North West Passage: Day 3

Another sunny day, which got really quite hot by the afternoon. We set off at 7.15, and weren't the first boat down Hillmorton Locks, which meant we had to turn them all. Adrian walked down to the locks, while I brought the boat. We carried on through Rugby, of course meeting boats at the busy Clifton Wharf, and at the moorings which are on a bend. At Rugby Wharf a Willow Wren hire boat was trying to get back into the arm, and failing. I'm not even sure how he got himself in that position in the first place, with bow wedged on the bank and stern stuck in the winding hole.

Typically, it was also busy at Stretton Stop, with a day boat going out and two boats coming through the narrows. The next bit of the North Oxford is rather dull, but the sun was shining and there was plenty of farming activity to watch -- harvesting, baling, ploughing, and tilling. Having passed next to no boats where passing is easy, when we got to Ansty with its bridges, sharp bend, and moorings, we met four.

A boat was just coming out of the stop lock at Hawkesbury Junction, so we could go straight in.

Adrian did a textbook turn through the junction, giving the many drinkers at The Greyhound nothing to comment on.

We stopped at one of the water points to top up the tank, and run a wash load. A day boat was moored right in the middle of the water point moorings having their lunch, but we managed to fit in behind them.

At Charity Dock, the manekins looked much more organised than ever, as if some thought had been given to the vignettes. A montage is virtually compulsory.

As we approached Nuneaton I texted my Radio 4 announcer colleague, Jim Lee, who lives nearby, and he walked down to the canal and jumped on board for it bit. It was great to see him, and as he grew up round here, he knew even more than the guide book about the quarries and the lost railway lines.

We carried on to Hartshill, mooring up at around 5pm. The boat ahead of us had come adrift at the stern, so we re-moored that, stopping it from drifting out across the cut.

25 miles, 4 locks. (58 miles, 24 locks)