Tuesday 16th August

A very early start! Jim needed to empty and refill his water tank as he was worried that the water may have become contaminated in one of the Avon Locks. He reckoned it would take about 90 minutes so he wanted to get away to the tap at 8am! We didn’t go with him but, as we were moored against each other and we were on the outside, we had to move first. Needless to say I lay in bed with my cup of tea and listened to it all happening around me! When Cecilia was full we went through the first of the Stratford Canal locks (which is a double) and into the basin where we moored up so that we could go food shopping. The first bridge out of the basin is very low and Richard had taken everything off the roof but in the end it would only have been the solar lights that needed to come off. The second bridge is even lower and has a lock at the end of it. Cecilia went in then had to reverse out as there was a boat already in the lock. The Stratford Canal is all single locks and there are 17 locks over 3.5 miles (11 are the Wilmcote flight) as you leave Stratford. Cecilia went first and who ever was doing the locks opened the bottom paddle after they left a lock so at least it was empty when we approached it – it certainly made things quicker. I did most of the locks for Mary H as they were single gates but had to give in near the top as I was exhausted. We motored on for about another hour crossing the Edstone Aquaduct. This is a cast iron trough and is the second longest aquaduct in the country. It is 28 feet high and 754 feet long and is now Grade II listed. The view was fantastic but its not somewhere for the feint hearted! Not long after we pulled over for the night. My turn to cook.