Thursday 13th June
We didn’t really know whether we were going to move on or not when we got up (late) this morning. By the time we had made our minds up to go it was getting on for 9-30 am. It was blustery and it rained on and off to start with but all in all it wasn’t a bad trip. We did the first 2 locks alone, then there was someone coming up in or out of every other of the remaining 7 as we approached, making things quite easy. So, we started descending the 10 Stockton Locks about 9-40 am and having finished the flight, pulled into a mooring at the bottom, in Cuttle about 11-30 am. We have actually travelled all of about 2 miles!
After mooring just before the two pubs (The Two Boats and The Cuttle Inn, one on either side of the canal) we walked in to Long Itchington to look for the shop. We found the Coop and 3 other pubs! We only went in one of them, The Duck On The Pond, for a quick pint of Bombardier before going back to the canal and having another pint at The Two Boats. Neither pub was as nice or as efficiently run or as popular as The Blue Lias but the beer was good in both.
The unusual boat we passed yesterday (see photos) was poled past by three blokes this evening, obviously it hasn’t got a working engine! It must have been a long job getting it down the locks.
It has rained a lot again this afternoon and been really windy so we have lit the fire and lolled about watching tv! Tomorrow we are continuing towards Royal Leamington Spa.
