To Crick: Day 14

Cloudy and chilly again to start.  We set off at about 9, and Adrian worked the two Cape Locks to see if his injured arm was up to it.  It was a bit painful, so I’ll be doing the locks up the other side of the hill.  In Warwick, the former Kate Boats site is now Warwickshire Narrowboat Hire, with some smart-looking boats.  The new development opposite is now finished, and looks good.  We liked the way they’d made the houses facing the canal look like warehouses.

We stopped just before Bright 46, because a Tesco shop was called for.  It turned out the moorings right outside were also free, but you can’t see that until you’re through the bridge, by which time it’s too late if they’re full.  We did a decent sized shop, then when everything was stowed away we set off to walk to the home of my former colleague Judith in Leamington.  It’s about a 15 minute walk, to her lovely house in a small development near a converted water mill on the Avon.  Judith and her husband, Phil, provided a nice lunch, then showed us round the extensive grounds shared by the houses there, including a lot of woodlands.  That leads out to fields along the river, and we passed the spooky-looking Guys Cliffe House,  it was really great to see Judith, Phil, and their girls — a really lovely day.

It was about 3.45 when we got back to the boat, but we wanted to get out into the countryside for the night so we set off, now in warm sunshine.  We crossed the Avon on the aqueduct, into Leamington Spa.  We made a brief stop opposite Morrison’s, so Adrian could collect more hayfever medication from an Amazon locker, then we carried on to Radford Semele, where we picked a spot on piling, with the church across the canal up the hill.

We don’t seem to have telly, maybe because we’re a bit low, which is a shame because it’s Eurovision tonight!

4 miles, 2 locks.  (87 miles, 96 locks)

Autumn Cruise: Day 24

We’ve had a really lovely day today.  It was bright and sunny but very chilly this morning, and we travelled the half mile to the top of Hatton Locks, arriving at 8.30.  While we were in the top lock, I had a text to say our friends Bob and June who used to have a boat called Autumn Myst, had arrived at the car park.  They were going to get a boating fix by helping us down the locks.  From the ‘thick’ of the locks, there’s a great view down across Warwick, with the church very prominent.

Immediately after the thick, we met a couple of boats coming up.

At one point, I suddenly saw a toad hopping across the lock side.  He, probably wisely, decided against jumping into the fast-flowing by-wash, but I wasn’t sure about the wisdom of sitting on the tow path instead.

We made steady progress down the flight, with most lock just needing to be topped up.  Someone was always able to go ahead to get the next one ready.

We got to the bottom at 11.15, so it had taken 2 hours 45 minutes, which is a pretty respectable time for the 21 locks.  We immediately moored up for tea and very nice fruit cake baked by Bob.  After an hour or so we all walked back up the flight (which seems a much longer walk when you’re not accompanying a boat) for lunch at the cafe.  En route, we spotted Hadar coming down, and had a quick chat on the towpath with Jo.

After lunch (Bob and June had breakfasts which came with extra sausages as the cafe had too many, so the extra ones got passed to us), we had a lift back down to the bottom of the locks, before Bob and June headed off.  We hope to see them again in the spring.  We set off again, down the two Cape Locks.  At Kate Boats, a massive widebeam had just tied up alongside a hire boat on the wharf, leaving only just enough room to get through.

We crossed from Warwick to Leamington Spa, where again the graffiti is worth a look.  I also like the painted instruction on the inside of the bridge.

We moored at Radford Semele, somewhere we’ve always liked the look of but never moored before.  The church burned down in 2008 and for a long while was under covers while it was restored.  It’s a lovely sunny spot which is a really popular mooring.

7 miles, 23 locks.  (243 miles, 258 locks)