Rode Heath

With six locks ahead of us on today's cruise we knew we had to do something different with Tiger to lower her stress levels. Will galantly volunteered to single handedly steer the boat and work the locks while Vicky took her chair and the dogs on the towpath. She was able to go ahead and open a paddle so the lock was filled and the gate ready to open by the time Will arrived. She then opened the downstream paddle once Rainboat was in and Will had closed the top gate.

Will worked hard and managed very well. Leo behaved beautifully and enjoyed riding on Vicky's lap, exploring the area around the locks and hopping on to Rainboat when there was a longer distance between the locks. And Tiger? She enjoyed herself too! She stuck to Vicky's side while at locks, trotted behind on the towpath and rode on her lap when the locks were further apart. We may not be able to do this all the time but we were so relieved that it worked well today 😊

We pulled in just past the Broughton Arms in Rode Heath. The ring moorings were at the top of a hill meadow, with lots of narrow tracks weaving through the tall grass. It was very popular with dog walkers and a certain boat cat!

Tuesday was Abby the Tabby's 16th birthday. She enjoyed a spot of sunbathing on the stern and we fed her forkfuls of a special 'gourmet' wet cat food while Mr Whiskers was away in the meadow. Will took the bike to a nearby Asda to stock up (mostly on chocolate for Vicky), then we treated ourselves to a pub lunch. The Broughton Arms is a Marstons pub so the food was average but the drinks were good 😋

The afternoon was spent enjoying the sunshine, fishing and making a new harness for Mr Whiskers to replace the one he lost at the peacock paddock. He was less than impressed with it but it should do the job.Read more