A gentlemanly start to the day

We had arranged with Epiphany to be off at 9am and as we were moored a little way behind them we pulled the pins about 0855 and passed them almost on the dot.    After we had set off another boat rounded the bend following us so Epiphany had a bit of a rushed departure to tuck in behind us.

We continued with the beautiful scenery and a gently meandering canal.

We had to wait at the first lock as there were two boats coming up.

A bit of a tight squeeze as one was a large working boat

Will he...won't he...

Successful

very little room on the lock landing

There are some very pretty bridges on this section

Some of the locks have interesting names.....Gas Pipe Lock, Cranes Lock and Bumble bee Lock etc......

and here we have Top Half Mile Lock........unsurprisingly half a mile further on we had Bottom Half Mile lock......

Not a very considerate mooring right on a narrow bend

Aah......it was his tender.......somewhat large methinks.......do you have to have a licence for a tender?????

Epiphany stopped to moor at Kilby Bridge as they had arranged to meet some friends who were travelling in the opposite direction.     We were tempted to do the same as the moorings were plentiful and looked very nice.    However I needed a Maplins or similar for a connector for an aerial and I thought I had been told there was one at South Wigston......(I misheard..)    so we plodded on for another 3 locks...a bit of a mistake.  

Some bovine assistance...good job Geoff was doing the locks!!

There is a mooring here and there are rings but it is a stone side and there is a ledge so we are banging around....
We have now lost the delightful countryside and have reached urbanisation.........
A 10-15 min walk through a pleasant park brings us to shops and a Tesco superstore so all was not lost.
A really early start is planned for tomorrow as it promises to be even hotter than today and I found today was too hot for me at times..... Onward towards Leicester......on our own this time, we shall miss Epiphany however hope they will catch up with us in a few days.
Total distance:4.36 miles 
Elapsed time:3h57m9s
 Locks:10
Bridges:14 
Average speed:1.10 mph (3.63 lock/mph)