Bettoncopice

How do you like to wake up in the countryside, the dawn chorus, lambs and sheep in the field, the canada geese all calling to each other or the dulcet tones of an Eberspaecher ?  We were in the middle of a row of 11 boats last night.
We were off at about half nine just after a boat had gone by and we followed them up the first 2 locks where we stopped to fill with water, from here we met a steady flow of boats, not every lock but most. A Volockie apologised for not stopping to help us but someone had contacted CRT to ask for assistance up the flight. That is the second time I have been told this, this week. There was also another Volockie on the flight but he didn’t seem to do anything, he didn’t even give a single hander any help.  
I have seen some interesting single handed locking techniques in my time but todays was interesting, as we came up lock 3 I spotted a boat approaching, he passed the long length of mooring and the moored boats so Diana left the gate and got onboard. A short way before the lock moorings he jumped a shore and started hauling his boat alongside the bank, so he was going to moor. we stop and Diana hops off and closes the gate, he is still standing there holding his boat against the bank. I waved and shouted if he wanted the lock or was he mooring. He wanted the lock, so we back up, both Diana and I get off and reopen the top gate before departing and wishing him well. Looking back he was hauling his boat to the lock with the centre line, stern against the towpath and bows crossing the cut. stopping every now and then to haul it straight, the last I saw he had the boat across the mouth of the lock. all he needed to do was to continue coming forward and motor into the lock as we left. I felt sorry for the boats following him down.
At the top of the Audlem flight the lady sells home made cakes from a towpath side stall, so we had a couple them moored for lunch. After lunch we set off again up the 5 Adderley locks, the first two were with us after a hire boat coming down turned the bottom one. The farm shop at the top on the offside looks to have gone unless they wait until later in the season to open. we tried to moor on the 5 day moorings at the top of the flight but the shelf sticks out so far even wheels down done help so we moved up through the bridge and tried again, the shelf sticks out just as far but it well silted up so with the ropes tight we don’t bag the concrete

 

Today’s Journey

4 miles 16 locks in 4½ hours

Third map of the trip