Thursday 28th June

We were greeted by our first mouse of the season today! Millie had obviously loved the spot and even went out this morning but fortunately came back as Richard was getting ready to set off. We went through two locks, the second being Gringley Lock where Richard was accosted by a tortoiseshell cat! The cat then walked across the lock gates, had a good look in the boat and took himself off across a small bridge into a field. I did wonder if he had ever got onto a boat before! Drakeholes Tunnel was next but it’s not very long, 154 yards, but long enough to wake Millie up with the change in engine noise. As we came out into the daylight it started to rain so we pulled over to sit it out. Four hours and a few thunderstorms later we continued on our way - we later discovered that we had come off quite lightly. We stopped at the Retford and Worksop Boat Club to avail ourselves of their facilities and finally pulled over for the night just before Hayton in the middle of nowhere! Richard had to get the shears out to cut back the undergrowth so that we could even see out of the windows! I’m glad he did as the view was lovely on a beautiful evening.

I took myself off for a walk in the evening. I now have a pedometer and it certainly makes walking more interesting to see how far I’ve gone. I did 2 miles most of it through dense undergrowth – the gunnera (looks like wild rhubarb) must have been well over 6 foot high! The path was covered in slugs too – tiny ones and in places it was quite difficult not to tread on them!