Tuesday 17 March 09. Stockton to Radford Semele. 18 locks 5 hours.

We realised that we had to adjust to country life a bit quicker last night.

Just settled in with our books when....BLAM........BLAM... then followed by two more, this turned out to be two country folk hunting rabbits in the field opposite. Now never having been that close to someone firing live ammunition before the noise that these guns make is startling to say the least. I fully expected to hear sirens and see blue flashing lights (anyone remember the Jasper Carrot mole sketch?) but nothing happened and they moved on to the next field blasting away in the dark.

Everything normal there then!

Back to the boating.

Loins fully girdled we started down the long fall to Royal Leamington Spa.


There were locks everywhere you looked, were we daunted? well..........no not really, this type of lock has turned out to be the easiest of them all to work so far. They each have four huge sluices standing like sentinels in the corners and no gate paddles. On our own (we have only seen two other boats today) we can work the whole lock from one side as they empty really quickly. Less lock beam dancing for D.

Going down,

This was our first "Staircase" lock where the bottom gate of one is the top gate of the other, met another boat right here towing a broken down British Waterways craft. Don't see a boat for hours then two come along at once.

Canal Picture.............Its been a day of locks but sometimes things just look nice.

This was fully in bud, D says its a Pussy Willow I say its a tree, brown at the bottom, green at the top, case proven I think.

Onward!

This was our last one for the day and I must admit I didn't think we would get out of it with all that water pouring in from the closed gates and one sluice not working, all you could do was HEAVE on the bottom gate. D did a grand job.... I didn't even have to wake up.

Drinks and Crib in the Cratch again with the first lock for tomorrow waiting in the distance.


Until then.......