A Hitch-Hiking Dragon as we cross to Foxton

OK, not a real dragon, as in Smaug, in fact a dragonfly.
He landed on my arm and seemed reluctant to leave!

It’s been mild but fresher today, quite pleasant in fact. A drop of rain first thing soon cleared away.

We’d intended yesterday to moor near the Welford Arm, about a mile further on. We needn’t have worried about not finding a space on the good moorings here!
Just about where we are, above, buried in the offside weeds, is the county boundary sign. We’ve crossed over from Northamptonshire into Leicestershire.


Opposite North Kilworth Wharf work on the new marina continues, but there doesn’t seem to have been much progress since this time last year.
 

North Kilworth Wharf


The group of people with the boat on the service wharf were amused when they spotted Meg in her tee-shirt.

I explained that she was a shy girl and didn’t like to go topless…
The sore patch on her chest is now drying up nicely. It’ll be another few days yet though before she can shed the shirt.

Husbands Bosworth tunnel is preceded by a very woody cutting, and here we encountered NB Zambezi, the crew shouting across that they read this stuff. Thanks guys.

Tunnel cutting…


…and the tunnel mouth

Like the other two tunnels on the Leicester Section, this is broad width and allows two way traffic.
I was hoping that we wouldn’t meet anyone coming through, but at the halfway point the silhouette of another boat appeared in the distant arch of the northern portal.
Sorry, a bit blurry. Not easy holding the camera still while on zoom and trying to avoid the unforgiving tunnel walls!
No drama, though. We both squeezed past each other without touching, boats or walls.

Clear of the northern cutting and into open country approaching the Laughton Hills.
There are some pleasant moorings along here.

A distinctive Scree! overhead made me look up. camera in hand, in time to spot one of the resident buzzards soaring past.


Strangely I didn’t take any more pictures in the last couple of miles. I think I was on the phone, talking boats with brother Andy.

We arrived at the top of Foxton, debating whether to drop down the locks today or stay above and go down tomorrow. The latter won, so we pulled in just past the boy and horse sculpture. We’ll go down in the morning.

Locks 0, miles 8½