Tuesday 08 May 2012

Last night I woke several times to the sound of the rain beating on the roof so I was in no particular hurry to crawl out of bed this morning. When we did we were greeted by warm sunshine, it was a sweltering 13  deg. After taking the dog for a walk we were getting ready to set off when a boat came through the bridge, It turned out to be old boating friends Peter and Hazel who were making their way to the Gt. Ouse, so obviously it was almost 1230 before we finally set off. We had a couple of quick showers but most of the time its was fine and sunny.

Some of the willows along Well Creak are quite lovely hanging over the water, unfortunately one owner has seen fit to prune his and dropped all the branches straight into the water, these have now sunk but come to the surface as you pass over them.
On Mullicourt Aqueduct I was surprised to see that the back pumping lifting water from the main drain to Well Creak was going flat out. I took a photo of the Main Drain where we had been yesterday as we crossed the aqueduct.

For miles along this section of Well Creak the north bank is brick faced, I wonder how many bricks and how many men were required to build this wall, I suspect that it is also several bricks thick and not just a skin.

We were now well on our way to our final destination for the night, Salters Lode. Last time we came through I checked that there was enough room for me to wind if I stuck my bow into the drain outfall. We had just moored up when Paul the Salters Lode lock keeper came along with his young dog, the old one having died last week to greet us. His first words were “I was expecting you this morning, what happened to you” Maureen had rung him to tell him we were on our way as she assumed that we would be crossing to Denver. Looking at the amount of fresh running down the river I am quite pleased that I was not going out today.