We stopped for lunch near Crick (revered in the canal world for its annual 4 day narrowboat boat show, which btw is on in 10 days & Lawrence has vetoed us going) at the old Crick Wharf whose old wharf building has been converted into a very nice eatery. And as the sun had reappeared we were able to shed a layer and eat outside beside the canal.
Our lunch time mooring
Very shortly after leaving Crick we entered the Crick Tunnel 1528 yds long. It took 15mins to get through. Scenery after the Crick tunnel
More scenery
About a mile after Crick Tunnel we reached the top of the Watford Locks and came to a grinding halt. The flight is 7 locks in all with 4 of them forming a staircase.
From the top of the flight looking back. I thought I took a really good one from the top of the flight looking down, but idiot that I am, I took not one, but two photos of the iPad cover instead.
Late in the afternoon the day before yesterday a paddle had been broken in one of the gates towards the bottom and all the side pounds had been drained. So the paddle had to be repaired and more water let down from a reservoir further up the canal. So when we arrived there were still 15 boats to come up, some of whom had been there for nearly two days. Amazingly there was only one other boat waiting to go down, but we still had a 21/2 hour wait at the top (with the M1 crossing the canal just behind us) before we could get down. We eventually got to the bottom about 7.00pm.
Looking for a mooring - no good
But pretty in the evening light.
We are now 41 miles from Leicester.
Today 15 miles, 7 locks in 8 hours.
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