Short jaunt today.

Travelled 1.8 miles, worked 2 locks in a time of 1 hour and 25 minutes.

We had a nice leisurely start to the day, with a cup of tea in bed whilst watching the news on BBC1. I slept really well and was only woken up at 5.30 am by a boat chugging past, it did not however mean I stayed awake, because I drifted back to sleep until 7.50 am when Keith climbed over me. We were going to have a short day as far as cruising was concerned after the previous ones which had been hard work.

We left our mooring above Birstall Lock at 9.40 am and whilst Keith moved the boat, I walked down to the lock to help a hire boat up. The couple were from South Africa and were hiring from Anglo Welsh for three weeks. The lady of mature years was commenting on how hard the locks had been and the amount of rubbish she had seen. I hated to tell her that the locks would get no easier as she got closer to Leicester. The rubbish problem really seemed to upset her, as she began to tell me about the rubbish problem in South Africa and how once the beaches had blue ribbons but now they are knee deep in rubbish. I actually came away from chatting to her feeling quite positive about our rubbish problem in the UK. Anyway the lock was filled and they went on their way with a cheery “Goodbye” from me and I wished them well on the remainder of their holiday. As we left the lock, a pair of boats was ready to enter so that was a result.

The second lock was Thurmaston Lock, this one was so easy to work compared with the ones over the past few days. As we left the lock a community boat entered leaving me with little work to do.

We moored up just below the lock at 10.35 am and went for a walk around one of the 12 Watermead Park Lakes.

The lakes are an oasis in the madness of our world and apart from some road noise in the back ground, the sound of the birds filled the air.

There was very little waterfowl on the lakes, but the walk was very enjoyable.

The Cormorants were high in the trees drying off in the sunshine.

After a lovely walk, we decided to move the boat further on and as we came under Hills Bridge a Goat popped its head over the fence.

We moored up just past the entrance to the Melton Mowbray Navigation, with it’s new towpath bridge which was installed in 2012. This afternoon we plan to walk back to the Chandlery back at Hills Bridge and we may even walk up the Melton Mowbray Navigation.