base
before going down the ten Stockton locks in the morning. But we didn’t want to waste the beautiful
afternoon sitting around when we’ve been away from the cut, so on we went. There are quite a few old working boats
moored along this stretch.
The steam tug Adamant was moored there too but in deep shade
and I didn’t get a photo. One boat had
such a high polish on the sides that our reflection kept pace with us as we
passed.
We were delighted to see a boat waiting for us in the top
lock, clearly new hirers under instruction.
But unluckily for us they were being taught to use the lock before
turning below it and going back up towards Braunston! Makes sense though, as it’s only a three-day
‘taster’ hire. So we did the rest of the
flight on our own. We met one boat
coming up, but the bottom gates on these locks leak so much that we ended up
having to fill, at least partially, all but two.
We weren’t in a hurry, and only used the paddles on the
towpath side. The paddles were stiff and
the gates heavy, and even with Dave sharig the work I was pretty tired by the
bottom lock. Even so, having left the
marina at 2.45, we were delighted to be mooring up between the bridges below
the Two Boats by 5.30. After a
well-earned cup of tea (did I mention the chocolate cookies for essential
locking fuel?) we repaired to the pub for beer and fish and chips. As we returned, the sky was that beautiful
translucent orangey colour you get at sunset in a clear sky.. My camera is only a point-and-shoot so can’t
give anything like the real colour. You can just see Meg standing at the stern.
We are still having battery issues, so as well as no-signal
areas (like our Long Itchington mooring tonight) affecting posting, I may not have a
charged-up computer!
3 miles, 10 locks
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