It was a late start this morning due to domestic duties on the phone. So it was almost 11 am before we set off on a sunny but hazy day. 50 yards to the junction and sharp right up the Little Ouse.
A couple of days ago I rang round for diesel prices and Little Ouse Moorings http://www.littleousemoorings.co.uk/ came out the best at 90p lts self certification. A couple of the others only did 60/40 splits whereas in the winter I do 30/70 with the diesel heating and cooking.
LOM have an interesting floating dry dock, there are very few dry docks in the area, most yards lifting out for blacking and on bank winter storage, there are a lot of cruisers in this area. After filling up with 145lts I also a free copy of Tillergraph to read.
This interesting looking craft was here when we visited some 4 years ago as was this tug laying inside this pair. I doesn't look as if they have been touched in that time.
This old building looked a bit more forlorn after another 4 years of decay, I wonder if it will still be standing in 2016
Not all was doom and gloom, I tried to tell this chap that it was now the closed season but he refused to listen to a word I said, he just carried on. I do wonder if I should report him, I bet he doesn’t even have a rod licence!
The last time a saw a narrow boat with Hartford Harnser on the side it was on the Canal du Midi many years ago.
I often wonder about this old lock, I didn’t try going through it, but the levels must have been somewhat different 200 years ago to need it at all.
We met an interesting craft, it was one of only two we saw on the move on the full length of the river. It was a peddle powered canoe and we were rather taken by it, it can be paddled in the normal way or even rigged with a sail. 
The next point of interest is where the Cut Off Channel passes under the river through a large concrete culvert.
A but further upstream we passed under the railway bridge, I am not sure why they went to the trouble putting up a sign to say you can use ether arch, it would have been more sense if the arrow only pointed to the right.
One of the farmers had an interesting line in animal drinkers, 15 steal baths all lined up on the edge of the field.
From a bird point of view today was the day of the Kingfisher, we saw more today than we have seen over the past 2 weeks. They weren't very obliging sitting to have their photo taken but I did get this one as he shot off up the river.
We also saw a few Deer lurking in the trees and across the fields.
When we reached the lock at Brandon we had to wind because we are 57 feet long and the lock is only 40ft 6in. It is often said that Welches Dam is the shortest lock on the system but that is 47 ft. long.
By now the river was getting quite shallow and I was a bit concerned about winding as the water flow was carrying us down stream towards the narrower section of the river, it would have been better if I had gone up closer to the slice and put the stern into the lock mouth.
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