Cosgrove to Norton Junction

Monday we reluctantly left our rather nice mooring at Cosgrove. We had had 3 days of lovely weather with much sitting out in my chair on the towpath.

Parga had made friends with a passing dog and had a wonderful romp with him and an hour later on his return journey they had another play. They were very evenly matched weight wise and whilst chatting to his owner I asked what breed of dog he was.......Rottweiler....she said. I was amazed as they get such a bad press but George was a lovely dog and as soft as a brush. When they came past for their walk on Sunday he came rushing up to the boat to find Parga who had sadly departed by then.

We only had one lock to do and the first bridge afterwards is a rather pretty example of a Gothic style and built in 1800

We decided to moor before the Stoke Bruerne locks and walk in to revisit. It was quite full on the mooring but a boat on the end was just leaving so we snuck into his space.

We decided on an early start the following day.....however the best laid plans etc......

There were already two boats ahead of us waiting at the lock so we knew we would have a wait but we didn't bargain for 2 hours!!!

For unexplained reasons the pound about was almost dry, we subsequently discovered that it happens often..........

We were told BW were on their way to sort it out but it took some time. However by about 10 we were on our way again. By then there were several other boats waiting so did at least have company in the lock. However he was a single hander..........Geoff said next time we shared a lock could I please find a boat who had a big buxom blonde as crew to keep him company at the locks!!!

By the time we reached the top it was raining but we then had 1/2 an hour in Blisworth Tunnel. However when we emerged it was still raining and pretty dank so we decided to quit for the day.

Wednesday we carried on to Weedon Bec. There are no locks on this stretch so I am able to get some time in my favourite place in the cratch watching the world go by. Geoff is quite happy on the tiller for these stretches....I just have to replenish his coffee every so often.

We moored just short of Weedon Bec and walked up to explore. We discovered that one of the pubs offered 2 for 1 on all main courses so decided to treat ourselves in the evening...Geoff was especially keen as there was steak & kidney pudding on the menu! However the meal was somewhat disappointing, I guess you get what you pay for, it certainly was one of the poorer meals we have had this season. However I didn't have to cook so that was a bonus.

Thursday we set off a little later than normal as we wanted to stop by bridge 18 and go to the heart of the Shires Craft Centre and it didn't open until 10. After a visit there we carried on up 6 of the 7 Bucky Locks and are now moored just short of Norton Junction. I cannot remember the bridge we passed with this attempt at topiary...I guess it is supposed to be a rabbit of some sort...

These last few days we have been seeing the mile posts all along which are giving us the miles to go to Braunston. They have been declining at a rather fast rate as there are not so many locks now. It just seems to signify that the end of our 6 months is almost up which is quite sad. The plan is to go down to Braunston tomorrow for the weekend and call in to see Darren our boatbuilder on Monday. He has moved from Rugby to Braunston so we shall go right past his new workshop.