When we set off this morning it was very light drizzle, you could hardly feel it, buy the time we tied up at Autherley Junction it was well wet as was my coat and anything else outside. We had excellent luck with the locks meeting boats at just the right places. I am not sure I would have set this slide up for my kids of grand kids, but each to there own.
Passing Otherton Boat Haven all their long term moorings south of the basin were empty, they still had boats moored outside the basin its self. They pull boats out of the water on a special trolley that has a hydraulic suspension lifting system so that they can leave them on stands and withdraw the trailer, its bit of a beast the machine that tows and powers it.
One of the boat we met at a lock had a rather unusual tiller arrangement unlike the normal swan neck you normally find on motors, it looks to be based of a Butty Elm
. Some of the repairs to the lock gates up here are quite impressive, Gailey lock top gate for instance has a piece of chain holding the toe post on and this one sort of had a bent bolt and a coach screw in the heal post.
Approaching Gailey lock from below is quite an impressive sight, they certainly knew how to design and build things to show their importance.
It wasn't until we cleared the locks of the day it started to rain more heavily and this continued all the way to Autherley Junction. We stopped about a quarter of a mile short of the junction so that Diana could visit Morrison, this is a reasonably short walk across the grass, up Rathwell Close and then right on Ensworth Crescent to Morison’s and other shops.
When she returned we went past the junction where Duke II a hotel boat was moored and moored on the visitor moorings just to the south of the junction.
Today's Journey
11.75 miles, 5 locks in 4.5 hours.
Map courtesy of Waterway Routes https://www.waterwayroutes.co.uk/
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