Autumn Cruise: Day 4

As I had my breakfast this morning, a squirrel came along the towpath, stopped by the dinette window, and spent a few seconds just looking in. Not long enough for a photo though. It was beautifully sunny first thing this morning.  At about 8am I went and set the top lock, which was only about a hundred metres ahead of the mooring.  It was half full already so didn’t take long to top up.

Hillmorton Locks are in a bit of a state at the moment.  These locks are paired, so there are two side by side.  But one lock of each pair is currently out of action.  And at the middle pair, the one that is working has bottom gates that appear to be on their last legs.  The walkway is falling off, so you can’t go across it.  These are the busiest locks in the country, so it’s pretty poor.

I was just pulling the boat out of the middle lock when a volunteer lock keeper appeared and said he’d walk round and close the other gate.  The next pound was very full, with water gushing over the top gate.  I used only the paddle on my side to fill it, as the footway across was under an inch of water.  Once I was in the lock a lady on her way to work closed the top gate for me, as it was her most direct route to her office.  However, she also didn’t like the look of wading through water, so I invited her to cross the back of the boat instead.  By now the lock keeper was back and worked me down.

There are massive earthworks going on in connection with the new town, Houlton.  Then before Bridge 66 is the new bridge across the canal to connect to Houlton.  The bridge name and number have been moulded into the concrete, and the main structure is being clad in brick — red for the parapet, which has a wavy top, and blue engineering bricks below.  When it’s finished, it won’t look as bad as some modern bridges.

I carried on to the Rugby moorings.  This is another place where you take a gamble: do you stop in the first place in case there’s no space round the corner, or carry on and hope for the best?  I carried on and found a reasonable spot on the correct side for Tesco.  All the moorings are on a bend here, so none are ideal really — but it doesn’t really matter just for shopping.  In total I made three trips to Tesco, one of them on the way back from Homebase and Wickes which are a bit further down the path.  The reason for the DIY stores was to get some sealant, so I could re-do the seal round the shower tray.  The finish isn’t very professional, but it’s done.

 At lunchtime I started to set off across the canal to the water point, but had to wait for a boat to come by.  It turned out they were looking for a space so waited for me to move.  While the tank filled I put for washing on, including my boating jeans covered in lock-wall slime, and had lunch.

When the tank was full I set off to turn around.  One option I’ve seen people use is immediately beyond the road bridge — but Paul Balmer doesn’t have it marked as a winding hole on the Waterways Routes map, so I didn’t attempt it.  It’s not far to the next place anyway, along by the entrance to Rugby Wharf.  Once turned around, I passed last week’s boat test boat again, and continued to the golf course moorings.  I have a chilli on the go, and Adrian is due to arrive on the train just before 6pm.

5 miles, 3 locks.  (38 miles, 23 locks)