An easy day.

(Boat Sickle - posted by Alan)
 

Approaching Radford Bottom lock

It seems fair to admit that whilst we have been broadly planning each weekend's boat moves, this weekend may not have had quite the focus of some previous ones!  In our defence we have been trying to progress quite a few things unrelated to boating, and Cath is at that time of year that many teachers find quite stressful.  So while it is fantastic being able to go boating each weekend, sometimes we have to remain distracted by other things, and be realistic about what we can do.

Attractive house at Fosse Locks

In fact an obvious limitation this weekend was the fact we are moving towards the parts of the Grand Union where there are restrictions in lock opening hours, due to trying to conserve limited water supplies.  Our decision to stop where we did yesterday guaranteed we had no chance of going though the Caulcutt locks, (towards the end of the Birmingham main line of the Grand Union), but in fact looking for options of finishing points before then didn't yield too much either - much of the canal here is remote, and away from much civilisation.

The Bascote staircase - the only one on the Grand Union main line.

So we decided to make today a shorter day still, and allow ourselves to not be arriving back home again very late - we knew anyway that we had to drive back to Lapworth to collect the second car.

Swapping uphill and downhill boats in the staircase.

The morning started with the two "Cape" locks - the last of the downhill ones, followed by the long lock-less stretch through Warwick and Leamington.  Eventually the uphill locks kick in, starting with fairly separated locks at Radford, but getting a bit more intense after that.  But at Long Itchington they again start coming thick and fast, with no real opportunities to moor up for an extended period, until you have completed the whole flight.  We did contemplate carrying on through these locks, but some reconnaissance showed that at the top of them, large areas were actually reserved as permanent mooring sites, (although on the whole unoccupied).  There was a distinct lack of suitable moorings, so we decided to call an early finish, even though it meant more to do on future weekends.

Cape of Good Hope (Warwick) to Long Itchington
Miles: 9.9, Locks:13
Totals for extended trip....
Miles: 286.7, Locks: 233