Monday 25 May 2009

Sunday 24th May Kingswood Junction

Sunday morning we awoke to an almost perfect morning on the canals. A gentle mist was rising above the water and it was so quiet (It was only 6am!) The two pictures below show what I could see as I looked behind Petroc.

A little later on it became entertaining to watch boats trying to negotiate the sharp turn at the junction!
Later in the morning we set out for the walk to Lapworth Church. This involved walking up all the Lapwoth locks which are in a beautiful setting. Initially I did not think I remembered this stretch but as we reached the junction itself the memory came flooding back. About 5 years ago we came this way in Tickey, our previous part owned boat. In the lock just above the junction we came to a grinding halt as we had picked up huge mans sweater around the prop........


Narrow cut through to the junction



After the double locks of the Grans Union these single locks look so small......

The small boat yard here looks to be in a lovely setting. We think this must be where SUNFLOWER keeps their boat. We had met them two years ago going up the Wigan Flight and then bumped into them again (not literally) albeit briefly in Banbury a couple of weeks ago. They had kindly said we could use their mooring if we had to leave the boat for any reason. However we are pressing on now so shall not need to avail ourselves of their kind offer.


St Mary the Virgin, Lapworth
The end of the almost two mile walk brought us to the church at Lapworth. It looked a huge church from the outside but inside it was relatively small and very well kept. They had just started an interregnum, but the service of Choral Matins was lovely. They had a good choir and everyone was most welcoming. It was one of the few services we have been to where they did not have coffee afterwards. With the thought of a return walk of 2 miles it would have been most welcome!! There wasn't even a pub in the village.......
Alovely gentle afternoon in the brilliant sunshine....what more can one ask.......
Our normal routine was to have lunch in a local pub but Emma had returned to Leamington on Saturday night to catch up with some of her old friends and didn't think she wold be back in time for lunch. (Or fit enough) Instead we booked at the Boot Inn for an evening meal which was excellent. When we first arrived we thought we would not be fed as they had had a power cut but luckily it was restored.
It was the perfect end to a brilliant day on the canals....I guess that's summer!

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