Hockley Heath, top of Lapworth Flight

We've done it! The last four locks are under our belts and we've completed all 26 locks of the Lapworth Flight. Hurray!

We've reached the Birmingham Plain now and were so happy that there'd be no more locks for a while that we forgot to look ahead on the map for movable bridges 😪 The first lift bridge took us by surprise as we rounded a bend and Will needed to put Rainboat into reverse to stop her ploughing into it. The hydraulic fluid in the lifting mechanism could be heard squelching back into its reservoir, meaning Will had to work extra hard winding his windlass.

We needed water, which was available at Swallow Cruisers boatyard. Unfortunately there was another boat filling so we waited on the towpath for about 20 minutes. While our tank filled, Will went to the small chandlery and asked if they had a Stratford on Avon plaque. They didn't have one in the shop but the guy had bought one for himself and never got round to fixing it, so he fetched this and sold it to us.

Vicky was feeling pretty exhausted by this time and was not happy when we encountered yet another lift bridge 😥

We moored in a cutting on the outskirts of Hockley Heath, thinking that we'd have a takeaway that evening. The map showed us there was a pub, a fish and chip shop and a Chinese takeaway. Unfortunately the pub had shut down and the fast food places were closed on Mondays. However, the Co-op was open and had a lot of the items our cupboards were missing as well as some organic, vegan, tinned ready meals to store for Vicky. Top marks Co-op!

We stayed an extra day and enjoyed a much looked forward to fish and chips.Read more