From tpav@globalnet.co.uk Sun Jul 4 11:11:57 1999 Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 20:4:15 From: Trevor Pavitt Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Lady Elgar heads South - Trip Report (15) For the sake of completeness I am crossposting this to the list and the ng ^Ö hope this does not offend anybody. There will only be one more report as we are now on the home run to our mooring. Spent a rather damp weekend at North Kilworth but were interested in the gliding activity at nearby Husbands Bosworth airfield and in watching the Canadian Grand Prix. We decided to go down the Welford Arm as we were short of water and had never been further than the winding hole although, 27 years ago, we had walked to the pub at the basin. Back on the Leicester section around Downton Hill we entered what, to me, is one of the most enjoyable sections of the entire system, very remote and completely unspoiled - the English countryside at its absolute best. There is much evidence of medieval strip farming and it is clear that crops have been grown and cattle grazed here for over a thousand years. At Yelvertoft we again caught up with our friends on ^ÓPenlan^Ô and cruised along to the Watford locks with them. Here, as so often, there was a holdup and about six boats accumulated. Fortunately all had experienced crew and, when released, we were able to zip down the flight. Moored before Norton Junction. Having decided to make a diversion to have a repair done to our cratch cover we made our way to Braunston. Steve, our companion on ^ÓPenlan^Ô, and Mary entering the Braunston locks together as clean as a whistle ^Ö not as easy as it looks! Moored overnight in Braunston, winded and returned to Norton and down the Buckby Locks (with the obligatory stop to buy pies), only problem was at the Whilton bottom lock where a leak in the side wall sent a stream of water through our engine room door which soaked the floor and produced in Mary a degree of hysteria entirely out of proportion to the seriousness of the event! Moored on our familiar mooring at Nether Heyford and then on to Gayton Junction where we are awaiting an additional member of crew. It^Òs a lovely evening; a bottle of wine has been consumed; the glorious strains of the Dorabella variation from the Enigma are issuing from the CD player and all is well with the world...... Pip, pip, Trevor Nb "Lady Elgar" Gayton Junction --- The UK Waterways Network - http://www.ukwaterways.net/ * bringing the inland waterways community together * You are currently subscribed to canals as: george@adiva.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-canals-407N@ukwaterways.net