Last night spent  in the country moored just above Calcutt top lock on the Grand Union which we feel is a bit of an inaccurate name as it is suffering from a lot of vegetation growth on the offside  which narrows it down quite a bit in places not at all a grand canal as the name implies , we got off  to a lazy start as it was a hot sunny morning and there were quite a few boats turning , filling with water and one hire boat that wouldn't start occupied by ten students from Devon , a nice group of people we found out later as we ended up travelling together for most of the day , this really was very fortunate for us as we progressed down through twenty three!! locks , plenty of people to share the work but even they were starting to flag by late afternoon.
We parted company when they stopped to meet an engineer to repair their boat .They passed us again when we stopped to empty our rubbish and we last saw them going into Royal Leamington Spa where we are moored for the night and have just been into town to get a fish supper.
Tomorrow or the day after we head on to Warwick and we shall have a similar amount of locks to work .
I hope that we have to have some one as good to share with .
Of course what I forgot to say earlier was that the locks after Calcutt are wide locks ie they will accommodate two boats up to 70 feet long side by side

After another day of alternating showers and sunshine  we have arrived at Braunston Junction taken on board water and diesel and emptied our waste tanks . Tomorrow will be wash day using our amazing Travel Power unit to run the washing machine as we go( it`s a 240 volt generator attached to the engine) it does now seem be working correctly touch wood .

This is view from Braunston Junction up the Grand Union Canal where it merges with the Oxford  ,there is a triangular traffic island there see further down

How we are moored tonight  yes we are leaning to the side but that is because the canal edge is tapered and we cant get near enough to the side without catching on the bottom

Now all the duck families are growing up father has  gone off in search of new love leaving mother to try and control the children

second in comand starting to look sunburnt

another view of the junction showing the horse bridges over the two arms

a better view of yesterdays double locks

Don't you just hate Monday mornings we laid in bed listening to the rain lashing down and the trains passing in the distance packed with those happy commuters  one of us crawled out of bed at  nineish and made the other her cup of tea it was still raining but a good day for gawping and passing the time of day with passersby we eventually walked up into the village bought pizza for tea , milk and a tin of beans , high living! this evening we have been visiting our neighbours in the boat behind us Norman & Shirl who are based on the Erewash canal , one we will visit at a later date, had a couple of glasses of wine and a good talk about boats and life in general
.

We are still travelling around the outskirts of Rugby and are moored just above the Hillmorton locks for the night in a  rural setting yet five hundred yards away across a couple of mainline railways the  city suburbs  starts .
The Hillmorton locks are doubles ie. two side by side so two boats can go through at the same time in the same or opposite directions

Here`s our neighbour from the other night

Last night was spent at Newbold On Avon just outside Rugby , for the time being we are on the Oxford canal  but soon will be on the Grand Union and heading north to Birmingham which still has a maze of canals through it .
Last night was a bit of sleepless one the wind was quite blustery and there was something underwater on the mooring and every time we rolled there was a clonk on the side,  it chucked it down as well but we were ok , warm and cosy we did put the heating on for a little while last night just to dry out still haven't got round to lighting the wood burner yet
Going to have a walk down to the Coop in the village this morning  to see if there is any thing we need .

Now departed Coventry down to the Hawksbury junction turned onto the Oxford and moored up for the night but just as we went into the junction we picked up a discarded rucksack on the prop and could`nt move until we opened the weed hatch and cut the bag apart with the carving knife carried for such a purpose At the mooring there are a couple of horses tethered next to us the owner came down tonight and said would we keep an eye on them just in case they twisted their tether  !!
Tonight it`s a grand sunny evening which after the windy afternoon is nice (wind on a narrow boat can be challenging considering that the side is 50ft by 5ft the size of a small aircraft wing ).
Tomorrow we are onto new ground might go round to Birmingham as I believe the Oxford is closed further south due to a collapsed lock

As you travel down the M6 this is what holds you up while we creep underneath

Hawksbury Junction

The bombed out Coventry Cathederal

Museum roof

Cathederal looking towards the alter

Today we visited the museum of transport which had free entry and  really was quite interesting .
It was primarily based on the production of transport in Coventry from bikes to Jags , after lunch ok it was a Greggs pasty but it was good even eaten on the move  we then moved on to the Herbert museum which included everything from industry to classic art and modern art , very interesting and also free , Both of which are really well worth a visit.
next on our very full schedule was the cathedral the old part really did bring to life the realities of the  wartime bombing there was of course no charge for entry next we moved on to visit the new cathedral , this was where the Yorkshire  breeding kicked in again , £16 to enter , I think not  , so again we viewed and admired from outside .
We did find out later that you can enter for free for the five pm evensong but I am not sure that would be the correct way  I would rather just look through the windows.
We finished of the afternoon with a stroll round the charity shops in the centre , bought a nice  copper jug for £4  looked at a few dvds for £1 and passed on some others at £2 However at the witching hour of 5pm
the city suddenly changes to a less friendly place an influx of police , beggars drunks and ladies? we took a wrong turn and ended up under a multistory car park but to our relief found our way back to the safety of the canal basin and what for now is  home.
Unfortunately tomorrow we must leave as our 48 hrs mooring limit  is up in the afternoon .
Coventry really does need more time to see all , perhaps another time