Macc wanted to go out just after 6 this morning, but he then went back to bed until 7. He had his breakfast, we went for a walk, I had my breakfast, and only when all that was done could I have a shower. Later in the morning Macc and I went for a short walk up to the lock. In fact there are two, one of the main line of the canal and another shallower one alongside it on the River Chess, where there’s a small basin of moorings. The Chess goes over a weir here too, with the water ending up in the canal. (There’s more about this on the Rickmansworth Waterways Trust episode of the podcast, if you haven’t listened to it yet).
It was a nice sunny day and I fancied something different for lunch, so we went back later to the Cafe @ Lock 81, a little kiosk with some picnic tables on the grass between the two locks. I’d heard good things about the sausage sandwich, made with locally produced Victorian sausages (whatever that means!) so I gave that a try and it was very good. And the sandwich with a tea came to only just over a fiver.
I had taken Macc’s lunch with me so he didn’t feel left out. We’d planned to walk to meet Adrian on his way back from the station, but Macc had finally gone for a nap so we gave that a miss. Adrian arrived back from Birmingham mid-afternoon, having done the last leg by train rather than tube and there were no westbound underground trains.
On the Fingers Crossed front, there have been updates today on the lock flights at Stoke Bruerne, Buckby, and Braunston. CRT says there hasn’t been enough improvement in water supplies to relax the restrictions — but that’s fine by us. It also means the restrictions aren’t getting worse, and really we only need the locks to stay open.
0 miles, 0 locks. (114 miles, 54 locks)