We were moored a short way from lock 23 (Radford Bottom Lock) on the Grand Union. The locks are broad locks so it is possible to get two boats in side by side. This saves a bit of the workload when working through the locks and also saves CRT some water. We saw two boats go past us before we were ready to set off. We got to the first lock and saw a boat already just about to exit the lock. We worked out that they were single handing (only one person on the boat). We didn't want to share with a single hander as this would increase Pip's workload rather than decrease it. He went off, leaving a top gate open behind him. We emptied the lock and worked our own way through it and the next two locks with no sign of the single hander ahead except that the locks were full and a top gate left open.
A bit further along we spotted a bird of prey. Not being bird watchers we've no idea what it was. We took a picture but the new cheap camera Pip bought yesterday doesn't do as good quality pictures as her old broken one.
Then I spotted an old twin propeller engine aeroplane. It looked very much like a Dakota DC3.
There was a water point at bridge 32 so we stopped for a fill up. This bridge carries the Fosse Way Roman road over the canal. I popped up to have a look at it. It was of course quite straight and cars were speeding fastly by. It reminded me of a time when I once drove along it most of the way from Bristol to Lincoln so I must have gone over this bridge then.
When we got to the next lock we spotted a boat approaching behind us and a chap walking along the towpath with a windlass in hand. It turned out to be the Germans that we had met in Warwick yesterday when they had given us a cup of mulled wine. So we shared the next five locks with them followed by a staircase of two locks. There was no mulled wine on offer today however they were making good inroads into a supply of German beer.
We said goodbye to the Germans at the top of the staircase and they pootled off in front. They wanted to do the Stockton flight today and we didn't. We stopped for some warming soup and a sandwich then headed off towards Long Itchington. I'll resist the urge to make stupid comments about the name of this village. We went up through two more locks. There was a boatyard at the 2nd lock so I went off to buy our 5th bag of coal of the holiday!
We wanted to moor in the next pound which was reasonably short. If we didn't we would be committed to doing eight more locks. There were no visitors moorings on this pound at all. Only long stay permit holders moorings. There were some moorings on the off side belonging to the pub the Blue Lias. These moorings were only available to customers of the pub. So we moored up there. Oh well, we'd HAVE to go and have some beer later then.
Moored opposite us on the long term moorings was a tatty looking boat we recognised from one of last year's trips. Pip had named it NB Noisy Horn because of his tendency to use the horn freely. A link to that day's blog is here:
We ate a nice pasta bolognaise cooked by Pip and then went off for the compulsory beer, some very nice Adnams Broadside.
5.5 miles, 10 locks, 1 staircase of 2 locks.
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