Itchington Bottom

We left Saltisford after a leisurely start on Sunday October 12th. Our plan was to drop Anne & Edward at Lemington Spa station so they could get back home to Sheffield; Edward had a squash match.

Lock feature built out of old mechanisms and gates from Lapworth, Saltisford

The journey through the locks at the Cape was straightforward and we moored up opposite the station just after 12:15 in good time for the Sheffield train. Maggie & I said goodbye to our "extra crew" and travelled on towards Radford and the first of the locks going out of the Avon valley.

Station drop-off, Leamington Spa

We got to Radford just after two boats who had moored up for lunch just below the lock. As a result all the locks for the rest of the day were set against us. This didn't bother us as we made quite good time on our own. We got to Welsh Road Lock before another boat arrived behind us and we continued as a pair from Splash Bridge Lock until we moored up at Itchington.

Mumble a well-known short boat, Warwick

The other boat was a hire boat crewed by four. The steerer used to work for many years on trawlers. He was finding narrowboats "another kettle of fish" but they were coping well. It was particularly helpful to have two boats going up Bascote locks together.

Going up the Bascote staircase

As the day wore on the weather deteriorated and it got quite cold. We were quite pleased to moor up for the night below Itchington Bottom Lock and get the fire burning bright.