The pound we were moored in drained somewhat on Tuesday night so we woke up on
Wednesday to a tilting boat. It’s not so
obvious from this picture but it is very difficult to walk along inside.
We keep reading about how the summer is coming and the new
boating season. We have mixed feelings
about it because it means, selfishly, the canals will start getting busy. It has been rather nice seeing few moving
boats in the winter and most of the ones we see are like us, just cruising
around, having fun and enjoying life.
Also, there are plenty of glorious days in the winter just not the sort
where you can sit outside all evening.
As strong winds were forecast by lunch time on Wednesday we
set off at seven. We let a few lock-fulls of water in to the
pound and we soon floated off OK. Once again we had a beautiful day and cruised
through 12 locks and covered about six miles.
Apart from going under the M40 we spent the day in pleasant Warwickshire
countryside.
A goose was guarding one of the locks.
We had to go across an iron aqueduct to get into one of the
locks. The original aqueduct was made of
wood and was washed away in a flood in 1834.
Karen thought this was a funny picture especially as it was
just after I nearly fell in.
A couple of CRT guys were working on the locks and helped us
through. Karen took the opportunity to
ask why at lock 35 the balance beam has the numbers 34 and 35 on it. Apparently the gate was removed during maintenance work on lock 34. It was found to be sounder than they thought so it was saved and used to replace the top gate on lock 35 when that one needed replacing. I don’t
follow the logic myself.
The guys were using a scuvern (they weren’t sure how to
spell it and I can’t find anything on the web).
They were removing the mud and stones that build up in the bottom of the
lock preventing gates from opening fully.
We moored in Wootton Waven and had a quick walk round the
village.
The canal crosses the main road through the village on this aqueduct which was
built in 1813.
These are some of the locks we went through today.
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