It's been a busy summer but there's a nip in the air, there are logs on the stove and we decided on a two day trip to Foxton Locks as a farewell to the 2016 boating season. Together with our wives we set off for Welford amid some heavy showers and set off up the arm under cloud and in rain. Not a promising start.
We moored up at the junction for our picnic lunch, contemplating whether to go back or go on. Fortunately the weather cleared and the canal opened up to the usual splendid views across fields and plains and the Laughton hills before the approach to Foxton Locks. I plan to stroll the Laughton Hills at some point, with convenient moorings just south of Foxton, but that will have to wait for another day.
This was a relaxed and uneventful trip to Foxton, mooring near the turning junction above the top lock and an evening stroll to the popular Foxton Locks Inn, always wary of the water surrounding us in the dark.
Next morning dawned bright and clear but, wary of the weather forecast of afternoon rain we headed back to Welford for another picnic lunch (and a few minutes of painting) before reaching home by mid afternoon.
Soon we'll need to do some winterising, patch painting, rust treatment and general maintenance before it gets too cold to work comfortably. Then Patience will be tucked up for the winter.
We moored up at the junction for our picnic lunch, contemplating whether to go back or go on. Fortunately the weather cleared and the canal opened up to the usual splendid views across fields and plains and the Laughton hills before the approach to Foxton Locks. I plan to stroll the Laughton Hills at some point, with convenient moorings just south of Foxton, but that will have to wait for another day.
This was a relaxed and uneventful trip to Foxton, mooring near the turning junction above the top lock and an evening stroll to the popular Foxton Locks Inn, always wary of the water surrounding us in the dark.
Next morning dawned bright and clear but, wary of the weather forecast of afternoon rain we headed back to Welford for another picnic lunch (and a few minutes of painting) before reaching home by mid afternoon.
Soon we'll need to do some winterising, patch painting, rust treatment and general maintenance before it gets too cold to work comfortably. Then Patience will be tucked up for the winter.
