13th November 2015. To dinner at Grove Lock.

We woke to heavy rain on the roof and gusty winds so we took our time over breakfast and getting going. It gradually eased over the morning so that in fact most of our travels today were in sharp autumn sunshine.

We went 5.5 miles and went through 8 locks. Its a lovely stretch of canal and on this clear day, the ridge of the Ivanhoe Beacon made an impressive backdrop to our journey. Lots of birds about today, and the fallen leaves have opened up views through the trees and hedgerows. There was a lot to see, hear and enjoy while we were going along and while waiting for locks to fill and empty. A lovely day.

We only met two boats the whole day, and one of these was two breasted up workboats in a very narrow bridge, causing us to back up smartish!

 

We moored at Grove Lock about 3.30pm, just as the wind was getting up again, looking forward to dinner at the pub. The short journey to Leighton Buzzard tomorrow to stock up on provisions, buy a new tap to replace the leaky one in the kitchen sink and get a haircut.