Saturday 12th January 2019



Brenda had a broken nights’ sleep and was in the saloon chair all night. I awoke at 6:45, got up and Brenda went to bed.

Once the dog was fed and walked we left the moorings as soon as it was light enough, a grey, dull, drizzly morning. And so it remained all day with the drizzle occasionally becoming a light rain.

We were now back-tracking over old ground towards Braunston again. This was the fourth time Bridge Street was going over this canal.



         


                                      One of the many short arms on the Oxford Canal created when the canal was straightened        
                                   Bouys in the channel at Brinklow advising boats to slow because of the unstable embankment



Nothing much of note. We saw a couple of herons, the first we had seen for weeks. We passed a number of boats we had been seeing on and off over the last few weeks. At Stretton Stop I just had to stop to photograph that annoying little swing bridge and an old spoon dredger that we had seen a few times. The spoon dredger utilises a huge shovel balanced on chains and a crane to scoop the bottom of the canal, the dredgings are then dumped inside the barge for disposal. Must be bloody hard graft using this. 




At Hungerfield, a boat pulled out in front of us and then held us up all the way to Rugby where he then took the best mooring to be had there. We moored behind him but were on a bend and the boat was banging the canal side the whole time we were there. 

While the moorings at Rugby, between bridges 58 and 59 are safe enough, they are surrounded by busy roads and the towpath is muddy. We were here purely for shopping, there is a large Tesco’s a very short walk away, a few diy shops and a retail park at Elliots Field with all the usual names, Debenham’s, M&S, Next and Curry’s to name a few. We hadn’t experienced civilisation in the form of shops since Coventry in early November and quite enjoyed the novelty of just walking around. It was late and getting dark, the dog had been left on the boat on his own so we returned and plan to go shopping here at a later date when we next pass through.



Weather: although it improved in the afternoon, the day was largely grey and drizzly. The wind also picked up in the afternoon.



Day Total: 0 locks; 13 miles; 1 Tunnel; 1 Swing Bridge; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 5.4

Overall Total: 324 locks; 676 miles; 31 tunnels; 6 Swing Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 420.3

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