Northern Exposure: Day 3

We wanted to get a good number of miles under our belts today; these are very familiar waters and also not terribly inspiring, and if we make good progress now we can slow down when we get further north.  We were up pretty early and having dumped rubbish at the bins by the Stop House, we set off at 7.45.  We were soon passing through Braunston Junction, although we were going straight on today, not under one of the twin bridges.

There was a mix of sunny spells and cloud, but it was relatively warm.  There are loads of busy birds about; we’ve seen vast numbers of robins, and just before Hillmorton was this (I think) sparrow hawk (well camouflaged, in the middle of the photo)

At Hillmorton Locks, we had to fill the top one, but we swapped with a boat coming up at the middle one, and the bottom one was full and open ready for us.  There are some nice daffs and a view of the church from the middle lock.

We continued through Rugby, where there are lots of new roads to service lots of new houses.  At Clifton Cruisers, all the hire boats were moored up two abreast, making me glad we didn’t meet anything coming the other way.  We’ve seen water voles in two separate places, one on the edge of Rugby, the other before Stretton Stop.  Neither hung around long enough to have their photo taken.  In the cutting before Stretton Stop, where for years boaters have been asked to slow down because the bank is unstable, there’s been a significant land slip, with lots of trees down.

At Stretton Stop, one of the Rose Narrowboat guys opened the little swing bridge for us as he was about to come across it.  A bit further along, a CRT gang was on a boat on the offside cutting back trees and bushes.  Then we passed a blacksmith’s boat, with a workshop in a butty.  The visitor moorings at Ansty had only one boat on them, the emptiest we’ve ever seen them.  Then at around 2.30 the forecast rain arrived.  It turned much colder and windier too.  We were aiming for Hawkesbury Junction, and picked up a mooring immediately before the stop lock.  The rain looks to be set in for the evening.

23 miles, 3 locks.  (49 miles, 23 locks)