Two miles to turn round.

After a quiet evening near Bridge 5 we pulled pins at around 9 this morning and set off. Foxton Swing Bridge was negotiated, Black Horse Bridge passed under, then we moored again. All of 700 yards. Tescoman was due at 10:00-ish.

Where we’d moored last night was beneath a tree, so the roof was liberally scattered with dead leaves. Not too much of a problem, much worse was the spots of sticky sap all over the cabin side and windows. So with time to kill before the delivery I set to to wash it off and leather the paintwork dry. I’d just got finished when the van arrived, so good timing there.

It took a while to get everything stowed away, with unnecessary packaging removed and bagged up for disposal at the junction, before we moved on.

The second swing bridge of the day, next to the Lower Arm
The original crossing here was installed to allow horses to tow their boats to the bottom of the inclined plane. It was removed when the plane fell out of use, and has only recently been reinstated.

A bit of boating activity at the the bottom of the locks…

We didn’t get involved; turning right under the bridge to head for the winding hole at Debdale.

We were returning to moor on the main line just down from the junction, and could have turned around here and reversed under the bridge to find a mooring. But the day was brightening up and we needed to charge the batteries, so we cruised a mile each way to the winding hole.

Mind you, it was difficult to see when we got there…

Smoke from a leaf bonfire obscures the canal
A sure sign that autumn is fast approaching!

We finished up moored just past the footbridge, Bridge 63, facing the junction and the locks.

Tomorrow we’ll go back up and turn around again, ready to drop down again on Sunday. We’ve visitors coming…

Thanks, Graham, for the instructive comment on yesterday’s post. My bit about the Republic of Scotland was meant to be tongue-in-cheek…
I take your point about a currency union, it’s just that I’m not sure that it would give an independent Scotland the flexibility it requires to run it’s own economy.
Anyway, we’ll have to see. There’s 18 months of negotiation to come, even if it’s a yes vote. I guess we’ll know at breakfast time tomorrow.

Hi Malcolm, good to meet you too. If you're on this weekend we may see you again...

Locks 0, miles 3