Rugby to a mooring between Br 80 and 81.

Hi Folks.

Rugby to the middle of nowhere, 6.6 miles, 3 locks travelled in 3 hours 20 minutes.

We had planned an early start, but did not wake up until 7am, so after a cuppa in bed we were up and dressed and I was off the boat with Paddy for his morning walk. I was bitterly disappointed that the forecast snow did not arrive, the only thing we had was rain, which of course is very welcome at the moment.

Having had breakfast, we donned our rucksacks and made our way to Tesco for our last food shop before Christmas and the New year. It was pretty quiet, so we managed to get on with what we wanted to do without pushing our way through the crowds or queuing at the till. In fact we arrived at a till as the person in front was leaving, perfect timing. We lugged all the shopping back to the boat, a pack horse would have been so useful, because it was all up hill to begin with then a short walk into the park down hill before we got back to the boat. I opened up the boat and the galley window and Keith passed the bags to me. Before unpacking the shopping, we emptied the two toilet cassettes and got rid of rubbish, Keith then fired up the engine, whilst I untied the boat. As we left the mooring  at 10.10am Al and Del on NB Derwent 6 waved us off and said they would see us tomorrow. It was onward to Hillmorton to fill up with water, before climbing the locks. We could not get right into the bank to take on water, so we had to watch our footing, because the bank is grass and was slippery with the mud, but with no accidents, we filled the tank and I then walked up to set the first lock, which was sure to warm me up, because it was cold.

There is still only one of the pairs of locks open, but with it so quiet, there was no queuing, even though we did see a boat go up whilst we were on the water point.

Keith carried on without me whilst I shut the gate, I then walked up to the next lock.

Keith held the boat in the pound whilst the lock emptied.

The lock gates is alive with fungi.

Lock done it was on to the last lock, where we met up with Nick Wolfe off of Working Boat Aldgate, he was off to saw up some wood. As we would not see him before Christmas we wished him a happy one, before we all went on our way.

At Bridge 74 Tarry's Bridge, where there used to be stabling for canal horses, the stables have been turned into accommodation. They look very tastefully done and I love the train.

We cruised past Barby Marina, which looks rather sad, because it is still unfinished. The boats which have already taken moorings there are having to moor around the edges of the marina, which cannot be that great.

After a very pleasant cruise on a cold winter morning, we arrived at bridge 80, which is desperate need of repair. Is this going to be another bridge lost?

Just after the bridge we moored up on a nice deep mooring and this is where we will stay for the weekend. Someone has made a bird table out of an old draw front and a pole, so I made the most of it and put the feeders out. Within a couple of minutes we had our first visitor, a Robin came calling followed by Blue Tits, a Green Finch and Long Tailed Tits. I will be taking photographs over the weekend. We have TV but no BBC channels, but I am not to bothered by that.

Last night we watched "The Kings Speech" and I thought it was brilliant. I can see why people raved over it now. It is a must have for the DVD collection.

Right off to sort out dinner. Chat soon xx